{"id":41917,"date":"2015-07-31T07:15:31","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T11:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=41917"},"modified":"2021-08-26T14:57:33","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T18:57:33","slug":"digital-detox-destress-unplug-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/lifestyle\/digital-detox-destress-unplug-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Ways to Actually Succeed at Your Digital Detox"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If your summer is packed with Instagram-worthy barbecues<\/a>, vacations and trips to the beach<\/a>, first of all, congrats! But if you\u2019re not careful, you may spend most of your time glued to Facebook \u2014\u00a0or, worst of all, your work email. While you might assume keeping up with your inbox gives you peace of mind, research shows<\/a> that reading messages from the office often just makes people angry. Talk about a summer bummer.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Do You Have Text Neck? 3 Ways to Fix Your Posture Problems<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s one thing to know you should take time for a digital detox, but it\u2019s entirely different to actually <\/em>pry that phone out of your hands. Whether you\u2019re addicted to refreshing your Gmail, or can\u2019t stop scrolling through your phone out of habit, quitting your gadgets<\/a> can be tough.<\/p>\n

Instead of going cold turkey on tech, try these expert-backed tips for how to limit your time plugged in, so you can get the R&R you really need.<\/p>\n

Digital Detox, Done Right: 7 Ways to De-Stress<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Stop Blaming Your Job
\n<\/strong>There are some people with high-risk jobs who have<\/em> to check email at all hours. (Hi, Barack Obama.) But there are many others who don\u2019t need to \u2014 and do so anyway. \u201cThat\u2019s unhealthy because there\u2019s not a reason for your nervous system to be wired to \u2018workaholic<\/a>,\u2019\u201d says Marilyn Puder-York, Ph.D., a psychologist and executive coach for CEOs and executives in New York City. If you\u2019re responding to emails at 10 p.m. because you<\/em> decide to, not because your job dictates, take a step back<\/a>. Tell yourself you can check your inbox\u00a0\u2014 but that you\u2019re not going to respond unless it\u2019s something really important.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 5 Ways to Stop Stress Eating From Taking Over Your Brain<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Set Boundaries with Your Boss
\n<\/strong>Talk to your boss before you leave for vacation<\/a> rather than assuming you still have to be \u2018on\u2019 24\/7. Puder-York advises saying something like this: \u201cBefore I go on vacation, I want to double check that I can unplug and check emails only once a day. Is that OK?\u201d (We bet they say yes.) Then, put your autoreply up. \u201cDoing so shows accountability and respect for others,\u201d she says. And don\u2019t forget to turn off phone notifications so you\u2019re not tempted all day.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour brain is addicted to the stimuli, so when you don\u2019t check, it\u2019s like, where\u2019s my fix?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3. Don\u2019t Give Up Email Entirely (Just Set Limits)
\n<\/strong>We\u2019re giving you permission to check email during downtime \u2014 but limit that to certain times of the day. (Like before your family is awake, or after they wind down at night.) Try to set a time limit, too. Whether that\u2019s 20 minutes or a half-hour will differ for every person, says Wendy R. Boswell, Ph.D., a professor of management at Texas A&M University. Setting the right boundaries (rather than going in without a plan and checking all day) is key to making everyone happy.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Is Stress Hurting Your Relationship? Here\u2019s How to Fix It<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Get Your Partner on Board
\n<\/strong>Tech drain can be contagious. In one study, people who used email during off-hours didn\u2019t think it was a problem in their personal life. But their spouses felt differently, saying it had a negative impact on their time together, says Boswell, who authored the study. Push your partner to have a chat with his or her boss. If he or she doesn\u2019t expect employees to be glued to their devices at all times then there\u2019s no reason that you two can\u2019t have \u201calone time\u201d to chill out together.<\/p>\n

5. Be Strict
\n<\/strong>When you see that an email pops up, or a like on your recent Facebook post, you get a rewarding hit of dopamine<\/a>. \u201cIt feels good because you\u2019re being recognized. That\u2019s why it becomes an addiction to check who\u2019s reached out to you,\u201d says Puder-York. Still, it\u2019s important to give yourself a break. Downtime recharges your brain and protects against things like burnout and loss of productivity<\/a>. Julie Morgenstern, a productivity expert and author of Never Check E-mail in the Morning<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> says her clients tell her they have success by repeating mantras, like the common canine command \u2018Leave it.\u2019 It sounds funny, she says, but it works.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 10 Reasons You\u2019re Exhausted and What to Do About It<\/a><\/p>\n

6. Take a Deep Breath
\n<\/strong>Scrolling through Instagram<\/a> or checking Gmail is so ingrained it almost feels wrong not to. \u201cYour brain is addicted to the stimuli, so when you don\u2019t check, it\u2019s like, where\u2019s my fix?\u201d says Morgenstern. The key is to breathe through the urge. \u201cClients tell me that after taking a few calming breaths<\/a>, they can feel a gear shift happening in their brain. They can move from tech-addicted to being social and engaging with others around them,\u201d she says. Warning: Resisting the urge to Instagram may feel difficult at first, but eventually you\u2019ll strengthen your will<\/a> (just like a muscle) and shift into tech-free mode faster.<\/p>\n

7. If All Else Fails, Hide Your Phone
\n<\/strong>You know the diet advice<\/a> that tells you to keep trigger foods (ice cream, cookies, chips) out of the house? Use the same technique for your phone. Morgenstern advises turning the dinger off and putting the device on the other side of the room or in another room altogether. If it\u2019s near you, you can\u2019t help but resist the impulse. But if it requires you to get up constantly? Well, that phone won\u2019t look so attractive anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can\u2019t resist checking your email, even amidst a swirl of summer BBQs and trips? Here\u2019s how to pull off a (realistic) digital detox so you\u2019ll actually have time to relax. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":41921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,12,15],"tags":[282,341,343,167,118],"class_list":["post-41917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-mental-health","category-stress","tag-stress","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2exercise","tag-technology","tag-vacation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}