The term detox can be defined as: a process or period in which one abstains or rids the body of unhealthy or toxic substances. The one-hundred and thirty-eight gram, three by six-inch device the majority of the population wields in their hand every day have unquestionably revolutionized humanity. Anyone can absorb knowledge from their phones by performing a quick Google search. Going to the bank, shopping, or trips to the hardware store have been replaced by the revolution of apps available on our phones.
Thanks to our phones, our lives have become so efficient that we don’t have to worry about specific tasks. However, while our ability to cross boundaries, thanks to our digital money makers improving lives, we also enter into a dependent relationship where we are bound to these small electronic tablets. Even as I compose this article, I have my phone three inches away from my keyboard.
Cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and alcohol have been identified as potentially unhealthy crutches chronic users can’t live without. Overusing these items leads to unhealthy afflictions such as cancer, increased stress, and suboptimal lifestyle habits. There is always a case of a beer or wine within arm’s reach from the kitchen table for some of us. Cigarette boxes and chewing tobacco cans fit effortlessly into our pockets, making the action of acquiring these accessory items as easy as retrieving our cell phones. At times, people depend on these items. Without them, emotions, thoughts, and energy expenditure unravel. Life can become imbalanced without these items that reside within arm’s reach. Would we feel the same if we didn’t have our phones by us? I’d bet we would enter a state of distress if our phones were left in a location over a hundred miles away.
The dependence on external stimuli from our phones can induce tunnel vision. When there is something humans find effortless and offers a substantial amount of behavior and emotionally stimulating sensation, it’s pretty hard to let go of that treasure. When we can’t live without certain things, we can forget about other important things occurring in our lives.
We live in a world of saltwater oceans, cloud-streaked blue skies, and rolling hills formed by millenniums of earth’s natural evolution. These attributes of our world gift us happiness, freedom, and unforgettable experiences. Sometimes, it’s hard to make it through the day without checking our phone’s texts, emails, and social media’s current events. Our phones offer entertainment platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and many others that show us pictures and video clips including people performing entertaining acts, animals doing funny tricks, and visions of sought after vacation destinations. Instead of consistently using our tiny phone screens to look at these experiences, why not put the phone down and take these experiences in for ourselves to get the full effect. Go outside, take a trip to the coast, and take walks at dusk and dawn to decrease our digital addictions.
Here are a few steps to detox from our digital addictions and focus more on the experiences we can take in to gift ourselves with easy to obtain experiences in our everyday lives:
- Put the phone on silent when eating: Whenever you’re at the table eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a simple snack, put your cell phone on silent. Not vibrate. Not “low ring.” Not “one beep.” Put it on silent. You can even put it in another room. These moments that allow for periodic experiences where we are only left to the extents of our thoughts can produce ideas that get blocked out by our myopic focus on the small screens of our phones. Eating brings about tastes, feelings of relief from momentary hunger, and thoughts and memories from previous eating experiences of the past. Don’t let our electronic devices take these feelings away.
- Use post-its: Do you have a computer? Do you know how to use a keyboard to answer emails? If so, perhaps you can limit yourself to answering email only from your computer interface. I can name more people than the number of fingers and toes attached to my body that use their cell phones to type a long, drawn-out email. Nine times out of ten, feelings, emotion, and intellectual sophistication become omitted from an email composed on a cell phone. Why? Because the screen size is ten times less than a computer monitor, our thumbs must be used on a touch screen with text size mirroring the surface area of an ants body. No wonder we can’t think clearly in cell phone-produced emails; we can’t see. Instead of spending more energy typing emails on our phones, make a quick note on a Post-it pad to reply to the party you wish to email and put it on your keyboard. The next time you sit in front of your keyboard, you can put your full efforts into addressing the individual you are reaching out to. Plus, you won’t be looking at a tiny screen on a device initially meant to call people.
- Avoid answering work-related texts after dinner: Sitting down with our family, friends, or even by ourselves usually takes place at the end of the day. This time of day typically involves a low energy level. So why not let go of the stresses of all the hard work we endure throughout a full day of work? The text messages about the various tasks that need to be completed can wait until the following day. Take this time after dinner to unwind and decompress.
Our phones and tablets offer us a revolutionary form of progressing as a human race. However, it’s all too often that we forget we used to use a telephone that was connected to our wall in our homes. Let’s not forget the purpose of these electronic devices. They give us the privilege to acquire whatever content we want and an advanced form of communication. At the same time, we can fall into an unhealthy rut of spending too much time on our phones. Take some time for yourself by stepping away from your cell phone to experience the gifts the world offers us that we have right in front of us.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
