Guest Posts, Life

How I Survived a Seven Day Digital Detox And What I Learnt From It

by Olivia

[Guest Post]

Answer this before you read on – When did you first check your phone today?

Hi! My name is Pranjali Jain, from Dainty Palms. I write about mental health and lifestyle- trying to inspire others and myself to be the best possible version of ourselves. Today I am going to share my experience and the importance of digital detox with y’all. Thank you, Olivia, for the opportunity to bring this forward!

A week ago, I did a seven-day long digital detox, wherein I shut my social media handles and my blog for a break. The pressure of posting anything, replying, and being active was too much to handle. And I think I am not the only one to face this. So, if your answer to the question was close to “within an hour of waking up”, you probably need a digital detox.

Half of our ‘first-world problems’ are consequent to the malaise of social media. The competition and peer pressure is inhumane.

So, if you:

  1. Check your phone the first thing in the morning
  2. Feel pressured to be active on your platforms
  3. Feel that your mind is cluttered and/or numb
  4. Feel you’re wasting seamless hours without realising
  5. Have the constant urge to pick up your phone

or anything else that you know is unhealthy for your mental space, you need a digital detox.

I can’t begin to explain the positive sides of this. Let me put it this way- you’ll save a ton of time, your mind won’t feel blocked and your eyes will definitely feel better.

Your mental peace shouldn’t be sacrificed at any cost. If your head isn’t in the right place, your body and life are far from it. So, cut out the negativity instead of pushing yourself to deal with it day in and day out. It’s an arduous task and not worth your time.

Here are some experiences that I went through-

1. THE IMPULSE TO OPEN SOCIAL MEDIA

After I deactivated my account, I indeed realized how much I used it. Every time I picked up my phone, I went to open Instagram, and then it hit me that I don’t have it. This happened around ten times a day for the first two days and it was eye-opening. After that, I veritably enjoyed the fact that my mindless scrolling was eliminated.

2. IMPROVEMENT IN MENTAL HEALTH

I felt a positive change in my physical and mental health almost immediately. Since my content consumption went down by like seventy percent, my head started to clear up. I would have taken a longer break but as a blogger, I had to get back. If you can, do a 14-day detox. Your mind will thank you for giving it a break.

3. SAVING TIME

Now I am not going to say that I felt more productive and used my time to work, because I didn’t. I used my time to relax, clean, write, and read. You don’t have to be super-productive to feel good about yourself. Simply cutting out all the noise from outside feels awesome.

This wasn’t my first digital detox. More than a year ago, I cut out social media altogether for around 10 months; and I gotta say, it was the best. If you think that you’ll suffer from FOMO, or you’ll be bored- that is all the more reason to do it. Because if you’re afraid of being alone with your thoughts, you ​need​ to be alone with your thoughts. If you think quitting cold turkey isn’t the way to go, I wrote a blog post on smart content consumption- check it out!

So, as you can clearly tell, I loved doing this detox. I am glad I got to share this experience because I think more and more people need to tend to their mental space and this is the most basic, first step.

Thank you all so much for reading and reaching this far! I hope you learned something and this blog post was worth your time. I had an amazing time working with Olivia- she is such a sweet soul. Comment down below if you have ever done or would want to do a digital detox soon!

Keep away from the noise and keep the positive vibes flowing,

Do you struggle with keeping off of your phone? Have you ever done a digital detox before? What was your experience?

Pranjali Jain
https://daintypalms.wordpress.com/blogpage/

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR BLOG SHOWCASED HERE? OR DO YOU WANT TO GUEST POST ON THIS BLOG? CONTACT ME AND LET ME KNOW!

51 thoughts on “How I Survived a Seven Day Digital Detox And What I Learnt From It”

  1. Thank you Pranjali for this post, I think a digital detox is something that can be really helpful, and something I have done before. When I did it, the first few days were hard, but then not checking my social media apps become second nature after a while. I actually wrote a post on how we use social media badly which links to this post 🙂

    Your question on when was the first time we checked out phones every morning is a good one. A lot of us without realising wake up and straight away go on the phone, which isn’t a good habit 🙂

    Thanks for sharing!

    Liked by 6 people

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    1. Pranjali has taught me a lot with this post. I am now considering doing my own digital detox. I can imagine its really weird at the start, like unlearning behaviour.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

      Liked by 1 person

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  3. I never knew i needed a digital detox until i read this. Somewhere in the back of my mind i had this thing that i just let a lot of time go away like that …. doing nothing notable. This blog made me realize a lot. Thank you so much Pranjali♡

    Liked by 5 people

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  4. Thanks Pranjali for sharing your experience and inspiring me to do the same. I have been thinking about it but now I think I am ready to take a break

    Cheers

    Liked by 4 people

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  5. Thanks Pranjali for sharing your experience and inspiring me to do the same. I have been thinking about it but now I think I am ready to take a break

    Cheers

    Liked by 4 people

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  6. I’m so guilty of the five points Pranjali mentioned. It’s not like I don’t realise I need a digital detox, I just find it so hard. If I’m to do it I’d probably need help from a friend or my family. ‘Cause I seem to be wasting so much time with social media it’s starting to affect my headspace, really.

    Thanks for sharing. Hope to do a digital detox soon💚

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. I 100% understand, I feel the same way. I start to think what I will fill my time with if I don’t have my technology with me. Maybe you should do a detox with another person, you can support each other. Although they would need to live close to you or with you, otherwise how would you keep in contact? A written letter? What a weird concept haha!

      Liked by 2 people

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    2. Yes, it is hard to take that decision and shut everything off. The feeling of insecurity and missing out creeps up, but then again, after the first couple of days, it becomes easier! Take any help you need, but do take that leap- clean your mental space. Thank you for reading and more power to you, Joel!

      Liked by 2 people

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  10. Great post, yet actually we need a balance into our life… Deleting social media isn’t the solution to our problems, because everybody needs a little of fun, yet we should learn the balance method. I also wrote a post about the same situation taking a 3 month break, but through it I learned not to get anymore jealous of my ‘friends’, you can check it out if you like 🙂
    https://clementine2.home.blog/2020/01/29/social-media-a-way-to-destroy-someones-life/

    Liked by 3 people

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  11. I have completely shut down my social media handles. It’s been 2 months I guess. And yet I saved a lot of time. I can’t keep my phone away from me because I attend online classes but those instagram or facebook notifications didn’t distracted me any more. Great post 😊👏👏

    Liked by 4 people

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  12. I gave up social media nearly 2 years ago now and it was the best decision I ever made for my mental health!

    It’s a rare occurrence nowadays for me to wake up and check my phone first thing. I love having this little bit of mystery and PRIVACY back in my life that I feel is so rare living in today’s world. I feel as though I have more control over what affects me and why. I think it’s important to be mindful of what we consume on a daily basis and curate it carefully. Whatever we give our attention and intention to becomes our programming.

    I am so grateful and relieved that I gave myself the time and space to make mistakes, grow, evolve, transform, create, and most of all heal myself without feeling as though I’m leading a double life when my real life is so much more in need of my time and attention than my online one. Overall this experience has given me the best gift of all, I’m finally concerned with my own well being and focused on minding my own business!

    Now is all we have, so we should spend it in ways that are truly meaningful and fulfilling. It is so true, you don’t always have to be productive 100% of the time to be fulfilled and feel good about yourself, I couldn’t agree more. ♡

    I love this topic and I love this post. 🙂 Thank you for sharing Olivia & Pranjali!! ♡

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Thank you so much for sharing this with us Jenni. I can imagine its been a long process for you to get where you are today but a rewarding one.

      I hope one day I can be at a place like yourself. I can imagine its quite a liberating feeling not having to worry about or think about social media. Whenever I have had a break from it i always feel so refreshed. And i always get that same feeling as you, not being the same as the rest of the world. You are a great example here of why it should be done and the benefits from it.
      Thanks again for sharing & thanks for being here with us 🤗

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Yes! It’s honestly so liberating. Thank you for your sweet words! 🙂

        You’re building a great community here, Olivia, and I know you will inspire so many people to lead healthy fulfilling lives that align to THEIR own unique purpose. It’s a beautiful thing to watch your blog grow! 🙂

        I’m wishing you all the best! Have a lovely day, girl. ♡

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thank you so much for your kind words, they mean so much to me! My aim here is to do just that, create a great community full of kindness and uplifting posts, but also provide real and honest content too.

        I hope you have a lovely day too💕

        Like

    2. Before anything, thank you so so much for sharing your experience- this is so inspiring to read and learn from! Everything you wrote is very relatable and beautiful. When we indeed give time to ourselves, we realize how it makes us grow and the importance of being close to ourselves first. I am elated after learning about your journey!
      Thank you so much, and more power to you!

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. It’s my pleasure, really!! You two are so sweet. 🙂

        I learned so much after the first year without it and now that I’m on the verge of two years I think I might have to post another update on all the other things I’ve learned when December/January rolls around.

        The more time you spend making yourself feel happy and fulfilled, the less you expect out of others and the world. It’s the quickest and most gratifying way to make yourself a happier person. I love this quote by Aldous Huxley,

        “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that is yourself.”

        And by improving your own life, you improve the world and the Universe itself. 🙂 Keep sharing and creating, both of you! Your work is so inspiring and needed right now. ♡

        All the best!!!♡♡♡

        Liked by 2 people

  13. I totally agree, especially with the time part. I don’t know where all the time appears from, but it does. I usually do a 30-day detox from FB at least once a year, and I almost never go back each time. I can’t imagine TEN months lol

    Liked by 1 person

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