How to Achieve Digital Wellness in a Hyper-Connected World

How much time do you spend in front of screens? 

Probably a lot, especially if you work on a computer or in the digital world. It could be frustrating to juggle between work emails, social media, and online entertainment.

Like most of us, you might often find yourself worrying about the impact of all this screen time on your health and wellbeing. 

Digital wellness has become a crucial aspect of maintaining a balanced and healthy lifestyle. But what exactly is digital wellness, and how can you achieve it? 

Understanding Digital Wellness

Digital wellness is as simple as it sounds; it is the practice of maintaining a healthy relationship with technology. 

It includes trying to find a balance between our online and offline lives and trying to make sure that technology does not impact our mental and emotional health. 

Think about this: smartphones and laptops, together with the popularity of remote work and social media, make screens more present in our lives than ever. 

Globally, people spend an average of 6 hours and 58 minutes in front of a screen per day. 

How to Build Healthy Tech Habits

It's hard to imagine a day without interacting with at least one digital device, especially for young people. That’s fine, but we must take into account that excessive screen time can lead to issues like digital fatigue and sleep problems. 

Digital wellness is a response to all of this to mitigate these negative effects.

Have Boundaries

Do you scroll through social media for hours? Or check your emails late at night? Setting boundaries is hard, but it is worth the try. Here's how you can do it:

• Designate Tech-Free Zones: Choose one area of the house that’s screen-free. Usually, the bedroom or the dining room are good options for this. 

• Schedule Time Off: Choose specific times during the day when you unplug from your devices. Some phones include this option within their platforms and you can program them to a don’t disturb setting.

• Use Apps to Limit Screen Time: These kinds of apps set daily limits for social media usage and remind you to take breaks. It’s a good tool to get you started on digital wellness. 

Prioritize Physical Health

• Maintain Good Posture: When working or using your devices make sure you are in a good position. Consider investing in a good chair if you are sitting a lot of hours per day, this could improve your physical health. It’ll be well-spent money in the long term. 

• Use the 20-20-20 Rule: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. This will help you reduce eye fatigue.

• Stay Active: If possible, incorporate physical activity into your routine. It doesn’t need to be a gym routine, you can walk or just stretch at home. The most important part is trying to stay active in some form of movement. 

Foster Mental and Emotional Well-being

We know that physical health can be as important as emotional help. Lots of people go to therapy and invest in mental health. 

Technology can be overwhelming, but there are ways to keep it in check:

• Practice Mindfulness or Meditation: You don’t need to be a monk to meditate. Meditation has a reputation for being difficult, but it isn’t. It just takes a bit of practice like riding a bike or driving a car. If you find it hard at the beginning, don’t worry. Breathing is also a helpful tool you can use and it can encourage meditation. 

• Digital Detox: It’s a good idea to go out and stay at least a few hours in a place without technology. The park near your house can do it; you don’t need to be at the beach or the jungle to do a little detox. 

• Limit Notifications: Constant notifications can be distracting and stressful. You can easily personalize them on your phone settings. 

Protect Your Data and Privacy

To avoid frustrating moments, consider protecting yourself and your devices. This is mostly easy; with just a little attention, your data will be safe. 

• Use Strong Passwords: Create complex passwords and update them regularly. You can use a password manager to make this easier.

• Use an authenticator app: These apps can be downloaded from any app store and are simple to use. They generate codes in real time to double-authenticate anyone using your platforms. 

• Use a VPN: A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can help protect your online data by encrypting your information and making it harder to corrupt. VPNs now offer clean web services, which means their browser extension includes ad blocker, cookie pop-up blocker, and many other features. This can also help you to limit annoying notifications. 

Don’t Forget About Your Community

We all live within a community, and communities usually have many activities to be involved in. 

You can participate in local activities, and charity projects, or even just help your closest neighborhoods and connect with them. 

Possibilities will depend a lot on the type of community you are in. You should consider the best options for you and investigate a bit, surely you’ll find many interesting things to do.

Take small but important steps to achieve digital wellness and you’ll probably notice some changes in a few months. Remember, we are not saying technology is bad, we are just reminding you that sometimes balance is important. We must accept that technology is part of our lives now and try to find the healthiest way to interact.

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