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It often seems that smartphones and other technology items have become inseparable from our business, personal and leisure lives. Is it possible to renounce tech, even temporarily?
“Technology is very much a part of us now. We bank with an app, read restaurant menus on phones and even sweat with exercise instructors through a screen,” says consultant Emily Cherkin, a screen-time specialist in Seattle. “It’s so embedded in our lives, we’re setting ourselves up for failure if we say we’re going to go phone-free for a week.”
That means that “short of running to the remote wilderness for a few phone-free days, experts say a ‘digital detox’ isn’t feasible anymore for most people,” as the BBC said in 2023.
But some have tried, taking temporary breaks from screens, social media and videoconferences in a search for less stress and a restoration of personal connections. Some may have ecological motivations as well, aiming to disassociate themselves from the energy expended in device production, marketing and consumption.
New habits for healthy results
According to some experts, the goal shouldn’t be to cut off technology completely but to use it in moderation. Some encourage even those determined to make a full break to make exceptions for things like researching recipes and completing work deadlines. Others, such as anthropologist Amber Case, use a plugin that delays access to apps and forces users to pull themselves out of “autopilot mode” before becoming engrossed online. Case also recommends avoiding scrolling through a phone as a leisure break and leaving it elsewhere when it isn’t needed. Meanwhile, British author Johann Hari locks his phone in a time safe for several hours a day and removes himself from social media at least half the year.
A week after reducing his personal tech to a cellphone without internet access and an old laptop with no Wi-Fi connection, Hari felt calm yet concerned about trends and topics he might have been missing. After returning to the connected world three months later, he found little in his email inbox. “The world had accepted my absence with a shrug,” he said.
So there are options short of abrupt and total withdrawal for those who want to reduce their reliance on screens and tech. “Instead of causing ourselves more anxiety by attempting to live without our phones for a week, we can approach unavoidable screen time in a way that feels right for our individual lives,” says the BBC.
“It’s different than exercise or eating healthy—those things take a long time to see results—but with tech, you can see the results pretty quickly,” adds Manoush Zomorodi, the host of a WNYC Studios podcast. “It’s incredibly empowering to do something and see results immediately.”
