30-Day Digital Detox Challenge (Day 15-21)

Welcome to Week 3 of the Digital Detox Challenge!

Let’s dive into this weeks daily challenges…

Day 15 – De-clutter and Organize Your Apps

Today’s challenge is to de-cluttered and organize your phone by deciding which apps you actually need to have on your phone.

Start by sorting your apps based on two criteria: their potential to steal your attention (that is, suck you in) and their potential to improve your daily life (make your life logically easier). This will result in (at most) six categories of app’s.

1) TOOLS (examples…maps, photos, camera, password manager, banking, weather, music, the actual phone).

These are the apps that improve your life without stealing your attention. They are the only apps allowed to be on your home screen.

Why? because they serve a practical purpose without being tempting. They help you accomplish a specific task without any risk that you will be sucked into a black hole.

Note that email, games, shopping sites, and social media all have black hole potential and thus DO NOT get to be on your home screen.

I also recommend removing news apps and internet browsers from your home page.

2) JUNK FOOD APPS (examples…social media, news apps, shopping apps, internet browsers, messaging apps, games, email).

These are the apps that are fun or useful in limited quantities, but that are hard to stop using once you start. They sometimes can be life-improving, but they also threaten to suck you in. The trick is to decide whether they steal your attention more than they improve your life. If the apps’ risks outweigh its benefits, delete them (if you hesitate, remember that you can always reinstall it). If your enjoyment of the app outweighs its risk, relocate it to your phone’s second screen and hide it in a folder, ideally with a title that reminds you to think before you open it.

3) SLOT MACHINE APPS (example…social media , dating apps, shopping apps, games).

Every app on your phone is a dopamine trigger – but slot machine apps are the worst. These are the apps that don’t improve your life and steal your attention. Signs that an app is a slot machine or junk food app:

– you feel a sense of anticipation when you open it

– you find it hard to stop using it

– after you use it, you feel disappointed, unsatisfied or disgusted with yourself for the amount of time you spend/wasted

Slot machine apps suck. Delete them.

I’m serious. Do it now. Put your finger on an app icon until it starts jiggling, and then press the X in the corner. The app, panicking, will respond with a manipulative question (“Are you really sure you want to delete me and all my data?”). Say yes and then shake your head in disgust: everyone knows that Facebook didn’t really delete any of your data.

4) CLUTTER (example…the QR reader you installed in 2012 and haven’t looked at since).

These are apps that you never actually use. They don’t steal your attention, but they also don’t improve your life. I’m inviting you today to recognize their irrelevance and delete them.

5) UTILITY APPS

There are also some apps that serve some practical purpose, but don’t improve your daily life enough to be qualified as full-on tools (for example, the App Store).

6) THE UNDELETABLES

There are some apps that you simple can’t delete because your phone won’t let you. You can hide them in a folder on your third page, with the tile of your choosing.

BONUS TIP: FOLDERS….A FORCE FOR GOOD.

With the possible exception of your home screen, I want you to put your apps into folders even if it means that much of your home screen is empty.

The point of the folders is not just organization, but also to protect yourself from yourself.

If you put apps into folders, their icons become so small that when you swipe over to that page, you can’t immediately tell which apps are where. This means that instead of opening an app just because you happen to see it’s icon you have to pro-activity WANT to open the app.

Tidying up my phone and making it seem less cluttered gave me peace – both aesthetically and also in terms of distraction. With only apps that “I need” on my phone, I’m less likely to open it up and scroll mindlessly.

Are you ready to take on the life-changing magic of deleting and organizing your App’s?

If so, let me know in the comments. Bonus points if you share a picture of your almost empty home screen.

Reference: How To Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price

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Day 16 – Plan a No Tech Day

Plan to take a break from technology for one complete day.

No phones, no tablets, no TV, and enjoy some soild alone time or family time, with no technology interfering.

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Day 17 Digital Detox Challenge – Put away your phone during family time.

Smartphones are re-shaping family relationships.

As a single Mama of two small humans, I get that every parent needs a break, sometimes to connect with other adults or just to get some work done.

But what happens to children when their parents’ attention is diverted away from them and is focused on their phones?

In one recent study, researchers found that toddlers’ ability to learn new words was derailed when their moms were briefly interrupted by a cell phone call.

In another recent study, 170 couples with young children completed questionnaires and about half of them said that their smartphone usage was impacting their child’s behaviour, from sulking to temper tantrums.

As expected, the researchers found that the more parents reported phone-related interruptions, the more they reported their children displaying both types of negative behaviors.

In a different study, researchers examined the effects of parents’ smartphone use on their children’s athletic performance.

They asked children to run around the bases of a softball diamond under two different circumstances.

In one session, researchers told parents to pay attention and respond to their children as they would normally, and turn their bodies toward them.

In the other session, they told parents to immerse themselves completely in their phones and ignore their children’s bids for their attention while keeping their bodies turned toward them.

The researchers timed how long it took kids to run around the bases and they recorded how often kids tripped, fell, stumbled, or made a false start for each of the sessions.

The finding?

Children ran faster and were more physically coordinated when their parents were available and responsive compared to when they were absorbed in using their mobile phones.

Smartphones are a part of our lives, and I’m not advocating that you get rid of them completely.

But I am inviting you to exert some personal control over your phone when you are with your kids, to minimize the potential negative impact on the children.

Here are three tips that can help. Which one will you start with?

1. Put your phone in another room when you’re helping your child learn something new.

2. Keep your phone in your back pocket when you’re at your kids’ games or events

3. Reflect on whether your phone use might be related to conflict you’re having with your own kids.

Studies suggest parents who are engrossed in their phones tend to respond more harshly to their kids’ misbehavior.

Children may be more inclined to engage in risky behaviors to get their parents’ attention, which might be linked to increased injuries when their parents are on their cell phones.

Is any of that happening in your house? Be honest.

If so today’s challenge is to STOP checking your phone when you’re with your kids.

Parents who aim to disconnect regularly from their cell phone and begin practicing mindful parenting find that they have more positive interactions with their children as a result.

Today, I enjoyed six hours unplugged with my kids in celebration of the last day of school.

The only time I used my phone was to capture these pictures.

What activity will you enjoy with your kids today as you take a break from your phone? Let me know in the comments.

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Day 18 – Unfollow people on Social Media

Have you ever wanted to unfollow someone, but worried it might be awkward?

Or maybe you feel that you don’t want to come off as a mean person.

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Day 19 – Change where you charge your phone

Many of us complain about automatically checking our phones first thing in the morning and right before bed at night (and in the middle of the night, for that matter). Well, of course we’re doing this, we’re sleeping within arms reach of our phones.

The easiest way to break this habit is to make it harder to reach for your phone while in bed. And the easiest way to do that is to create a charging station for your phone and other internet-enabled mobile devices that isn’t in your bedroom – or at least that’s not right next to your bed.

Are you eating as you read this?

AN ALARMING new study has revealed that people are so addicted to their smartphones that one in three are unable to sit down and enjoy a meal without them. And it’s not just phones that take our focus away from the food we’re eating — 72 percent often watch TV while eating.

As a single Mama I’ve been known to pull out my phone while eating dinner alone at home or at a restaurant.

So, what is the impact of all of this tech distracted eating? 

1) It affects the quality of food we prepare, the enjoyment of what we eat and even the amount we eat.     

2) It also decreases social engagement. The more people are distracted by their digital devices the less socially engaged they are. 

Instead of grabbing for your phone as soon as you sit down to eat, keep it tucked away and try connecting with others or with yourself in one of these ways.

1. People watch. Use your imagination and make up stories about the people you see.
2. Write in a journal.
3. Practice mindful eating. Pay attention to the flavors of the food and the sensations you experience while eating.
4. Read a book.
5. Do a crossword puzzle and ask others around you for help if you need it.
6. Practice stillness and being OK with doing nothing. (This may be the most difficult one, but it may be the one that helps you connect with yourself the most.

For those of us who like to multitask (or who don’t even like it–we just do it, because there are so many things on our to-do list that needs to get done), putting down the phone while eating is a challenge. So let’s try it!

Can you get through your next meal without glancing at your phone or computer? Let me know in the comments. 

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