Did you know that, according to recent statistics, the average American spends seven hours and three minutes in front of a screen every day?

Think of how much you could accomplish in seven hours. If you had zero distractions and complete focus, you’d be able to tackle all those projects you’ve been putting off. Spend time with friends you haven’t seen in a while. Pick up a new hobby.

If you could eliminate your biggest distraction in life, what would that look like? What’s the main thing wasting your time? If technology comes to mind, you’re not alone. Social media, television, and other forms of digital media form the biggest distraction for most people nowadays.

It’s understandable that we’re all-too-easily sucked into the digital world. Almost everyone uses or has used technology for their career or schooling. Smartphones make using the internet and apps easier than ever before. It’s all an integrated part of modern-day life. 

But the never-ending text messages, work notifications, emails, and social media feed can become very overwhelming. We can feel trapped in the digital world, addicted to using our phones and constantly being up to date on what’s going on in the world. This never-ending loop can make us more anxious, restless, and dependent on technology for our happiness, as well as reduce productivity. 

Obviously, few of us can avoid using screens entirely due to work. But reducing the time that you spend in front of a screen solely for entertainment purposes can make a drastic difference in your life. A detox can allow you some mental peace and clarity that you might not even realize you need. 

There are many psychological benefits to taking a break from screens, but the main ones I want to focus on are improved emotional balance, reduced digital dependency, and strengthened relationships. 

This term expresses the ability to properly regulate emotions, experience and express a range of them in a healthy manner, and maintain equilibrium between positive and negative emotions. 

While online media can produce a short-term high, technology ultimately has a negative effect on emotions. Oftentimes, instead of addressing sadness, fear, or anxiety, we rely on social media or our favorite show to distract us and improve our mood. But the moment we put that phone down, or close that laptop, we’re right back where we started. It’s not a healthy way to deal with emotions because we’re not actually dealing with them. We’re avoiding them. 

Social media can be especially harmful to emotions, particularly those of young people. Seeing others live out their dream lives and share all of their accomplishments can make us feel jealous and unfulfilled. Even though what we see on social media doesn’t usually reflect reality, others’ lives may appear perfect while our own seem inferior. 

When using technology, it’s important to keep a few things in mind to preserve our emotional balance. First, try to limit the amount of time you spend on devices recreationally. It may feel good in the moment to spend hours in front of a screen, but afterwards we often feel lazy, regretful, and a bit miserable. To avoid this, it’s best to take breaks between exposure to screens and set limits. 

Second, make sure that you’re not letting the internet affect your emotions. What you see on the internet doesn’t dictate your life or how you feel. If you find yourself comparing yourself to other people or feeling guilty about your emotions due to something you saw online, it’s probably a wise idea to take a break from the internet. 

Digital dependency presents a serious problem for most of us. We can’t go five minutes without glancing at our phone; we get a dopamine hit from seeing it light up. How many cellphone users can honestly say that they’d function just fine if they went a full day without their phone? 

As a society we’ve become dependent on the internet. We have limitless information at our fingertips. We use it every day to text, call, make plans, and shop. While devices are certainly useful tools, dependency on them has become an issue.  

Taking a digital detox can allow us to gain some control over our lives without depending on technology, which is very freeing. It can prove that you (A) do suffer from digital dependency and should make a change, or (B) can function just fine without it, but you're none the worse from a detox. Consider it the first step towards freeing yourself from that dependency. 

Although it’s easier than ever to communicate with those in your life thanks to technology, it’s also easier to put the bare minimum effort into your relationships. Phones allow us to shoot off the occasional text checking in with a friend or family member and then call it good. 

To properly nurture a relationship, people need to get together and talk in person, not just over the phone. So many aspects of a conversation are lost when texting or calling. It’s much harder to have a meaningful conversation and feel engaged with the person to whom you’re speaking.

If there’s anyone in your life whom you only speak to over the phone and haven’t seen in a while, I encourage you to try to get together with that person. Hanging out with a friend in person can rekindle a relationship and make both of you happier and closer to each other. 

Taking a digital detox, you may find yourself craving real face-to-face interactions. We are all designed to be social creatures, and we benefit from socializing. Without technology, it’s easier to recognize and act upon that desire. 

Now you’ve heard the benefits. Are you ready to take a leap in bettering yourself and start a digital detox? Here’s my challenge for you. Try putting your devices aside for one day. No social media, no TV,  no music, etc. The only exceptions are usage as needed for work and for truly necessary communication

Some will find this easier than others, and if that’s the case for you, I encourage you to keep going. Try two days, and then three. If you struggle and can’t do more than one day, that’s okay too. Even a one-day detox is a huge step. It’ll put you ahead of the pack. 

It does take time to see all of the benefits, however. The entire first day will probably be pretty miserable. You’ll find yourself reaching for your phone, forgetting it’s not there, feeling ghost notifications in your pocket. It’s not uncommon to feel as though you’re suffering from withdrawal. But it only gets easier from there. If you push on past the first day, you’ll start to feel the benefits. 

If you’re still unsure whether you should try a digital detox, just remember that you have nothing to lose from doing it, but you could lose a lot from digital addiction.

Detoxing won’t be easy. But there’s no better time to embark on this new challenge. All it takes is one small step to change your life.