Excessive screen time will destroy your life.
It is essential to reset your screen habits and take a break.
Here's what I learnt from my tech free holiday.
To give some context.
I decided to have a tech free holiday when I realised my screen time average for a month was over 10 hours.
It changed my life.
A recent survey of 500 UK adults and 20 interviews, funded by Research England, revealed that half of respondents now look at screens for 11 hours or more a day.
More than a quarter look at screens for 14 hours or more a day.
1 - Improved focus on people
My first observation was that I started relying on having fun with people and not my phone.
I wanted to have real conversations and do real activities.
My focus shifted towards having events to do during the day.
I gave all my energy to these events and to the people in them.
Despite the increased activity, I actually felt more alive at the end of the day.
My phone would drain me previously.
2 - Increased positive mood
I started engaging with life again. My focus was three dimensional and not one dimensional on a screen.
I created memories in the day, which are still clearer now than more unique life events I spent viewing through my phone.
Tech has a huge impact on mental health, especially if you use it to keep you entertained.
Time away from your screen unlocks a new road to entertainment and happiness.
3 - Attention Span
I have a notoriously bad attention span. I get distracted very easily and I blame this down to my abusive use of social media.
I noticed that once I was off the screen for a few days my attention span improved and evolved.
I had to focus on conversation and events going on around me or I would have been out of the loop.
This requirement to focus on one thing was a dramatic wake up call and a huge weight off my shoulders.
I recognised the lack of importance social media really has.
4 - Living in the moment
There's always so much irony in taking a shitty photo of a sunset on your phone and missing seeing it with your own eyes.
My non tech week changed this. I recognised that my memories and experiences were stronger in real life.
We use our phones to record life events and therefore mainly remember that event through the lens of our camera.
My focus was now on remember the daily events through the lens in my eyes.
5 - More time for fun
By not being on my phone for an excessive amount of time, I managed to gain back wasted hours.
I did far more on my holiday than on any other and I enjoyed doing more!
Having the freedom of no phone forces you to actually live life and not watch it pass by from a sofa.
Days had multiple events and activities and where structured around people.
6 - Clearer memories
Tech will distort how you remember an event. No tech allows you to evolve back towards having vivid memories of events, conversations and moments.
I have a much clear and accurate memory of my non tech holiday than any other recent holiday I've been on.
This might be my favourite takeaway. It made me recognise the lack of importance a phone has on my life.
Life is for living and we all do it once.
I want to have strong memories of my best experiences when I am older. I want those memories to be from my mind. not my phone.
In summary remember this.
Having a phone is really having a dog lead attached to you 24/7.
Tech free holidays will help you;
1 - Connect with people
2 - Improve your mental health
3 - Increase your attention span
4 - Live in the moment
5 - Gain more time
6 - Remember more