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How To Start a Digital Detox

A primer on the benefits of cutting back on screen time—and tips on how to get started in a way that works for you.

Amy Maoz

Read when you’ve got time to spare.

Yes, you’re reading this on a screen. And yes, this guide is brought to you by the app Pocket, so we can hardly preach about the need to convert to an entirely off-the-grid, device-free lifestyle.

But it’s our mission at Pocket to help people spend their finite time and attention better—so that when you do devote precious minutes or hours to reading on a screen, it feels like time well spent.

But enough about us. Let’s get back to you. And the way you feel at 1am when you’ve somehow not reached the end of Twitter, despite your best doomscrolling efforts. Or at 6am, when the first thing you do is reach for your phone. Or the hours you spent watching The Crown on Netflix while doublescreening Wikipedia for facts about the royal family. We swear there’s a way out. And the first step is understanding the powerful hold screens have over us—and what practical tips we can take to break the spell.

Cal Newport on Why We'll Look Back at Our Smartphones Like Cigarettes

A Q+A with the computer scientist about his new book Digital Minimalism, why future workplaces may go email-free, and why tech backlash is about to go mainstream.

9 Shocking Things That Happen To Your Brain When You Get A Phone Or Email Notification

Whether you hear it or see it, the alert can trigger a whole host of emotions, chemical reactions, and resulting side effects.

Tristan Harris on How Facebook and Twitter Bring Out the Worst In Us [LISTEN]

“Technology feels disempowering because we haven’t built it around an honest view of human nature,” says tech critic Tristan Harris.

Has Dopamine Got Us Hooked on Tech?

Silicon Valley is keen to exploit the brain chemical credited with keeping us tapping on apps and social media.

Waiting: Rediscovering Boredom in the Age of the Smartphone

Every moment of potential boredom can now be ameliorated or avoided by all manner of tasks, modes of entertainment or other distractions conveniently provided courtesy of our mini computer and bodily prosthetic.

What Happens When You Take a Facebook Break

Time away from Facebook has its ups and downs, research suggests—so Kira Newman gave it a shot.

Relax, Turn Off Your Phone, and Go to Sleep

Why does anxiety about needing to stay in contact negatively impact sleep?

Jenny Odell on Why We Need to Learn to Do Nothing: ‘It’s a Reminder That You’re Alive’

The author and artist’s keynote address on our fractured attention spans went viral. Now she has a plan for how to heal them: lose ourselves in nature.

'Digital Minimalism': How To Hang Up On Your Phone Addiction [LISTEN]

“Something's in the air. I think people are finally getting fed up with how much of their humanity they're losing to always staring at these screens.”

Expert Advice on How To Digital Detox in Self-Isolation

Screen time has skyrocketed as we all stay inside to combat the pandemic, but now more than ever is an opportunity to disconnect.

How To Use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter Less

In this excerpt from her book ‘24/6,’ filmmaker author Tiffany Shlain explains how she manages her social media use to keep it happy, not stressful.

It’s Time for a Digital Detox. (You Know You Need It.)

Excessive screen time can be harmful to our well-being, but we can free ourselves from tech’s hooks with goals, rules and boundaries.

5 Tips to Reduce Screen Time While You’re WFH

Pre-quarantine, you likely thought that you spent almost all of your workday at the computer. But little did you know that you could spend so much more.

BONUS READ: The Symptoms of Internet Addiction

This article, from 1996, was one of the first to explore a then-emerging issue. As one doctor in the piece says, ''I think we're about a year away from having people recognize it's really a problem. It's out there. There's no question.''