Tanya Goodin - Off: Your Digital Detox for a Better Life

For Ellie and Finn, the two very best reasons for logging off

First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DZ www.octopusbooks.co.uk

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017949414

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3086-3
eISBN: 978-1-68335-299-0

Text copyright 2018 Tanya Goodin
Design and Layout 2018 Octopus Publishing Group Ltd
Cover 2018 Abrams

Photography credits:
Alamy Stock Photo: Ivan Slade.

Published in 2018 by Abrams Image, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

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Walk down any street, stroll through any park, step into any bar, caf, or restaurant and everyone is hunched over their mobile devices. No one talking, all glued to their screens. The technology designed to connect and enable us has begun to do the opposite.

This book will give you your life back! It will free up hours of your time to rediscover the things you love, by helping you to develop a healthy relationship with your digital devices.

A digital detox isnt about hurling your screens into a trash can and reverting to a tech-free way of life. Its not about giving up the digital world altogether. A digital detox is about learning to live with technology in a way thats healthy. Its about balance.

So how can we regain some balance in our lives? How can we rediscover the world outside our smartphones and tablets, while still making the most of everything the digital world has to offer?

In this book youll find some practical tips and tricks Ive developed from my personal experience to stop screens from taking over your life. These involve a range of techniques, prompts, and suggestions to unplug, recharge, find time, de-stress, and regain some peace in our wired world.

Whether youre frazzled due to a 24/7 email habit, exhausted from poor sleep, unhappy about family time losing out to screen time, aware that your attention span is shot to pieces, anxious if youre even momentarily separated from your phone, or in a bad mood every time youre on social mediathis book is for you.

Its not that the digital world is bad, its almost that its too good. Its why everywhere you look everyone is on their phones, all the timebut this is affecting our physical and mental health. Weve introduced tiny tyrants into our pockets that demand constant attention. We need help to escape their clutches and put them back where they belong.

In Set Your Boundaries youll learn how to draw simple and workable boundaries based around time and place, to set limits on your time online.

Go with the Flow introduces you to absorbing mindfulness-based activities that will rest your screen-frazzled brain and help you to rebuild your attention span.

Get Back to Nature encourages you to get outside, away from screens, and discover the healing power of nature to regenerate and restore.

Tame Your Triggers looks at the various ways the online world can hook us back in when were trying to stay offline, and how to combat them.

Choose Analog offers some screen-free activities as better alternatives for screen-based ones.

Reconnect will inspire you to disconnect from superficial online relationships and strengthen your real-world ones.

You may be anxious at the thought of putting down your phone or being without it for any period of time. Youre not alone! But my experience with helping people do a digital detox is that the anticipation is always worse than the reality. Everyone who has tried these techniques has found them far easier and far more rewarding than they thought they would.

At the digital detox retreats I run, we know from our pre and postdigital detox surveys that the happiness levels of our guests are almost double by the end of their stay. Whats more, most people make permanent changes in their screen habits after attending. One woman now puts her phone in a drawer when her children come home from school, another man no longer answers work email after 7pm at night. Others have decided to use only their landline in the evenings, or to swap out their SIM card into a non-smartphone for holidays, or even to make weekends entirely screen-free. They may be small changes, but they have a very big impact.

As you work your way through the book or dip in and out of it, youll become aware of your particular personal challenges around screens, and gain an understanding of what will help you overcome them. And as you discover for yourself the benefits of logging off, through improved sleep, focus, productivity, and mood, I know youll be inspired to do more and keep going.

I guarantee that within these pages there will be something that works for you. Start your digital detox today!

Tanya Goodin

Regaining balance from any addiction starts with setting boundaries. Its not that were using screens at all thats the problem, its that were using them without limits. Our screens are our constant companions all day and night, at work and at play, when were with friends and when were alone. Theres no respite. No wonder our brains are frazzled. How can we ever switch off?

The simplest boundaries to set relate to time and place. Consider your lifestyle and decide where screens simply dont belong. Then look at the times when you should be setting them down. Start by setting small workable limits and work up to more significant lines in the sand. Even just one or two no-go times and places will reduce your screen overuse, and free up a surprising amount of time to do the things you really enjoy.

Here are some boundary suggestions to get you started.

Our smartphones have invaded our bed rooms. Theyre the first thing we see in the morning and the last thing we see at night. With their blue-light-emitting screens, they suppress our melatonin levels (the chemical that sets our biological clock), which hinders our ability to get a good nights sleep.

Weve become used to relying on our devices built-in applications to wake up. Using an alarm clock instead is your single best weapon against the tide of technology wreaking havoc on your sleep schedule, leaving you more rested and energetic. Until youve bought that all-important alarm, leave your phone outside your door so you can hear the phone alarm without having your device in your bedroom.