Do You Need A Digital Detox?

Maybe it’s the new year or maybe it’s the realization that we’ve lost all sense of control over the notifications on our phone, but more and more people are taking digital detoxes (and then ironically posting about on social media). Time away from their device, or social media, or technology as a whole. And of course, when it seems like everyone’s doing it, then everyone else is at least asking if they should do it too.

I get this question emailed to me often, mostly because I’ve written at length about companies voluntarilyscaling back their electronic communication and seeing productivity gains as a result. I’ve advocated for taking more personal controlover how you interact with your devices. And that means I often get (via electronic messages of course) questions about if/when/how/etc you should take a digital detox.

So, do you need a digital detox?

No.

Sure. In the short-term, once you’ve made it past the initial day or two of withdrawal, it might make you feel better. But if you “detox” like most people do, at the end of your set period of time, you’ll pick up your phone, reinstall those apps, and go right back to your digital addictions. You’ll feel great about doing it (and feel great about all the comments you’ll get on social media when you tell people you feel great about doing it), but if you just go back…