- Week 1
- Day 1 : Download a tracking App
- Day 2 : Assess your relationship with your phone
- Day 3 : What do you want to accomplish from this challenge
- Day 4 : Take notice of your phone usage
- Day 5 : Analyze your results from your tracking app.
- Day 6 : Understand more of your phone usage in the next 24 hours.
- Day 7 : Create your plan and be prepared
- Week 2
- Day 8 : Delete all social media apps from your phone.
- Day 9 : Get a hobby.
- Day 10 : Dedicate 1 hour or more every day to dedicate time to things you enjoy doing.
- Day 11 : Switch of all notications.
- Day 12 : Organize the apps on your phone.
- Day 13 : Keep your phone away from your bedroom at night.
- Day 14 : Pause before you pick up your phone.
- Week 3
- Day 15 : Establish a no-phone zone
- Day 16: Keep your phone on silent mode during certain parts of the day
- Day 17 : Do not Constantly check apps
- Day 18 : Set a schedule for phone usage
- Day 19 : Place your phone in another room the whole day
- Day 20 : Uninstall apps you rarely use
- Day 21 : Refrain from using in the morning
- Week 4
- Day 22 : Set a bedtime for your phone
- Day 23 : Refrain from using your phone when outdoors
- Day 24 : No Social media for the whole day
- Day 25 : Deactivate social media sites you no longer use/want to see updates from
- Day 26 : Set a commitment to only use your phone for a certain hours a day
- Day 27 : Set a commitment to use your phone no longer at night
- Day 28 : Choose a no phone day
- Week 5
- Day 29 : Commit to limiting Social Media usage to once a day
- Day 30 : How do you feel?
What is the 30 Day Phone Detox Challeng
Do you find yourself addicted to your smartphone? Do you feel like it is distracting you from your personal goals? The 30 Day Phone Detox Challenge could be the answer you’re looking for.
The 30-day challenge will help break your addiction to your smartphone and give you the opportunity to experience life without it.
What is included in the 30-day Phone Detox Challenge?
- Daily tasks to practice during your detox.
- A 30-Day Phone Detox Challenge – Free Printable
- Tips on how to complete your phone detox challenge
Who should complete the phone Phone Detox Challenge?
The 30-day phone detox challenge is for everyone. It is for anyone who wants to reduce the amount of time they spend on their phone.
30 Day Phone Detox: How to power down in a wired world
We’re living in the 21st century and it’s no secret that our society is addicted to technology. With the rise of smartphones, we’re more connected than ever before. This often makes it more difficult to disconnect from the internet or power down for a little while.
A smartphone has several pros. It helps us connect to our friends and family globally. It has a camera, which allows us to capture our special moments. We can look at the maps, calendar and it gives us access to many other remarkable tools.
There is something about the smartphone that makes us so addicted and we now have an overreliance on this device.
Modern researchers have suggested that an average American spends five or more hours using their phones. Our addiction to smartphones stems from the release of dopamine into our brains.
Smartphone addiction: Why do we find it hard to power down in a wired world?
Dopamine is a pleasure-inducing neurotransmitter, which is part of our brain’s reward circuitry and is associated with addiction.
The tools in smartphones activate pleasure-related receptors and chemical transmitters in our own brain and hence we get excited. Anything that releases dopamine in our brain is something we’ll want to experience again and these phycological tricks can lead to a disorder or problematic behavior.
Why is being addicted to our smartphones considered problematic behavior?
Losing out on making personal and meaningful connections
Although digital devices have allowed us to connect to people globally and made us more tech-savvy. They have also reduced our connections to other people in real life. We are now less likely to go out and talk to people in person.
We are so distracted by our phones during meals that we lose out on the meaningful connections we can have with friends and family. Cell phones are now almost an extension of ourselves.
Remember a century ago these devices didn’t even exist and now we spend the whole day online. This is a bad sign for generations to come as this will be our go-to tool to feel pleasure in the future and we will lose out on the real-life experiences
Social media – Increases depression among teens and young adults
Social media has been shown as a factor that can lead to depression. Studies conducted in 2012 have provided key insights into the impact of social media on depression and suicide rates.
The more hours an individual used the device correlated with risk in one suicide factor because social media presents harmful content and encourages comparison between high school students.
Social Media – Ruins sleep
As we all know that we all are addicted to using our digital devices right before we go into bed and that is resulting in a disturbance in our sleep cycles
The blue light radiated from our screens stops our brain from producing melatonin and hence it is ruining our rem cycle, Therefore it often compromises our alertness in the morning reducing productivity throughout the day.
Signs we need a smartphone/digital detox to reduce behavioral addiction
1. You feel stressed and anxious if you are away from your phone for too long.
2. You find checking your phone every few minutes.
3. It is disturbing your sleep schedule.
4. It is reducing the time you focus spending on work or other tasks.
5. You seem like you have brain fog or your memory is weakened.
6. Your look for constant validation and suffer from lower self-esteem.
7. It is the reason you feel alive today.
As difficult as it may sound but if we are facing any of the above it is considered a behavioral addiction and hence problematic behavior. The good news is that we can reduce our phone usage and undo the negative effects it has on us.
Tips to be successful in the 30 Day Phone Detox
Practice Mindfulness
The best way to detox from your phone is to practice mindfulness. This means being fully present at any given moment without the help of technology.
This will help you develop better self-control and you’ll be able to reduce the amount of time you spend gazing at screens.
It will also keep your mind sharp and provide a sense of calmness. This will allow you to focus on tasks more efficiently without the frustration of constant distraction.
Delete social media
If you’re really struggling to power down, it might be wise to delete social media apps temporarily. Take a moment to think about which platforms you find using the most and then go ahead and delete the apps on your phone.
You might be hesitating to do this, but remember I am only asking to delete these apps of your phone not delete your profile completely.
If you feel like it’s too much of a struggle you can always redownload these apps. I wouldn’t suggest this until a few days later, but it’s you who has to decide exactly what is best for themselves. Remember deleting the apps still allows you to access your Facebook post through web browsers on your computer. the idea behind this is to create bumps along the way so it makes it more difficult for you to access social media. If you want to reduce your social media usage even further then Join our 30-day No social media challenge.
Turn off all smartphone notifications
One of the best ways to keep your phone from distracting you is to turn off all notifications. Studies have found that these notifications have the same effect on our brains as slot machines. This means that our phone usage is literally a behavioral addiction like gambling.
Take this step now you can do this by going into your account settings, clicking on alerts, and deleting all your push notifications.
If you are expecting any urgent emails from work or people you know, then you can leave the notifications for those certain individuals on.
Put your phone in another room when it’s not in use or in airplane mode when you’re trying to sleep
Whenever I am about to go to sleep, I make the effort to either put my phone on airplane mode or place it in another room before I go to sleep.
This way I’m not tempted to use my device before going to bed and I am not disturbing my sleep schedule.
I’ve noticed a big difference in my mood in the morning and I feel more refreshed.
Have fun – try a new hobby
Try something you have always been wanting to do? What exactly is your definition of fun, take this opportunity to use the time spent on your phone, doing something else which would also trigger dopamine.
For instance, sign up for a badminton class, go swimming, or do anything else that makes you happy.
These distractions will help you feel way happier this will help with your well-being and is a remarkable tool to help you detach.
Start Journaling
Often our phone use is a coping mechanism to help us avoid dealing with negative emotions. Journaling allows people to journal emotion, express creative thoughts, and connect with their inner-self.
Journaling helps us achieve well-being and is a way for us to detach from our phones by increasing our self-awareness.
Be realistic
Have goals that you can follow through with easily. Start slowly and then increase your routine. For instance, start with the above and then consider a 1-day digital detox weekly or monthly where you can turn off all your devices.
Get started today!
We all know that in today’s day age smartphones have become an integral part of our daily lives and giving up on them completely is impossible. Therefore the above tips are just ways to help people reduce their problematic use of cell phones.
Remember initially the process of digital abstinence will be difficult. You feel extreme forms of withdrawal symptoms in your time plugged away. Just remember if you stay focused and determined the process will become easier as time goes You will see start seeing a change in your induvial behavior.
Join our other 30 day Challenges.