Why You NEED to Digital Detox as a Writer

There is but one answer to the chaos and buzz of the technological age. Digital Detox.

Digital Detox is really what it says on the label.

It’s about limiting your usage of digital devices, mainly screen time.

This type of purposeful removal from distraction has so many benefits for not only you as a writer but you as a human being!

Screen time is something surrounded by guilt and willful ignorance. It’s common knowledge that higher screen time = lower creative output. Nonetheless, we will rack up 3–6 hours a day doing things digitally that we don’t want to be doing.

Thus, the more you are engulfed by the digital world the less you are creating, which is an absolute travesty for everyone.

Taking breaks from your screens improves mental clarity, enhances creativity, and increases productivity.

Why wouldn’t you detox!?

The Impacts of Screen Time on Creativity

I’m sure you can relate that the longer you spend staring at a screen the thicker the fog that surrounds your mental clarity suffocating your creativity.

Thus, I’m sure it’s no shock that the more time you stare at a screen the more it damages your focus and creativity, which we do NOT want to be doing.

Task Switching and Stolen Focus

There’s an excellent book by Johann Hari called Stolen Focus where Johann addresses the attention epidemic where the things we do daily have little to no benefits in terms of our focus.

Johann describes that one of the major reasons technology is so emotionally taxing is because it involves task switching.

Your brain is lazy.

It doesn’t like doing lots of things at once.

That’s why it prefers to have one or two points of focus at one time so as to attend to the focal point to the best of its ability.

Social media and other digital technologies force your brain to switch focal points a million times a minute.

You start focusing on a picture of your friend, then images of war-torn Gaza, then a cute kitten video, and then an intense political debate.

Our brains are not meant for this.

Engaging in this sort of rapid task switching makes you exhausted, which is the feeling of brain fog I referred to earlier.

Johann refers to this exhaustion as the “switch-cost effect”, which describes the exhaustion you feel after changing your focus and makes it longer for you to be able to focus on another thing again.

What Does It All Mean?

This fits with the feeling I have after a good 2 hours of scrolling TikTok where I’m not even paying attention to what I’m watching but just mindlessly scrolling with a braindead facial expression not taking anything in.

This fog effect will also change your ability to focus on your creative endeavors, specifically writing.

The switch-cost effect describes that the longer you spend in front of your screens the longer it takes to get focused on writing, creating a nasty loop where you don’t have motivation to write so you scroll, resulting in less motivation to write.

This HAS to STOP!

That’s what a digital detox offers you.

Benefits of Digital Detox for Writers

Luckily, digital detoxes offer a cornucopia of benefits that you can benefit from almost instantly.

Improved Mental Clarity

When you are amid your detox it feels like when Neo was unplugged from the matrix, just a massive breath of fresh air.

The first thing you will tend to notice is the clarity in which you see things because your brain is no longer exhausted but wants to experience your environment.

In this way you’ll find ideas will come to you with much more ease than usual, you can keep a train of thought and also can fully focus on anything you’re doing.

I find this is the best time to get into a good fiction book, the vividness of your imagination makes for an excellent read.

Enhanced Creativity

Another key benefit you’ll find from your digital detox is the fostering of a creative mindset.

Creativity in its essence is being able to make connections between otherwise unrelated things to form a new concept or idea.

This can only happen if you can think about both thoughts in alternate often unconventional ways.

Your detox will allow you to do this.

You will find ideas and links between concepts leading to creative sparks will become more frequent and potent.

Increased Productivity

As we’ve talked about previously, screen time is a nasty cycle whereby the more you engage the less you are inclined to engage in meaningful or creative outlets.

However, the opposite is true as well.

The more you spend doing creative things and writing, the less screen time you have, which results in you doing more meaningful work, and thus less screen time.

This is a cycle I want to be a part of.

Thus, limiting your digital exposure will boost productivity to all-time highs.

Practical Tips for a Successful Digital Detox

The basics are simple. A digital detox is done when you abstain from being in the digital world for a predetermined amount of time.

The rules are simple.

But the execution is the difficult part.

Luckily, there are a few tips that make your digital detox an easier experience.

Set Clear Boundaries

The thing that will get most writers unstuck when intending on a digital detox is that they are not intentional enough with their goals.

The endpoint is to be able to regularly take breaks from the online environment of your own volition or not.

This can be more easily achieved by establishing specific times or days for a digital detox.

This means you MUST have a time or day that you WILL detox.

Your boundary could either be from 10 am to 4 pm you will detox from technology.

Every Sunday I will detox completely (as much as possible) from technology.

Having a clear time set out will trigger your brain in those times of the day to get hyped for a break and will most likely motivate you to stick with the time designation.

Find Alternative Activities

Another key part of a successful detox is you have identified what you will be doing with your time during the detox.

It’s fascinating how much hobbies have become increasingly scarce among people.

They are either working or on their phone. There’s no purposeful use of their time to better a skill.

I HIGHLY recommend finding a non-technological hobby that you can work on during your detox times.

You can still choose to write at this time, it will just need to be pen and paper, the old-fashioned way.

However, I’ve found some activities that make my writing even more inspiring.

One of which is drawing. I used to draw when I was a younger teenager, and just let the hobby drift away due to school and other commitments.

Now, revisiting this hobby I find myself sketching creatures and interesting characters for my written stuff.

There are plenty of activities I would recommend, pick one and see if it works for you;

Read a book (Check out Stolen Focus you’ll love it)
Go for a walk
Journal
Paint
Draw
Collage
Meditate
Make something

So, find a hobby that you love to do during your detox time, also try to make sure the activity incorporates elements that promote relaxation and focus.

Create a Detox Friendly Environment

As little as you would care to admit, the actions you take daily are largely a result of the environment you are in.

This means that during your detox if you have your phone on your desk and a gaming console somewhere nearby, your detox time is most likely to be cut short.

You need to create a distraction-free detox space.

Your space should be clean, comfortable, and devoid of any digital devices, save a clock is suppose.

Creating a Distraction-Free Writing Space: Boosting Focus and Productivity

Fostering a purposeful environment will result in purposeful use of your time.

And that’s all we’re asking for here.

Overcoming Challenges

There is one rather poignant effect of abandoning social media, and that’s FOMO.

FOMO or The Fear of Missing Out is the feeling that others are living experiences and content that are enriching their life, and they could be sharing it with you, but you won’t see it because you are in a detox!

This feeling will be around for the first few times you cut out technology, but you just need to remember that it is just that feeling. It doesn’t mean that you are missing out on anything.

Just like you can feel like you are being watched through a window at night, you can feel you are missing out.

Both feelings aren’t necessarily wrong but they are just responses to your current situation and mental state.

So, just breathe, you can catch up if you truly have missed anything, it’s going to be ok.

Unplugging from technology will be uncomfortable, that’s because you are taught that when you feel uncomfortable you need only open TikTok and scroll for a few minutes.

Severing this lifeline can feel like jumping into the deep end with no prior swimming capabilities.

You will survive, I can assure you that.

You’ve just got to show up every day and the benefits will happen.

In Conclusion . . .

In the hustle and bustle of our digitally connected world, the benefits of a digital detox for writers are nothing short of transformative.

There are 3 main benefits of a digital detox;

Improved Mental Clarity
Enhanced Creativity
Increased Productivity

Embarking on a digital detox may seem like a daunting task, but the rewards are worth it.

I encourage you to take the plunge. Disconnect from the virtual world and reconnect with your thoughts, ideas, and the joy of writing.

In a world filled with constant notifications and endless scrolling, the act of intentionally stepping back can be a revolutionary act for a writer.

Share your experiences with a digital detox in the comments. Let’s build a community that values the importance of finding balance in our writing lives.

Take the leap, unplug, and watch your writing flourish in ways you never imagined.

I love writing productivity tips for you and other writers, here’s another one I’m sure you will love as well about Time Management Tips For Writers;

Writers! You NEED To Understand Time Management

Thanks for reading, Happy Writing! 🙂