Create a physical space between you and your smartphone, and enjoy your holiday to the fullest

Having a mobile phone has lots of advantages. It is a window to the globalised world that allows you to communicate wherever and whenever you want. However, the key to a good holiday is to disconnect, and a mobile, in most cases, doesn’t allow for this. Rather, it prevents you from focusing on conversations or other activities with friends and family.

Taking a break from your mobile screen has many benefits. The main one? It eases the anxiety of leaving it at home, running out of battery or checking for messages. Getting rid of your mobile phone is a way to get that holiday R & R.

Tips for taking a break from your mobile

The most radical solution when taking a digital break is turning off your mobile phone or putting it in airplane mode. But, if this is taking too far, you can follow these tips to get away from your mobile this summer:

• Put notifications on silent: eliminates all types of sound, vibrations, lights and pop-up messages. This way you’ll be able to focus on what really matters and make the most of your time.

• Clean up your apps: you probably don’t use all the apps installed on your mobile. Ask yourself which ones are essential and which you can do without. Delete the latter and you’ll have less distractions.

• Avoid using your mobile as an alarm clock: turn it off completely when you go to bed and you will avoid the temptation to look at it in the middle of the night or as soon as you wake up.

• Get away from your mobile: leave it out of your reach and create a space between you and the mobile. It will help you to look at it all the time. Carrying it with you may mean avoiding conversations or ignoring what is really happening around you.

Mobile phones have become an extension of our body and we most likely don’t realise the dependence we have on them. This summer, try keeping some distance from your smartphone and enjoy the reality around you.

“Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master” Christian Lous Lange

Sources:

NPR News

Psychology Today magazine

This post is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)