5 things I learnt by doing a digital detox

I just spent 6 days in Timor Leste & barely touched my phone.

Admittedly it was a forced digital detox because wifi is pretty hit and miss here. And out of these six days, two of them were spent on a remote island with zero telecommunications.

Here are five things that happened as a consequence.

 1.      I slept much better.

 We all know this right? But how many of us actually do the whole “no electronics in the bedroom” or “no being on your phone for one hour before bedtime” thing?

Not unless you are on a remote island and it is forced on you!

And the payoff was sensational.

I’ve suffered from insomnia for most of my adult life. Sleeping through the night for me is rare and something I’ve wished I could do for decades.

So being able to get to sleep quickly and actually STAY asleep … oh wow .. just bliss.

 It was like this mystical island had cast an awesome sleepy spell over me.

Except, it wasn’t a spell. It was the absence of that pesky blue light emanating from my iPhone.

2 - Instead of showing each other silly Facebook videos, my partner and I talked more.

Oh yes we did. We have been friends for a long time, but I reckon we learnt more about each other’s childhood in two days than we had in years. 

Tick.

3 - I read more.

Now, I love reading. But let’s face it, evil social media has meant I don’t do it as much as I should.

I am not blaming the internet. I am blaming me for having zero willpower, and spending most of my nights looking at other people’s lives on Instagram.

But I read more and I was happier as a result.

 4 - I felt less anxious and stressed.

Social media has so many benefits (such as you are reading my story because of it now), but gee it makes me compare my life to others.

Yeah I know it’s all “highlight reels” and “only 10 percent of someone’s real life” (mine included I might add), but still. There is nothing like a good scroll of Instagram to make me feel inadequate, agitated and like I’m losing at life.

5- I had more time on my hands, and as a result I was way more active.

 I have a theory that since the internet was invented .. people exercise less.

Or is that just me?

I know from my own behaviour, pre internet (yeah I am a dinosaur) or even pre social media, I was a LOT more active. Social media distracts us and eats up (wastes) so much of our time. It’s so much easier to crash on a couch after a long day at work and aimlessly scroll the platforms.

But now, out here on a remote little island, I was active again!

I went on big walks, did so much snorkelling, went on strolls around the resort, and swam in the ocean when I wanted something to do.

And boy was it glorious.

I also took more photographs and took notice of my surroundings. I wrote more.

We got out, met and talked to some really interesting people  - including a marine biologist who had to cop the brunt of our inane and vague questions like ‘so hey, what kind of fish is big and spotty?”

Fun fact - this marine biologist and his lovely wife are our neighbours in Darwin! Woohoo. 

We also met two beautifully spoken ex journalists who were smart and lovely and so engaging (and intimidating). 

5 - You don’t actually miss out on anything.

 Except my good friend Hannah had a baby and I didn’t see her message until the next day. 

BUT other than that - NOTHING.