#Unplug: Why you should go on a digital detox in quarantine

Thanks to WhatsApp groups, work emails, breaking news and social media notifications, our phones are buzzing more than ever before during lockdown. Here’s how you can unplug...

Ever since the lockdown, Pune-based Sarika Deshmukh’s screen time has increased “ten-fold”. The IT professional’s day begins with checking news updates on her smartphone, followed by a video call /work conference call.What follows next is her alternating between working and household chores. In the middle of that, she takes calls, replies to messages and emails, scrolls through her social media feeds, and reads breaking news popping up on her phone.

“By evening, I feel like throwing my phone away. I need a break from my phone and social media,” Sarika exclaims.
Amidst social distancing, with our whole lives being lived online, it’s hard to take a break from social media notifications, work calls and emails. Predictably, the constant virtual clutter is taking a toll on people’s minds. So how does one unplug from all the noise?

Try a non-digital activity like mediation or writing
Myron Curtis Braganza, Mumbai-based PR professional says that whenever he gets free time between WFH and household chores, instead of spending time on the phone, he invests it in “deep cleansing his soul."

He adds, “More minutes of meditation, more hours of reading and more hours of working out at home helps me declutter my mind and destress. More hours of writing awakening the creative side.”
Keep a time-table

Seeing people, especially celebs, relaxed and enjoying the ‘holiday period’ by learning cooking, working out, painting etc, on social media - while you’re aren’t able to - impacts your mental well-being, forcing a false sense of urgency to do that. Hence it is essential to have a timetable in place (during WFM) and discipline so that you have enough time to switch off to help your brain relax,” says Dr Rajeev Bhargav, clinical psychologist, from Mumbai.
Rashmi Shah, a techie from Bangaluru, is doing exactly that. "What I'm doing to keep digital distraction and stress at bay, is only interacting via emails for work. I log out from all social media platforms (both on phone and laptop) during the day and only log in at 6 pm. If you are logged into too many accounts, chances are you feel the urge to check if someone has messaged you. had an old Nokia phone which I'm using to make calls to my parents on weekends now. Instead of news apps, I get my news from the TV."
Keep that smartphone aside when you go to bed
Mental health experts and doctors are reporting that there has been a rise in the number of people complaining that they are either not able to sleep, and our screen time has everything to do with it.

“People are spending more time watching series or playing games on their mobiles at night in bed now. And while they think it is a recreation that will help them relax their minds, it is causing both anxiety and insomnia. Some even watch the news on their phones before they go off to sleep which causes disturbed sleep. One must keep one’s phone away at least two hours before one falls asleep. The “do not disturb” feature of the mobile phones is recommended, especially now when the entire day is spent consuming information via smartphone, more than ever before,” says Dr Sneha Upadhayay, a clinical psychologist from Delhi.

"I am not active on WhatsApp, so all notifications are turned off. I also mute group chats and them twice a day!” says Akanksha Sadekar, an entrepreneur from Mumbai