Everyone wants to live a life full of vim and vigor with digital habits to keep them sorted. Filled with adventure, learnings, perspectives, lessons and so much more. But in the last decade, it is seen that the major weightage of our time is spent on screen. Phone screen, work screen, entertainment screen, and so much more.
If there are 24 hours in a day, most of us have 3-4 hours of screen time and it is only on the increasing side.
As per Science Direct, global pooled prevalence estimates are 26.99% (95% CI, 22.73–31.73) for smartphone addiction, 17.42% (95% CI, 12.42–23.89) for social media addiction, 14.22% (95% CI, 12.90–15.65) for Internet addiction.
Life with Digital habits is good and important to sustain the current AI and Meta world. But if we as a generation have the privilege to experience both Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, then why should we not live both of them simultaneously?
But for that, it’s important we know how to balance our real self and digital self.
Because, if you ask me, both lives have their pros and cons but getting the right self care coaching can make you help how to experience the pros of both the self while keeping the cons to the minimum.
Let’s understand the main focus of the digital self
When you reflect on your digital self-awareness, you will realize how the role of technology can help you care for yourself better in life and how misusing it can ruin the better version of you.
Your digital habits impact the physical, mental, and even the emotional aspect of your real self.
And how you take care of it decides the value you earn by the technology usage. Here are the 3 C’s you must evaluate to know what are the main focus of your digital habits and whether it’s helping you to be a better version of yourself.
- Consumption: Not just the quantity of living in the digital world but also the quality. What you see, hear, and absorb from the digital world determines whether you are using it or misusing it.
- Connection: In the real world, materialistic desires try to keep us away from actual self-understanding. Similarly, if you can’t stay without technology around you for a minute, hour, day, or any quantity of time for that matter, this blog is a must-read for you to improve your digital habits.
- Cause: The reason behind spending time in the digital world decides how much you are into you. For eg, if you spend time on the phone listening to TED talks on the importance of self care, you are adding something to your real world which otherwise can be destructive if you just scroll through the different contents available on an online platform.
How to keep yourself healthy in the digital age
I try to follow the 7 patterns of self care behaviors with not just my real self but also my digital self. These are the following digital habits I try to abide by that even you can start.
- Sign up for better care by connecting with people who are focused on their growth. Follow individuals who share a growth journey. Enroll in a self care coaching program and understand more essence of life by following proper digital habits. You can even check out some freebies that I keep sharing for all of us to walk to a better us.
- Consume a balanced diet by attaching a purpose to all the digital platforms you use. For example, I keep Facebook to remind me of the birthdays in my contacts which helps me wish my them on time and add to their special day. This way I’ve limited my Facebook time to 10 minutes a day.
- Connect digital usage to physical activity. Download fitness apps or use step counters to track your movements and make the most out of your digital habits. I detached from my Instagram surfing addiction by aligning it with walking. Whenever I felt like scrolling my feed I used to do it but the condition was that I had to walk as long as I was using it.
- Enhance your rest and sleep by using Do Not Disturb on your phone. Pick some soothing sounds or meditation audio and listen to them before you go to bed.
- Manage your stress by tracking your routine. I use the Routinco app, which is an easy routine planner to track my day schedule. What I plan, how I execute, and where can I improve, give me the power to fight any stress that comes my way. I feel that I can plan out the solution to the problem.
- Boost your morale by establishing interpersonal relations. Every social media platform is a great way of using it. As I mentioned before, I use Facebook birthday reminders to not miss out on the special days of people around me. I track the whereabouts of my circle on Instagram and compliment them. In fact, if you check out my Instagram page, you’ll find I keep sharing thoughts and ideas that we can use to grow better and live smoother. This way, my circle improves their life, in turn, keeping me happy and content.
- Teach your digital self all the safety practices. Randomly signing everywhere, and opening the public space without knowing the cookies they might use, can be risky. A lot more things like getting scammed, pranked, or people with fake accounts using your social media handles or bullying you there. I try to keep everything fun and light on my Instagram page, and share only useful content on YouTube to reason out any criticism I receive. And I make sure not to take any of them on my nerves. Staying safe will help you stay free and relaxed.
Know why you should take care of yourself: What is self care and why is it so important for your life?
10 good digital habits that you must follow
- Keep a purpose and a time limit set for all your social media accounts. Before pressing the app icon, question yourself, why am I opening Instagram right now? What will I get from it?
- If asked to keep away from the digital world, you should be able to do it. Imbibe this in your habit by cutting off from your digital self every once in a while. You can start with 5 minutes a day and go to one day a week. The key is not to stay away. You should be able to stay away without disturbing your real self.
- Every digital move that you make, you should know the value it is bringing. If you’re using WhatsApp, what is the reason? What outcome does investing your time there bring to you?
- Record your thoughts when you see other people active on digital platforms. Journaling your thought processes will help you understand the impact things are making on your digital self and whether you are going in the right direction.
- Fix a digital time curfew at night for a peaceful sleep. Like 9 pm last for social media or 10 pm last for any conversations with friends and family. Setting a sleeping schedule helps your body perform better.
- Social media are a great way to engage with your community. Try building your personal branding and staying in touch with as much as possible, within the specified time you fix for that particular platform.
- Maintain politeness with your digital self. Time is pacing fast and everyone is equally trying to keep up. Misunderstandings are common. Try staying humble and reflect on the bigger picture before you converse with your loved ones or even with strangers.
- Set your boundaries too. If the other side is abusing you, it is not a miscommunication but a bad communication. Instead of harming your real self with it, let your digital self create a boundary and deal with it practically.
- Allocate time wisely and then stick to it. The digital world is not just restricted to social media, there are games, dating apps, and other digital apps that have higher chances of eating your time.
- Assess your digital self periodically like you would do to your real self. There are digital well-being tools that keep a record of your time spent on every app. Evaluate and realign it with your inner goals and priorities
You might already be practicing some of these digital habits, so try following them religiously.
A perfect balance between a real self and a digital self could contribute so much to your self-care, and unlock a better version of you.
If you wish to know more about digital habits, try interesting tasks, or work on making your life a better place to be in, I can be your divine buddy to help you understand your existence better. Simply schedule a call for free and let’s take the first step to a better you.