Reclaiming Life: The importance of digital hygiene in a distracted world

 

When was the last time you witnessed the beautiful flower that blooms in your front gate,  and noticed the birds chirping. I can hear you saying- I have no time to watch all these! In this  fast-paced world, nobody has time to look at what surrounds us and what happens to our own  self. We are blindly running towards this machinery life with hands and ears on gadgets. We  fail to admire the things around us, the good soul in people, running roughly behind the  gadgets, at last our day starts and ends with them. 

We are using mobile phones while eating, talking and even while visiting temples. Imagine you  are sharing your problem with your close one and they are looking at the mobile phone, how  will you feel? There are people who take mobile phones to washrooms. And I have seen  people who keep their phone in a mobile stand and connect to earphones watching YouTube  while riding a bike. Can you imagine how risky it is? We forget the purpose of mobile phones  and how to utilize them properly. We are not mindful of what we consume through the mobile  phone, randomly switching videos and emotions became part of our life.  

Negative effects of excessive mobile usage: 

• The American Journal of Preventive Medicine has done a study that revels, over usage of  social medias and technology make oneself feel socially isolated. 
• There is an increase in the rate of depression, suicidal rates and self-harm behavior  due to over usage of technology, says Dr. Jean Twenge. 
• A study done by Microsoft Canada says that the average attention span of an individual  decreases from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. This gave rise to the concept of Too Long;  Didn’t read, which means an individual is not ready to read a long paragraph or  content as it takes much time. 
• It can also result in “Phantom Vibration Syndrome”. It is the false perception of  vibration or ringing of their mobile phone. Researchers say that over usage of mobile  phone may cause this syndrome. 
• A study done in Britain reported about 53% of mobile users tend to be anxious if their  phone runs out of battery, loses their mobile phone or while in no/less signal area. And  it is termed as NOMO phobia or No Mobile Phone Phobia. 
• Manoj Kumar Sharma heads SHUT clinic NIMHANS says, it takes about an average  of 23 minutes to regain the attention after the digital distraction. 
• Experts coined a term called Zombie Scrolling Syndrome which refers to  unintentional scrolling through social media without any destination. 
• Another major phenomenon in excessive mobile usage is called doom scrolling or  doom surfing. This denotes that people spend an excessive amount of time reading a large amount of negative news. 

In order to overcome all these and prevent yourself from mobile phone or gaming  addiction, let’s learn something called digital hygiene. 

What is digital hygiene? 

Digital hygiene is defined as the healthy practice we do to maintain our digital well-being and safeguard our mental health while using technology. It also speaks about privacy and  security of digital devices and data. We focus majorly on enhancing our digital well-

being. It’s similar to how we maintain our personal hygiene by practicing daily baths,  brushing teeth etc. And we can practice several steps to maintain digital hygiene. 

Steps to maintain digital hygiene: 

• Practice digital decluttering : It is the act of removing the unwanted apps and digital  content. 
• Set app limits : Now-a-days, Instagram and other social media apps have inbuilt time  limits. It helps us to get notifications that remind us of the over usage of that app. Be  intentional while using social media. 
• Create a phone free zone : Set your environment digital free where you avoid carrying  your mobile phone with you for some time at your home, while you are with your  friends or having food. That gives you some personal space and connect with peoples  around you. 
• Implement screen free time : If in case you feel, you cannot practice phone free zone  at least practice screen free time. 
• Follow the 20-20-20 rule : After every 20 minutes working at the computer, we should  look at an object for 20 seconds that is 20 feet away. 

Benefits of practising digital hygiene 

• Better sleep quality. 

• More real-life interactions. 

• Diminished digital anxiety and stress. 

• Enhanced focus and productivity. 

• Increased sense of control. 

• Supports a balanced lifestyle. 

“Start today, declutter one app, enjoy one tech-free meal, or take a short walk without your  phone. Reclaim your attention. Reconnect with life.”

Written by : Ms. Kavikkuil G J

PhD scholar in Psychology, University of Madras.