Unplugging for Mental Clarity, Productivity and Career Boost

How does digital overload occur?

Put simply, by being alive in 2024.

Digital impacts on our life are everywhere .  Mobile phones, computers, televisions, iPods. Wait at a train station , get stuck at traffic lights, another flashy billboard.

Guess what?

Over the next 18 months as AI impacts every aspect of our being, the exposure will become more targeted and insidious. In fact, it will even feel better than it ever has. 

To the detriment of our humanity.

Five Weird Impacts of Too Much Digital Immersion

Here are five scientifically proven, quirky facts about the effects of excessive digital device use:

Why digital detox is essential (and parallels the development of Mental Fitness)

My staff, my family, and many of my friends have been driven mad with my rants about putting the phone down over the years.  My journey into mental fitness, as it was when I was a manager,  has always included optimising the performance of those around me. It is testament to the power of dopamine, and FOMO, how hard it is for many.

So much of what we try and improve for people as a mental fitness coach can be achieved by simply putting down the phone.

Improve Productivity?  Limit Phone Use at the office

As I started my career people still smoked in some offices. But there was this growing annoyance that a smoker could go outside every 45 minutes and have a cigarette… but it wasn’t considered as a break. Realistically they were getting an extra two hours a day off.

(Cancer aside, some excellent arguments for regular breaks and nicotine hits for productivity, focus and reset. Another story)

Is playing with a phone at a desk any different?

On average, the average person picks up their phone 58 times a day. Every beep, flashing light, notification and distraction not only breaks the train of thought, but progressively fills the brain up with junk, gossip and hormone driven distraction which hammers productivity.

The distraction these days is so good! Pretty animations, organic sounds, time-dependent offers if we only click now…

When I started my role as CIO, I mentioned to the CEO I wanted a no phones policy in my development team at work, his response was “but we can’t tell people they can’t use their phone… What if someone needs to get in touch with them?”.

I was flabbergasted. I suggested someone could ring the front office number.

So I negotiated with my development team; no more weekend work, no more weekend deployments, I would even limit the amount of times every day that people could come into the office and distract them. But they needed to turn their mobile phone off, put in a desk, not have it visible, and they could check it on normal breaks.

Uproar and by the start of week two, having enjoyed a weekend off, they got it. Their productivity skyrocketed. They got weekends off. They are healthier.

The other C-level managers looked on in admiration, but would not implement the same policy, because like parents, they were worried about pushback.

Parents really need to lift their game

I’m one of the 1st to admit that in the early days, I thought iPads and kids were just meant to be. In fact, my daughter at the time who was just under two years old featured in iPad development adverts for our business.  It was a saviour – we could go out to dinner, give the iPad to our daughter and boom, she was entertained…. and isolated and ignored us and would not put the iPad down when dinner arrived.

But she wasnt socialised, learning, seeing the example of her parents . Then the rumours came out that many people working in technology don’t allow their children to have excessive phone use. The first bits of science came out about the impact on kids and their minds , with my tail between my legs, we restarted.

My daughter was probably the last one in her year level to get a phone. By this stage, the science was absolute; mobile phones, particularly for girls, particularly with social media, is one of the reasons why depression rates and associated self-harm has skyrocketed since 2008.

What’s more amazing? Most parents know this.

What do they do about it? Not much. After all, they are managing their own digital addictions.

Digital immersion removes individuality

As AI creeps ever closer to ruling our lives (or does it already?) The consensus amongst those more intelligent than me is that more than ever, humanity, are ability to think as humans, empathise, think creatively, is what will separate the haves from the have-nots.

Getting off the screens

I entirely get the aspect of me working in technology for 25 years, relying on people to use their computers to use my solutions, and meanwhile, I tell them to get off their screens.

Final Thoughts

Digital detox isn’t just about improving productivity or detoxifying your brain; it’s about reclaiming the moments that matter. Our devices should be tools, not tethers. By choosing when and how we use these tools, we can create a more mindful, healthful, and connected life.

Sure, your phone won’t know what hit it when it suddenly gets more downtime than a retired rock star, but the benefits to your mental and physical health will be worth every missed meme.