How to Do a Digital Detox to Benefit Your Mental and Physical Health

Natalie Glaze, cofounder of Stay Wild swimwear, offers tips for disconnecting regularly.

Natalie Glaze / Courtesy of Natalie Glaze

Kickstart your New Year alongside SI Swimsuit with 31 Days of Wellness! This January, SI Swimsuit will unlock exclusive offerings with SI Swimsuit models, wellness experts, fitness gurus and others, who will guide you through 31 days of rejuvenating workouts, recipes, self-care rituals and more.

With the temporary ban of TikTok a week ago, many of us had to face how much time we regularly spend endlessly scrolling. Whether your app of choice is Instagram, Pinterest or Threads, there’s no doubt that you may wince each time you receive a Screen Time report on your iPhone each week.

Whether you’re constantly connected for work or play, there’s something to be said about taking a digital detox every once in a while. Turning off your phone, or simply limiting your screen time, has many health benefits, and will free you up in order to get some of those 2025 goals in motion, whether that means squeezing in a quick workout at home or getting a better night’s sleep.

If you find yourself constantly doomscrolling, it may be time to take a break from your phone. Below are a few tips to do so with ease.

What is a digital detox?

A digital detox requires you to completely disconnect from your devices—cell phone, computer, tablet, etc.—for a set period of time in an effort to reduce your screen time and enjoy life in the real world. That means taking a break from social media, email, texting and the endless scroll.

Digital detox benefits

Taking time to disconnect, even briefly, can help boost your focus, reduce stress and improve your sleep. A recent study found that a two-week social media detox in particular can enhance one’s satisfaction with life, overall wellness and relationships. So, whether you’re looking to detox overnight or long term, you’ll reap major benefits for both your mental and physical health.

How to do a digital detox

The frequency in which you complete a digital detox is entirely up to you. While you can choose to turn off your phone for the evening every night at 8 p.m. and not turn it back on until 10 a.m. the next morning, for example, you could also consider dedicating a particular day of the week, like Sunday, to being device-free.

Natalie Glaze, cofounder of sustainable swimwear brand Stay Wild, opts for a version of the latter, and chooses to dedicate regular time offline to reset on weekends. The thriving entrepreneur (Glaze is also the founder of minimal jewelry brand ByGlaze) sticks to her set working hours during the week and says that regularly taking time away from her phone to disconnect makes her more present, not to mention a better business owner.

Natalie Glaze / Courtesy of Natalie Glaze

“I think it’s vital to disconnect regularly even if not for long,” she says. “We spend so much time on our devices and my whole life is through emails [and] social media, and my phone and laptop are very crucial. But taking time away allows me to rebalance and often my best ideas come when I have had a bit of time to disconnect. I think mentally, as well, it’s very important to have that disconnection.”

If you’re interested in breaking up with your device (temporarily), Glaze has a great tip, which will help ease you into a daily digital detox to test out the waters.

“My best bit of advice is pop your phone on airplane mode when you fall asleep ... [which] means you are able to wake up and not have a million notifications,” she suggests. “I often do this for the first hour when I wake up, which allows me to start the day in a calm way and when I am mentally prepared, I take it off airplane mode and start the day. That’s my number one bit of life-changing advice.”

Stay tuned to SI Swimsuit’s 31 Days of Wellness to continue to learn how to take charge in the year ahead!

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