By Nico Strydom

Technology has become an integral part of our lives but it’s important to take a breather now and then and take care of your digital wellbeing.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led us to being even more dependent on technology than before. Virtual meetings have become the norm and resulted in our having to be online and linked almost all the time.

The dependency on technology can however have an impact on your mental health and also influence your interpersonal relationships. Google provides tips on how you can begin to develop healthy user habits regarding technology.

Decrease your screen time on digital appliances. With people nowadays being at home more often and the festive season around the corner, people spend more time on screens. However, it’s important to set boundaries, such as for example not looking at your digital appliance every time you receive a message. A way to do this is to switch on your phone’s do-not-disturb function so that messages are hidden and you can catch up on them later.

It’s easy to be occupied on your cell phone for hours, whether it be to watch videos, play games of be active on social media. This can result in you neglecting other areas of your life, so it’s important to limit your cell phone use.

Switch off when you go to bed. The use of technology before bedtime can influence your sleep and result in you not enjoying a good night’s sleep. You could for example dim your screen light earlier in the evening and rather read a book before retiring.

It’s important to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Cherish family time and make sure that no-one is busy on their digital appliances during that time. Enjoy your meals together and set the cell phones aside. Also make sure that you don’t use your phone excessively at work for activities that aren’t work-related. You could for example set your email on your phone to only receive important messages.

You need to be aware of your user habits as this is a way of realising if you spend too much time on your digital appliances and then taking decisive steps to take care of your technological wellbeing.

Source:

Google Africa: https://africa.googleblog.com/