Master Digital Consumption to Benefit Your Work Life

"Minimalism isn't about removing things you love. It's about removing the things that distract you from the things you love." - Joshua Becker

People spend an average of 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phones every single day… and it’s just getting worse as the younger generations are born into this screen-life normality. Americans spend around 5.4 hours a day using phones. Millennials are on their phones 5.7 hours per day, while baby boomers devote 5 hours to their smartphones.

This screen time consumption is energetically draining. Trawling through the internet, getting distracted by adverts and losing yourself down the click-bait, world wide web rabbit hole until you come out of it hours later and worse informed than when you started. Save the tabs, lock the phone, come back to it all later when another notification lights up your screen and you get caught in the whirlwind of flashing colors, life highlights and promos again… So how can we reduce our digital consumption to benefit our work and home lives?

Reset your digital life in a more intentional and minimalist manner

How rapidly science and technology has evolved in the last 40 years is just unbelievable. We are becoming more and more like a digital species rather than a social one of nature. The more time spent in the online realm - where we believe ourselves to be more connected - the more our lives are becoming scattered, unsocial and less productive across our home, work and social lives. Moreover, studies have linked overuse of smartphones to loneliness, depression and sleep deprivation. So, if this resonates with you, it’s time to take some serious action.

Delete news apps & phone games

News apps breed negative energy. Of course, it’s good to stay informed on what’s going on in the world, but it’s important to not allow yourself to be consumed by it. With a non-stop stream of bad news, there’s only one way you’ll end up feeling when you get through enough of it…

The same goes for phone games. Although they can be addictive for the dopamine hits our brain receives every time we level up or get a like on a photo, dopamine is addictive, so you will crave more and more of it and end up in a vicious cycle of never having enough. 

Minimize scrolling

Social media is designed to keep our brains engaged so that we spend more time on them - it’s how the super power tech players make all that money. It’s also how we are accustomed to using our smartphones.

You know what it’s like when you are trying to concentrate on your work, then suddenly you receive a notification. All it takes is one ‘bing’ sound and a lit-up screen for you to lose your full concentration. Then it can be hours before you realize your precious time has been wasted on absolutely nothin

Regulate screen time

Researchers found that people spending more than 2 hours on social media every day are more likely to suffer from poor mental health and psychological distress. Excessive screen time affects our sleeping habits.

Start practicing mindfulness

To really benefit our work lives, we can go one step further than just minimizing our digital consumption though - by practicing mindfulness.

Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present in each moment to consciously concentrate on what you are doing. This is an extremely useful tool if you’re looking to maximize your work productivity and can be practiced in every moment of life. 

The more often you choose to put your phone down and actively enjoy the world around you, the easier the practice of mindfulness will become, eventually becoming an automatic habit.

Use technology to help save you time

Of course, we won’t ever be able to ditch all digital tools - and we shouldn’t. Instead, let’s use technology to our benefit when we can - to save ourselves time so that we can get back to what matters the most in life (and at work!), with our full attention.

If you’re struggling to concentrate at work - or just never seem to have enough time in the day, then it’s time to create your Appreciation Program. This way, you can gift your work colleagues, employees and clients in just a few clicks - without the hassle of even having to choose presents for them with our multiple options link and no delivery delays. Ahhh, that’s better.