11 Tips For Your Next Digital Detox

To get into an unplugged groove, start by taking baby steps and keep challenging yourself to cut the cord a bit further every day without, of course, endangering your livelihood or life. Here are a few ways to get started:

There are digital detox courses and camps, books and seminars, and even facilities with treatment programs akin to those originally designed for substance abuse. Yes, all that connectivity can come at a high price, but a least now there are help and treatment options, as well as apps (!) to help cut the digital cord.

Or take a step the Zen direction and learn how to not entertain yourself at all. Instead, learn how to be still and quiet the mind. Meditation, without the help of an app, is a great way to clear your head, as is simply "spacing out." Refresh your brain by giving it a few moments throughout the day to wander, to take in the surroundings and appreciate where you are in the moment in the real world, not the digital one.

Consequently, our constant connectivity can cause us to sleep less and poorly which over time can encourage the development of a host of life-altering health problems. To help your body achieve the rest it needs, embrace the darkness — as in detox nightly, simply by banishing all electronics from the bedroom.

It may seem strange at first, but doing so will give your exhausted faculties a workout different from what they've grown accustomed to — and may help develop a few new neural pathways to boot. Make notes, doodle during dull meetings, write a love song or start sketching — whatever moves you. Using pen and paper instead of feverishly typing and tapping can help liberate body and soul, giving you a sense of physical and mental freedom the digital world cannot.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other forms of social media may keep us all connected and make us feel a part of the larger community, but they are also major time and attention sucks. If you want to regain more control over your digital life, slash your social media time. Check-in in the morning and again at night, and call it a day.

How to combat the influx? Some ideas:

If you're going to read in bed at night, read an old-fashioned book on paper, in low amber light or with a non-LED flashlight, to keep the blue light at bay and make reading in bed less disruptive to sleep. If LEDs are all you've got, then try wearing blue-blocker or amber glasses in the evenings to help your brain power down.

If you've dropped your landline but still need to be able to receive a late night call from the kids, keep the phone close enough so you can hear it ring but keep it face down or covered so the screen doesn't wake you up when someone emails you in the middle of the night.

An old-fashioned watch will give you one less reason to constantly check your phone.

Yoga class, group meditation events, houses of worship, the lap lane at the local pool, knitting and quilting circles, you get the picture. None of these activities are compatible with the use of digital devices — so it's time to check 'em out!

Set a nightly electronic sunset time for yourself and your family and stick to it. Commit to a weekly digital "Sabbath," and try doing a weekend, completely unplugged. From there, it's just a hop-skip to a week-long digital sabbatical ... or what we used to call "a vacation"!