Digital Detox: How to put your phone down this summer

The idea of a digital detox is nothing new. Heck, the phrase brings up 66.6 million Google Search results.

Speaking of Google, you should hide your address, phone number and any other private details that come up in a search. Get the simple steps to do that here.

No matter how ubiquitous "digital detoxing" is, most of us don’t take enough time away from our devices. It’s unreasonable to say no screen time at all, but I challenge you to cut your screen time in half for a week. You’ll thank me later.

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Your smartphone keeps track of how much time you spend staring at your screen and which apps take up the most time. It’s eye-opening if you haven’t seen yours before or it’s been a while.

Social media, email and messages are the heavy hitters for most people. No surprise there.

Here’s how to find your screen time report.

You’ll see a graph of your activity, from the daily average time spent on your phone to your most popular apps. You can even see how many times you unlocked your phone. Now that can get embarrassing.

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The buzzes, chimes and dings are phone make are Pavlovian. You hear one and you must pick up your phone, right? A simple way to instantly cut down on how many times you pick up your phone: Set it to Do Not Disturb mode. 

I use this on vacation or weekends when the people I care about most are right by my side so I don’t need to worry about missing calls. That said, you can allow certain calls to ring through on the first try, or someone can call twice in a row to get around Do Not Disturb.

Here’s how to make let select people’s messages come through when using Do Not Disturb mode:

What about phone calls? There’s a separate setting for that:

There’s a hidden way to get through to someone whose phone is set to Do Not Disturb. I’ve used this with my son many times. Here’s how it works

If you use an Android, take these steps. Note: Steps vary depending on your phone’s model. You can always try searching your Settings for "Do Not Disturb."

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Next up, let’s deal with all the time you spend using apps. You don’t need to lock your phone in a safe to use it less. 

Your iPhone has built-in settings to reduce how much you use it while keeping it around in case you really need it. No extra downloads or apps to pay for!

Only calls, messages and apps you allow are available during downtime. Now, you probably need to access some apps throughout the day for work or other important matters. You can set limits for app categories or individual apps in iOS:

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Android’s Digital Wellbeing app lets you set app timers and schedule display changes. You can limit how much time you spend in individual apps:

The app will switch to black and white when you have one minute left. After that, you’re locked out. You can override this, of course, but I encourage you to stick with it.

You have the tools. Now, it’s up to you! You can do this.

Keep your tech-know going

My popular podcast is called "Kim Komando Today." It’s a solid 30 minutes of tech news, tips, and callers with tech questions like you from all over the country. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts. For your convenience, hit the link below for a recent episode.

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