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A lot of families, especially parents, are concerned about the impact of technology on their kids. These are the building blocks, and not paying proper attention can have a huge impact. Using the phone a lot can have a severe impact on the mental and physical health of the child.
Ever since our world started moving towards technology, things have become more complicated. Despite parents and kids knowing how much cyberbullies, sexual predators, and data thieves are active on the internet, families still aren’t taking much care of digital wellbeing. Many research shows that digital wellbeing isn’t even on the priority list of families.
What is digital wellbeing?
Digital well-being refers to the process of controlling the amount of time we spend in front of our mobile devices and websites. We do understand the importance of limiting the amount of time we spend on our devices. In today’s time, it becomes essential to have control over it.
Whether we want to control the time or keep a check with it, we should focus on how much time we’re spending on the device. This is usually because spending too much time on the mobile or website will have a huge impact on productivity.
The digital wellbeing strategies are focusing on helping people get back on their daily life track. Instead of allowing technology to be our master, we should take charge and be the master to avoid potential damage and lower the risk.
Importance of digital wellbeing
Ever since mobile came into being and with the internet, we are stuck to our mobile phones. Everything we need is available right on our phones.
Technology is a blessing as well as a curse. We need to address digital wellbeing immediately to improve the physical and mental quality.
The massive use of technology is having a significant impact on our mental health, which eventually goes on to impact our physical health. Being too much dependent on technology not only consumes a lot of our time but also has a negative impact on our social skills, increased anxiety, decreased sleep quality, and more.
We don’t realize but being dependent on technology for long leads us to compare our lives with others. This has a negative impact on our life. Moreover, one notification from social media can increase cortisol levels of our body, which in turn are responsible for anxiety.
Although we use technology to increase our productivity, it has a negative impact on our productivity. It is necessary that we focus on the small aspects to avoid any significant damage. The world is full of distractions, but we need to stick by it to avoid any significant aspect. If you want to be successful, you need to be focused.
Many parents are adopting successful ways to boost digital wellbeing. Not only kids but parents too need to be careful about it. Several companies over the years have launched digital wellbeing apps. You can focus on choosing one that suits your requirements the most.
How to practice digital wellbeing?
Following the path of digital wellbeing may initially seem to be extremely tough, especially if you are addicted to your device. However, if you are careful, you can ensure proper digital wellbeing for yourself as well as your child.
- Allow children to play outside.
Making your child sit in the home all day, will either lead to being stuck on the television or their mobile screens. This can, however, has a huge negative impact. It’s their growing years, and if they’re indoors all day, playing with their mobile phones, they will become weak. It would be best if you allowed the child to go outside and play for some time and get a breath of fresh air.
- Set a curfew
You should set a curfew for yourself as well as your kids. Looking at your mobile or laptop screens before going to sleep will increase cortisol and reduce melatonin. This will further have an impact on the deepest sleep cycle. This is one of the main reasons why many people become prone to insomnia. Hence, you may want to set a curfew and stop using your phone for 30 minutes before going to sleep. This makes it easier for you to go into a deep sleep.
- Track app usage
Keeping track of your app users can play an important role in enhancing the overall impact. You should keep track of how much you use a particular app or your phone the entire day. Most of us do not realize how much time we spend on our phones.
If we keep a track of our app usage, we will be able to cut it down. If you cut down the app tracking, you can prefer deleting apps like Instagram and Facebook. Moreover, you should also keep a check on how much time you’re spending on your overall phone usage.
- Turn off notifications
If you don’t want to delete the app and yet limit the usage, you can disable the notifications. This helps you stay focused. Moreover, disabling the notification doesn’t affect your productivity and keeps a check on how you interact using the app.
- Go for a digital detox.
If you want to cut down on your addiction, you need to undergo a digital detox. There’s nothing better than that. You can choose to stay away from technology for a week or month and go on a complete digital detox. Meanwhile, you can take an active part in studying and practice other things that might interest you.
Takeaway
You should always lookout for ways that can help you decide how you interact yet stay within limits.
As much as digital wellbeing is essential for you, it is important for your kid as well. Therefore, you must keep a check on your usage and try to cut it down as much as you can for your overall benefit.