7 Ways To Switch Off + Be More Mindful Online

Last weekend we went ‘glamping’ on the north Norfolk coast with friends and it was exactly what we all needed. We hired a big car and drove up straight after work on Friday through a patchwork of green and golden fields and forests until we hit the beach.

We had no wifi and hardly any signal, so vowed to all spend the weekend as offline as possible. I didn’t even try to look at my social feeds – I just posted a few tweets to my last blog post (I’m terrible at scheduling posts, so what you see is usually what I’ve posted live at that moment), checked for any urgent emails or messages (thankfully there were none), snapped a few pictures along the way, and then put my phone away and ignored it. We spent the whole weekend just exploring the region, lying on the beach, cooking, and playing board games – and all came back 100% more energised as a result of our offline weekend. As proof: even though we were away 3 days and I had forgotten my phone charger, I came home with 66% battery – a modern day miracle (by my poor standards at least).

Although I’ve basically made a career out of being always-connected, I’ve come to realise the importance of switching off whenever I can, setting boundaries for my phone / digital consumption, and trying to be more mindful when I am online. And although it’s an impossible expectation to quit our phones cold-turkey in an always-connected world – particularly if, like me, your role requires digital connectivity – there are practical hacks we can implement to break our unhealthy phone addictions and get the most out of our online lives.

Below, the best ways I’ve managed to find a balance online (but I’d love to know yours, too):

Pictured: Pampelone dress c/- // Karen Walker sunglasses // Loeffler Randall sandals // Eugenia Kim hat // Kassatex beach towel // Missoma necklace // J.CREW bracelet // H&M earrings.

1. Choose where you spend your time online // Much like your choice of where to shop, what to eat, and who to spend your time with, there is a seemingly endless amount of choice when it comes to what you can consume online. And just like those other three, what we choose can have an impact on our mood, health, or happiness. So if you want to get the best experience from the least amount of time online, be mindful about what content you choose to consume. Follow fewer sites and people, but better quality (see point 5 below), try to cut out tabloid journalism + click-bait articles (the internet equivalent of junk food – fun for a second but leaves you feeling worse afterwards), and choose thoughtful opinion articles or sites which add some value or enrich your knowledge, and which you genuinely love to read (life is way to short to hate-read anything). Just as you ‘vote with your wallet’ when you shop, you should ‘vote with your clicks’ when you browse and only support those sites and writers you would actually want to endorse.

2. Set times + limits // We’ve all been there; mindlessly scrolling through your feeds or falling into a YouTube black hole and before you know it it’s 1am and you have to be up in 6 hours. Just as you would any other appointment or daily routine, try setting times for your phone usage. I try to multi-task my social media consumption and limit my scrolling to first thing in the morning when I’m having my coffee, whilst walking to get lunch, and while watching a TV show or two (if it’s something that doesn’t require my full attention) in the evening. Non-work emails and news headlines are only checked during my morning and evening commute (when I’ll also listen to music or one of my favourite podcasts), whilst eating lunch (only if I’m on my own, of course), and once more in the evening.

I used to have a bad habit of constantly refreshing my emails and social feeds at countless random points during the day but found it to be less time-wasting to just ‘batch’ everything at certain times of the day. Figure out which times work best for you, try to batch each category (social media, text messages / emails, news, etc.) and try to keep to those times as much as possible.

3. Keep your bed a phone-free zone // There are many reasons why using our phones in bed is bad for our health. As science constantly reminds us, the blue light emitted from our screens tricks our brains into ‘awake’ mode and significantly disrupts our sleep quality and patterns (probably why we all seem to wake up still feeling exhausted…). But it’s also all too easy to get distracted and / or stressed by something we read online, which then affects our sleep even further.

I tried going back to an old-fashioned alarm clock and leaving my phone in another room, but found the shrill ringing much more stressful to be woken up by vs the pleasant sounds of birdsong that I use as my alarm on my phone. So instead I charge my phone away from the bed (at least out of arms reach) so that I’m not tempted to reach over for it if I wake up in the night. At the very least, change your default phone settings so that it switches to ‘night mode’ after a certain time each day (so the light the screen emits changes from blue to yellow), set it to ‘do not disturb’ or airplane mode until the morning so you’re not bothered by the buzz of notifications (which our brains are hardwired to engage with), and pick up a book before bedtime instead.

And if you must check your phone first thing in the morning and last thing at night, (a habit I’m trying to break, but am still definitely guilty of some days when I know I need to be awake but can’t quite face getting up yet) then avoid anything you know might stress you out. As a general rule I avoid looking at the news headlines, work emails, or Donald Trump’s tweets at least until I’ve had my coffee and am on my way to work.

4. Be more purposeful in who you follow // I was going to call this ‘unfollow anyone who doesn’t bring you joy’, but that would be too limiting.  Not everyone you follow needs to make you smile – some should inform you, broaden your horizons, and make you think. Others should inspire you, share your interests and curate things you like, or offer beautiful escapism. But everyone should add some value to your feed. If anyone makes you feel bad about yourself – whether that’s because they’re just too negative, or because you can’t help comparing yourself to them and feeling worse about yourself – unfollow them.

I recently unfollowed hundreds of account across all my social channels (mostly all brands and magazines who weren’t adding anything of substance) + unsubscribed from half of my newsletter subscriptions and now I can actually see the posts from people I really like rather than them getting lost in a sea of clickbait articles about the Kardashians. Do an audit of all your digital subscriptions + social media channels and un-friend, un-follow, or un-subscribe from anyone who doesn’t inspire you (or who you can’t remember why you added in the first place) and add a few new ones who do. I promise you’ll feel better afterwards!

5. Engage more on social media // Once you’ve got rid of all the excess accounts, make a point of engaging with those friends and accounts you do still follow. Start a conversation, respond to their posts, hit ‘like’, and let someone know if something they shared resonated with you. As a ‘content creator’ myself, I know first-hand how important and rewarding engagement is for whoever the author is. It takes hours to create a single blog post, but unless readers comment you can be left wondering if something actually resonated or not – comments are so much more meaningful than analytics telling me how many people saw a post. But as a reader, engagement is just as important – I’ve built real offline friendships with people I’ve met via Instagram, started deep conversations and built stronger connections with people I follow (and therefore enjoy following even more once I’ve got to know them), and even landed jobs and amazing opportunities – all as a result of engaging meaningfully with those accounts and people who inspire me.

So next time you’re scrolling Instagram, seeing what’s happening on Twitter, or reading your favourite blogs – instead of just passively consuming that content, hit like whenever you appreciate what they’re putting out there, share or reply to an article you loved, and consider leaving a comment or starting a conversation if something resonates. It won’t take any more time but will result in a more meaningful social media experience.

6. Support your community // My favourite thing about social media is getting to connect with like-minded people the world over. Whether it’s a cause you’re passionate about, people who share your niche interests, the leaders + role models who inspire you, someone you’re convinced could be your separated-at-birth twin, the bloggers who just speak to you, or your local neighbourhood businesses – find your online tribe and amplify their voices, share their posts, and lend your voice to the things that matter to you.

7. Have one offline day per week // I’ve been doing this sort of without meaning to for the past year or so (ever since I quit my job and no longer had to know what was going on 24/7), and it’s been so satisfying. One day a week opt not to look at your phone / computer at all, save for quickly checking for any important emails or messages. I usually pick a Saturday or Sunday when I’m just being lazy at home or when I’m hanging out with friends and family and want to be completely present and either put my phone on airplane mode, leave it in another room (if I’m at home) or at the bottom of my bag (if I’m out) so I’m not tempted to check it every time a notification pops up on my screen. If I’m doing something fun I might snap a picture or two on my phone with the intention of posting it later (though usually I forget to do so anyway, which is also fine), but then immediately put my put my phone away. I still catch up on all my favourite sites and feeds when I come back, but I haven’t wasted all that time scrolling through things I didn’t really need to see the day before.

Pictured: Pampelone dress c/- // Karen Walker sunglasses (+ come in black) // Loeffler Randall gold sandals (+ come in nude) // Topshop gold bag (+ in silver) // vintage scarf worn as headband (similar style here) // Eugenia Kim hat (past season, but this season’s version here) // Kassatex beach towel // Missoma necklace (less expensive version here) // J.CREW bracelet // H&M earrings (+ in pink).

I hope this helps at least one of you! I’d love to know if you have any tips for being more purposeful with your online time? 

Love, Briony xx