Digital Wellness Day 2024

Today marks the 5^th annual Digital Wellness Day, which is dedicated to promoting the safe, healthy, and responsible use of technology. As we navigate our lives through an increasingly digitised world where more and more interactions are through digital platforms, digital wellness must be viewed as a central tenant of overall wellbeing. In Datapac, our commitment is grounded in a simple philosophy: our team members are people first, and employees second, and as such the nurturing of an individual’s holistic wellbeing, whether it be inside or outside of the workplace, digital or otherwise, is fundamental to long term physical and mental health, as well as success.

As a leader in Ireland’s technology space, we’re keenly aware just how thoroughly digital technologies have been integrated into virtually every industry imaginable. While this offers amazing opportunities to enhance overall productivity and drive growth, it is essential that these positive business outcomes don’t come at the expense people’s wellbeing.

What is Digital Wellness?

Before we dive in and explore some ways that both organisations and individuals can contribute to better digital wellness, let’s first take the time to frame exactly what it is. At its core, digital wellness involves creating and maintaining healthy habits in the daily use of technology – ensuring that our digital endeavours support our life goals, rather than detracting from them. It involves understanding and taking control over how we interact with technology, how it affects our daily routines, and how it influences our mental state. An emphasis on digital wellness empowers people to navigate the fine line between leveraging technology for its numerous benefits – such as greater efficiency, enhanced connectivity, and access to information – and avoiding pitfalls of overuse, such as digital addiction, privacy concerns, the potential for technology use leading to sleep disruption, and more.

Ways to Enhance Digital Wellness

Mindful email management

The mounting pressures of incomplete tasks that need to get done can have a detrimental impact on wellbness. Conversely, the sense of accomplishment in steadily ticking off tasks in a to-do list is very rewarding and beneficial. Constantly checking email or other collaboration tools can easily lead to tasks in progress being disrupted to half-start the next one. If your role allows it, try and set regular intervals throughout the day to check and respond to messages, allowing for longer periods of uninterrupted focus time.

The 20-20-20 rule

It can be easy to become so engrossed in tasks in front of the computer screen at work that you don’t stir from your seat for hours on end. Not only can this contribute too poor posture and muscular-skeletal alignment, but these long stretches of concentration can also lead to reduced mental focus and impaired cognitive performance. Consider integrating the 20-20-20 rule, whereby at least every 20 minutes you stare at an object 20 paces away for 20 seconds, and ensure to get up and walk around for five minutes every hour.

Be conscious of screen time

While screen time isn’t the be-all end-all of digital wellness, it is a useful metric to track. Keeping an eye on this number allows you to get a better understanding of how you’re using your devices, and more importantly, for how long. Using this as a baseline allows for manageable steps to be taken in an incremental fashion towards a healthier relationship with technology. If you use an iPhone or Android device, you can find you screentime using the following steps:

iPhone – Settings > screen time

Android – Settings > Digital wellbeing and parental controls > dashboard

Tech-free time

For many, there’s a strong temptation to look at our phones first thing in the morning after waking and last thing at night before falling asleep. Not only can this contribute to disrupted sleep patterns, it can also strengthen and further engrain behaviours leading to digital dependency. Try and adopt a routine which involves no devices for at least the first thirty minutes after waking and avoid screens entirely for an hour before sleep.

Adopt mindful digital consumption habits

The internet offers the remarkable gift of instant access to information on almost any topic, as well as the ability to communicate with people worldwide. However, this gift can also be a double-edged sword. The endless entertainment options available at our fingertips make it tempting and easy to constantly reach for our devices during any downtime. This habit of “digital grazing”—passively scrolling through social media feeds or watching an endless stream of YouTube videos—can quickly consume hours of our day, often with little to show for it. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with indulging in these activities in moderation, it’s crucial to approach them with intention. Treat time spent on social media as you would when reading a book: decide in advance that you will settle down to scroll and set a specific timeframe for how long you intend to engage.

“Techless” meetings

Where possible, consider integrating “tech-free” meetings throughout the week. Without the distraction of laptops, smartphones, and other digital devices, participants are more likely to be fully present and engaged during meetings. This focused attention can lead to more productive discussions, quicker decision-making, and more effective problem-solving. It can be a great way to apply lateral thinking and creativity to problem-solving, as without the presence of a perceived digital crutch people are more likely to engage in brainstorming and free-flowing conversations. Even when operating in a hybrid environment, strategic use of key technology can help replicate the tech-free experience. Dedicated Microsoft Teams Rooms, for example, provide a more natural meeting and conversation experience in which people are less likely to be distracted by a bombardment of notifications.

Take your breaks

Every organisation should of course ensure that their employees are provided their statutory breaks throughout the day, this is a given. However, extra efforts should be made in internal communications to ensure that everyone knows that there’s no expectation to extend work into their break or lunch time. Instead, taking breaks needs to be encouraged and reinforced as a positive thing to do, and people in management and leadership roles should lead by example.

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