Since the recent need to increase in working and studying from home, there has never been a more important time to look after your digital wellbeing. However despite the fact that 1 in 4 people working in the UK were doing it from home in 2020, many still don’t really know what digital wellbeing is - let alone how to look after it!

If you are a student, you may have gotten used to doing your work and lessons from home over the last two years, which will be great practice if you decide to go to university as most of your study there will be independent. However, whether you’re studying at home and doing an online course, or are simply completing your homework on the family computer  in the evenings and weekends, it’s important to maintain a healthy relationship with the technology in your life to ensure your mental and physical wellbeing is as good as it can be.

What is digital wellbeing?

The term ‘digital wellbeing’ is used to describe the impact of technologies on people's mental, physical, social and emotional health. The term was first coined on the internet (ironically) in around 2012, however has been popularised more recently  by the pandemic due  to more and more people having to rely on technology on a daily basis to work, learn and socialise with others. 

“Technology” in digital wellbeing doesn’t just have to be your work laptop or your school work; any time spent on devices such as your phone, PlayStation or Netflix all contributes to your digital self and learning how to take care of that will help you in the future. 

It can be difficult to separate yourself from technology in this day and age. When you want to speak to a friend you use iMessage, Whatsapp or FaceTime; if you want to relax you’ll open YouTube or Netflix to watch some videos; and let’s not pretend your TikTok screen time is anything less than an hour a day. But digital wellbeing isn’t about cutting you off from the digital world entirely, its focus is on ensuring you maintain a healthy balance between your screen time and non-screen time. 

Why is digital wellbeing important?

We mentioned earlier the increase in people in the UK and around the world working and learning from home in the rise of the pandemic. This has made digital wellbeing more important than ever as we get used to relying more on technology in our lives. 

The effects of not properly looking after your digital wellbeing vary from person-to-person, but could include any of the following: 

Bad sleeping patterns 

Studies show that the blue light emitted by your phone, laptop and most other screens has a huge impact on your ability to fall asleep. 

Blue light stimulates the part of the brain that makes us feel alert, elevates our heart rate and body temperature. The reason for this effect is that blue light suppresses the release of melatonin - the hormone in our body that makes us feel drowsy. This can be beneficial during the day as blue light can make us feel more awake and alert, leading to increased productivity. However when you’re falling asleep or trying to relax, blue light can cause you to feel awake and alert, leading to a disrupted sleep and often an unhealthy sleeping pattern. 

Trouble relaxing 

Not only will your ability to relax while using technology be made more difficult by the effects of blue light, but the social aspects of the digital world can also make it harder to switch off at the end of the day. 

If you have been working or studying from home, it can be easy to carry on with your work past the time you would normally switch off as your home merges into more of an office space. 

However, this can mean that you don’t get to unwind and relax from your daily tasks as you’re spending more time in your ‘relaxing’ space thinking about school or work. Ensuring you log off at a certain time, like 5pm, creates a clear boundary for you to follow and will help you to unwind at the end of the day. 

Increased levels of stress and anxiety

We are living in a world of incredible technological advancement; someone on the other side of the world could send a Tweet and it would appear on your feed instantly. There are so many benefits to this, however the downside is that you can get into the pattern of constantly refreshing, updating and switching between your apps to see if anything new has appeared. 

The need to consume content has increased smartphone users’ levels of stress and anxiety, with a whole range of studies being carried out which corroborate this link with more and more certainty.

When you’re not on your phone, it can feel like you’re missing something. When your phone buzzes with a notification, it can be difficult not to reach for it and check it right away. Managing your digital wellbeing can help you relieve your technology-related stress, which in turn will benefit your day-to-day life in a significant way.

Digital wellbeing tools and advice - what you can do to maintain a healthy relationship with technology

So, we’ve gone through just some of the ways that a poor relationship with technology can negatively impact your life. But now we've come up with a few helpful tips and tools to keep in mind when working on your digital wellbeing. Make sure you bookmark this page to come back to later!

Set boundaries for time online

Giving yourself clear boundaries for when you spend time online is one of the most important things you can do when looking after your digital wellbeing. This can be as easy as making sure you don’t work past 5pm, or even consider downloading an app that will track and limit your time spent on social media by putting a lock on them after a set amount of time. 

Having  designated time spent online means that you won’t only appreciate the time spent on your devices and use them in a more productive way - instead of just scrolling through Instagram - but you will also be able to relax easier and unwind in your time offline. You may even start to wonder how you ever have spent so long online in the first place!

Have screen-free meal times

This is one of my favourite tips to help look after your digital wellbeing. I don’t know about you, but when I have dinner after a day of work I tend to put some TV on while I eat - having never considered the benefits of screen free meal times before. 

If you’re having dinner at home with your family, why not discuss how your days have been, what your plans are for the rest of the week instead of watching the next episode of your current binge-worthy Netflix original? Alternatively, if you’re eating alone, put some music on while you eat or listen to a podcast. Not only will these tips limit the amount of blue light you consume, but you might even concentrate more on how tasty your food is, or maintain focus while your brother tells you about what happened at school today. 

Of course, after your meal why not settle down to watch some TV or check up on your social media? I’m sure having a screen-free meal will make you enjoy the show all the more for waiting for it. 

Use “do not disturb” on your phone while you’re working

Using the ‘do not disturb’ setting on your phone while working or studying is a great  digital wellbeing tool, but one which  is often so overlooked. The temptation we all feel to check our phone when it buzzes or dings is only human, so try activating your ‘do not disturb' setting - you won't hear any notifications come through so you won’t feel as motivated to check your phone! 

This setting on most smartphones  enables you to allow calls from certain people to come through, even when on ‘do not disturb,’ or if someone calls more than once their call will come through. This means you can work peacefully in the knowledge that people can still get hold of you if they need to, but you can avoid distraction from the smaller stuff and focus on your work or studies. 

Spend your free time doing screen-free activities

If you’re working or studying full time, you might find it difficult to find much free time to do hobbies or relax, so it’s so important that you make the most of the free time you do have! Reading a book, or doing exercise are just some of the things you could do during a screen-free session; this will give you a break from the blue light and focus of your phone or laptop, as well as letting you try something new or enjoy a hobby you haven’t done in a while.

This isn’t to say you can’t listen to music if you’re at the gym or a podcast while you bake a cake, but putting most of your focus on something that isn’t screen related during your free time will create a better digital wellbeing environment for you. 

Spend time before bed without your phone

This might be the most important thing to remember when maintaining your digital wellbeing and is something that was mentioned earlier: spend time before bed without your phone. It is recommended that you stop using electronic devices at least 30 minutes before you go to bed as this will give you enough time to relax and process your day without having new content keeping your mind working, as well as reducing the amount of blue light you consume before going to sleep. 

The benefits of getting a good night sleep are in the hundreds. You will be able to see the effects of this instantly when you wake up with a more productive mindset and are able to enjoy the day and complete tasks without feeling as tired as if you’d fallen asleep watching a movie. This will subsequently improve your studies at school and workplace productivity - it’s amazing what a restful night of sleep can do.

Discover more student tips and advice

At Melio, we believe that wellbeing in students and professionals is crucial, especially in the fast paced world we live in. As well as looking after your digital wellbeing there are many easy steps you can implement in your day to day life to create a better working environment. 

For more tips and advice on how to look after yourself to improve your work and school life, read our other blogs.