The idea of a digital detox has been around for a few years now, but in 2024 - when we can access whatever we want online 24/7 - more of us need one than ever before. Here, writer Susan Griffin reveals what happened when she took on a digital detox and the habits she's stuck by since.
Where digital and social media overconsumption was once seen as a distinctly millennial and Gen-Z issue, that's far from the case nowadays. My parents are almost 80 and often remark they use their smartphones more than they would like to. Not that it stops them, mind you. Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) are as addicted to their smartphones as Millennials (born between 1980 and 1995) and are as prone to experience the associated early signs of burnout as the younger generation, according to a survey by Provision Living, via Forbes.
