Design Your Digital Diet

Screens may steal our focus from life’s beautiful moments , so how can we re-balance our digital habits?

Published: June 2025

Key Takeaways

Go analog to reclaim mental space with screen-free hobbies that emphasize presence and peace.
Set clear boundaries with tech such as no devices in the bedroom and scheduled offline hours.
Focus on what you can control.
Motivate and know the rewards of disconnecting including rediscovering depth, attention, and joy.
You don’t have to quit cold turkey – design your digital diet based on your life context to find a sustainable balance.

Tips From People Like You

We get it. Your mental space is crowded. You probably know why, because you’ve read the books, and watched The Social Dilemma, yet so much of your life is online: work, friends and family afar, the never-ceasing news cycle, and so on. We hear all the time how people want a healthier relationship with technology – and so we crowd-sourced ideas and grouped the responses here. Happy disconnecting!

Go O.G. Analog – Like Thoreau

“Brain rot” was the Oxford word of the year in 2024, defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state.” The cause? The overconsumption of trivial, unchallenging online content (but hey, I like those videos about stroppy cats). The use of the term “brain rot” spiked between 2023 and 2024, but its origin goes all the way back to 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, the canonical title about living a simple life.

He wrote:

“While England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot – which prevails so much more widely and fatally.”

That is some old-school shade! And you can probably relate in more modern terms – like when your brain feels like a potato. In response to this malaise, many suggest low-intensity, low-disruption activities such as reading a book (Walden or others), along with:

“Walking the dog, whatever the weather.”
“Handcrafting miniatures, monsters, scatter, scenery, props, and terrain for D&D. It’s incredibly peaceful. I call it ‘Thought Prevention’.” (Pretty specific to Dungeons & Dragons fans, but you get the point).
“Lose the electronics and curl up with a good book and a hot cup of tea.”
“Journal – with a pen and notebook.”

Hard Stops, Personal Policies, and Rules

Author Sara Canaday, writing in Psychology Today, advocates for scheduled offline time: “Block out dedicated time every week where you turn off notifications, step away from your typical environment, and cull out unnecessary data. Use this time to make a decision that has been plaguing you.”

Others responding to our LinkedIn posts and our focus group suggested:

“Delete social media.”
“Use Airplane Mode to mute all notifications.”
“No devices at the table or in the bedroom.”
“When I put the cellphone in another room, it was then possible to read as usual.”
One colleague stopped using their phone for basic things – because once you pick it up, it becomes a vortex of notifications.
- “So, instead of using it for an alarm, we got an alarm clock, a calculator, and a flashlight.”
“Unplug at least a minimum hour before bed.”
Have Unplug Family Time to catch up with everyone’s day.

“It makes a world of difference for kids and parents both, mentally and emotionally, to share with the family their challenges and wins of the day.

Motivation, Punishment, and Rewards

Here’s a tip: If David Dunning at the University of Michigan, struggles with procrastination, he makes “pre-commitment agreements” to keep him on track. He and a colleague were having trouble making time to write a paper, so they agreed that if they didn’t stick to their weekly writing schedule, they’d each have to donate money to a cause they disliked. This case study in setting up your own guardrails was discussed in the book Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life by Brigid Schulte. Here are more tips:

Some people use concentration apps that lock you out of social media for a spell.
- There is one by Flora called Green Focus that will kill a tree (!) if you go on social media when you told the app you would be working. (After a colleague mentioned this, we had a look and checked – just a virtual tree, but still harsh, no?).
Hold each other accountable. One friend group has a rule. At dinner, the first person who checks their phone at the table has to cover drinks or apps. In this economy? Cha-ching!
Someone else does tech-free nights with their partner. “We play board games and do crossword puzzles with the help of a dictionary. I also love going for walks, to the gym, and taking yoga classes. I also teach yoga, and I love offering a screen-free safe space for my students.”
Says another: “Over the holidays, I took time off which, for me, still has to feel productive. So, I sat in my favourite chair, lit the fireplace, and read five books, and it felt thoroughly restorative. I kept my phone at a distance as well.”
“It’s hard to disconnect, but when you do, awesome things happen.”

The Power of Presence and Flow States

Have you ever tried not multi-tasking and simply doing one thing at a time for a sustained period? This is when you hit a stride, and that flow feeling is a reward in itself! Others agreed and told us their little life hacks.

“Putting my phone on silent, playing with my son, doing whatever he wants to do, and giving him my undivided attention.”
“I sometimes feel like I’m sweating out all the bad feelings when exercising.”
“When I’m hiking in the woods, I’m convinced I can solve all my problems.”
“Yoga. There is something about being present in every moment on the mat that brings unexpected insights and replenishment of body, mind, and heart.”
“Not Googling things – like having conversations and intellectual debates without looking it up.”
“I go outside, if it isn’t for a long walk with our dogs, I just do something relaxing while observing the suburban wildlife.”
“In the summer, I garden. I can disappear for hours in the garden, and it feels like minutes. In the winter, I write or paint.”
“I walk and pay attention to the beauty of nature. I clear my mind of the day’s work issues and concentrate on each moment. I practice mindfulness.”
“Going for walks, listening to music, taking quiet time to meditate, and catching up with my friends (in person, of course).”
“I love reading a physical book or doing any kind of outdoor activity. I also love connecting with friends over meals and camping trips.”
“Just enjoy the TV show – don’t Google all the details about the characters – it’s presence without the extra knowledge.”

Mantras

Maddie Freeman, centre, founder of NoSoNovember – a movement to log off social media at South by Southwest’s education and learning initiative in March 2025. Freeman’s organization encourages less online activity for better mental health.

Johann Hari’s book Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention (2022) notes that simplistic solutions like, “just don’t touch your phone” don’t reflect the realities of how these devices are engineered. Also, it can be complicated if your livelihood requires the use of your phone or constant availability, such as ride-share drivers picking up their next gig. That’s why we’ve called this piece “design your digital diet.” It reflects the differing natures and needs of our technological use.

A colleague uses the saying “sunshine before screen time,” to start and set the tone for the day. It works for her.
A watering hole in central Ottawa has a “pay attention to your friends” sign on the wall and printed on the menu. It’s part scolding and part invitation to disengage and reengage in a lost art – eye contact and conversation.
Protect your precious focus. Swedish psychiatrist Anders Hansen, writing in Psychology Today, references a study by fellow psychologist Gloria Mark at the University of California Irvine who measured people’s ability to focus by clocking how often they jumped between different tasks at work.
- In 2004, they spent an average of 150 seconds on one task before switching.
- By 2022, focus time dwindled to just 47 seconds.
Unhashtag your vacation. There’s a campaign in Vienna called “Unhashtag Vienna” and it encourages tourists to Enjoy Vienna and not #Vienna by creating moments to treasure and savour as is – not through the lens of a smartphone camera. Try this for other aspects of your life.
- Why? They talk about the importance of digital detox and offer six signs that tell you when it’s time for you to do just that including symptoms of “ringxiety” – when you hear or feel phantom notifications from your phone.

Gen Z, Alphas, and Other Digital Natives – Logging Off

Generations that have always known the internet are pushing back against the onslaught of endless notifications and infinite scroll. In 2024, the U.S. Surgeon General weighed in, issuing an advisory about social media and youth mental health. Maddie Freeman knows this. The Gen Z entrepreneur learned that algorithms deliberately fed people polarizing content, her data was being sold, and tech giants were making bazillions from her attention and misery. “The connection was impossible to ignore,” she wrote in an essay for Maclean’s. “Social media was fuelling a mental health crisis for my generation. We never signed up for this.” We asked Freeman, a youth fellow at McGill’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, for some tips.

No Social Media November – or NoSo – is a grassroots challenge where students (or anyone!) can learn about the dangers of social media and then take a month-long detox from it. Try it.
It started in the U.S. and is expanding to Canadian schools where teens explore offline hobbies and mindfulness-based events. Try a few!
Try leaving your phone at home or putting it away for most of the weekend.
Inform others what you are doing – they’ll support you and you will have less FOMO.
Reground: Going off social media? You can still stay in touch. Start a text thread so you’re still in your social circles.
Create healthy habits and coping mechanisms. Instead of going to your phone for that quick dopamine hit when you’re feeling anxious, Freeman says:
- “Sit with the feeling instead of numbing it. Life’s has hard moments.”
- “Go for a walk, take a bath, or do some other activity to process your thoughts.”
“People find the first week of a social media detox hard,” says Freeman, “because they are re-training their brain away from constant stimulation. It’s hard at first, but the long-term benefits are worth it.”
The results? Reconnecting with loved ones and sleeping better. Also, clarity, agency, and a sense of presence in one’s own life.
What else? Deeper relationships with fewer people rather than many surface relationships.

Techno-Existentialism

You know the saying, “dance like no one is watching?” What if no one is watching? For example, what about simply living life without pressure to post about it? Here’s a big question: In society, are we more focused on performing our lives, than living them? Have we forgotten what it’s like to be in the moment?

Post less. Writer Anne Helen Petersen says it’s more than just fatigue.
- “People seem to be grappling with a fundamental question: Does posting add more to my life than it extracts?” Ask and answer this question for yourself.
Recognize the behaviours: In a global smartphone addiction study, University of Toronto, Mississauga postdoctoral fellow Jay Olson said problematic usage can reflect distress or anguish.
- “People try to avoid negative emotions by using their phone,” Olson said, “kind of like an adult pacifier.” Well, now that kind of sucks.

Digital Health and Mental Health

Are you reading this in the bathroom? The bedroom? Digital culture has invaded intimate parts of our lives and fills many of our free moments. Jonathan Haidt, in an interview with CBC’s The Current talked about how phones have entered “every nook and cranny of our consciousness.” Some mental health professionals describe the phenomenon of “scrolling as numbing.” However, if you are scrolling to get away from a tough feeling, you could just end up in another doom scenario, leading to feelings of overwhelm.

You are in a line, maybe, or there’s a lull in the conversation – try not pulling out your phone.
Why take a pause? Excessive scrolling can overstimulate our brains, leaving us feeling disconnected and overwhelmed.
To be sure, there are positive aspects. At the Mental Health Commission of Canada, we develop, promote, and encourage the use of quality, safe, culturally appropriate electronic mental health tools to bridge gaps in the healthcare system. Instant mental health care in your pocket. That’s a plus.
- Find those and other offline resources here.

More Tips: Online Resources That, Um, Basically Tell You to Get Offline

The 24-Hour Movement Guidelines recommend that recreational screen time be limited to no more than two hours per day among children and youth aged 5 to 17 years, and no more than three hours per day among adults aged 18 years and older.
Healthy Screens – the largest global study on smartphone addiction from researchers at the University of Toronto, McGill, and Harvard – found that of 41 countries surveyed, smartphone addiction is increasing, with the lowest rates in Europe and the highest in Southeast Asia. They offer 10 tips to reduce your screen time.
Time Well Spent: A Movement to Align Technology with Our Humanity. Founded by Google’s former design ethicist, Tristan Harris, in 2016, as a response to the growing concerns surrounding the effects of technology and social media on our lives