You don’t need a technology detox. You just need to pause from it, periodically.

Choose what fits your life right now. No one is keeping score. You don’t need to do all of this.
You just need to start somewhere.

One-Video Rule 

Try this: When you open a video app, you’re allowed one video. When it ends, put the phone down and do something else.

Why it helps: It interrupts endless scrolling before it takes over your time.

Phone Face-Down Hangout 

Try this: When you’re with friends, put phones face-down on the table or away in a bag. First person to grab theirs answers a question or tells a story.

Why it helps: Being together feels different when everyone is actually present.

Scroll Replacement List

Try this: Write down five offline things you enjoy. When boredom hits, pick one instead of scrolling.

Why it helps: You don’t need less stimulation you need better options.

No-Phone Window

Try this: Choose one daily window where phones are put away, dinner, evenings, or before bed. Scrolling “together” doesn’t count.

Why it helps: Connection struggles to compete with notifications.

Weekly Check-In

Try this: Once a week, ask each other one question: “What’s been heavy?” or “What’s been good?”

Why it helps: You can’t notice drift if you never stop to look.

Shared Tech Sabbath

Try this: Choose a half-day with agreed boundaries: no email, no social media, no news. Replace screens with shared presence,  walking, cooking, resting, talking.

Why it helps:

Rest is easier when you’re not practicing it alone.

Meeting Margin

Try this: End meetings five minutes early when possible. Avoid email and messages in the final ten minutes of the hour.

Why it helps: Margins reduce stress and mental overload.

Inbox Curfew

Try this: Choose a clear “last email check” time each day. Inbox waits until tomorrow.

Why it helps: Urgency feels important. Most of it can wait.

Single-Task Block

Try this: Close every tab except the one you’re working on. Silence notifications. Focus on one task for thirty minutes.

Why it helps: Multitasking is mostly task-switching in disguise.

Evening Power-Down

Try this: Choose a nightly time when devices begin to quiet. Lights dim. Pace slows. Let your body catch up to your mind.

Why it helps: Rest starts before sleep, not after exhaustion.

Sunday Reset

Try this: Pause screens briefly before the week begins.

Reflect on what matters and what can wait.

Why it helps: Intentional weeks feel different than reactive ones.

Relapse Reset

Try this: If you scroll past your boundary, pause. Take a breath. Put the phone down and return.

Why it helps: Returning, not perfection is the practice.

Sometimes rest starts with the smallest adjustments.

Phone Parking Lot

Put your phone in one physical place for 15 minutes. Step away. Notice what happens.

Notification Fast

Turn off non-essential notifications for a day.

Most of them can wait.

No-Bedroom Phone

Charge your phone outside the bedroom for one night. Let sleep start sooner.

You don’t need to do all of this. Just try one pause.