If one of your main goals for the next year is to excel at work, school or business, then it’s time to detox digital and social media and focus your attention on practical solutions.
Post Date – 12:15 AM, Tuesday – Dec 27 22
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With the new year fast approaching, we all want to make and fulfill our resolutions. If one of your main goals for the next year is to excel at work, school or business, then it’s time to detox digital and social media and focus your attention on practical solutions. This article will introduce some helpful tips to guide you on an effective detox.
Resolutions for 2023 – stay away from social media and smartphones:- Smartphones have come to dominate every aspect of our lives due to their capabilities and their ability to provide easy access to the internet. However, negative aspects such as smartphone addiction have recently attracted the attention of psychologists and psychiatrists. Existing reports from different countries show that two thirds of people do not leave home without a smartphone.
There are many benefits when we take a digital break. It reduces stress, fear of missing out, improves sleep habits, maintains work-life balance, and leads to a more positive outlook on life.
Better digital detox tips:
* Disable notifications on your smartphone: it lets you know what you should know; it makes you do what you don’t want to do, and make you feel what you don’t want to feel.
* Set boundaries: – Make your bedroom and dining room a smartphone-free zone. It is highly recommended that you charge your smartphone outside the bedroom.
* Access social media from your laptop or desktop computer instead of your smartphone.
* Take control of your home screen – first, review your favorites. Reclaim storage space by decluttering and making sure only important apps are on the home screen, with the rest in folders.
* Conduct device-free meetings – physically participate in each other’s social conversations.
* One of the reasons our devices are so attractive is that they are colorful; individuals can use their smartphones in grayscale.
* Digital Wellbeing app on Android and Screen Time app on iOS – they help keep track of how much time you spend in front of screens each day.
* Make more time for your goals: Once you’ve established your new goals, you should also limit your screen time and digital wellbeing. This setting notifies you when you try to scroll through Facebook or Instagram.
* Stay away from electronic devices for 20 minutes – Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. It will reduce your (a) pain and discomfort from prolonged use. (b) Eyes start to burn and itch. (c) Distorted vision (d) Eye strain (e) Eye strain can lead to headaches.
2023 Resolution – Digital Security:
* Passwords – Avoid using predictable passwords (i.e. pet names and last names). Always set a password with at least one uppercase letter, one number, and one special character to make the password unpredictable.
* Restrict access to secure sites (https://) – If the URL says only HTTP at the beginning, you should not visit the site. If it says HTTPS, you are safe.
* Protecting your privacy – companies track and collect our habits, preferences, choices and locations in order to provide highly relevant information to our inquiries and tailor advertising campaigns, products and services through our phones, GPS and other devices. Ultimately, this information is shared with third parties without our consent, which is an invasion of privacy.
* BACKUP YOUR DATA – Backup your important data regularly and make sure it can be restored. Make sure the backup you make is not connected to any network. We recommend that you consider backing up to the cloud so you can access it from anywhere.
* Phishing – Phishing, phishing, and phishing text messages often tell a story and trick you into clicking a link or opening an attachment. Never click on short links sent via email/social media, WhatsApp or SMS, check for phishing (https://isitphishing.org/) before actually clicking.
*Use a VPN – Virtual Private Networks are practically unbeatable, not only does it create a secure tunnel to transfer all of your traffic, but it also encrypts that data so even if it gets intercepted, it doesn’t mean much.
* Use Two-Factor Authentication – Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a specific type of multi-factor authentication that increases access security by requiring two methods to verify your identity. (a) Username and Password (b) OTP (One Time Password) (c) Smartphone App for approving authentication requests.
* Use antivirus software – it helps to protect your laptop/computer from malware and cybercriminals. Antivirus software looks at data from web pages, files, software, and applications that are transmitted to your device over the network.
* Secure WiFi in your home – Security starts with your Wi-Fi in your home. Some tips: a) change network name (b) enable network encryption (c) enable guest network. (d) MAC address, which only allows registered systems to work. You should also consider (e) hiding your network name, (f) updating your router firmware, and (j) enabling parental controls.
Stay tuned to the Web Talk column for more information on “Internet Ethics and Digital Health” from Anil Rachamalla of the End Now Foundation. https://www.endnowfoundation.org