Do you spend much of your time in a digitally-induced fog? Perhaps you feel like you’ve lost the focus and creativity you used to pride yourself on? Don’t worry, there is a simple way to get yourself back to your innovative best and boost your chances of success. All we prescribe is a prolonged digital detox.
Research shows that one-in-four people spend more time online day-to-day than they do sleeping. As a small business owner, it’s essential you’re at the top of your game. With a million and one things to do every day, you just can’t afford to be missing sleep and risking burnout.
So how can a digital detox help you be more successful? Let’s see what the research has to say.
You’re More Energized
Small business owners might think the fact that they can be reached just about 24 hours a day is a big tick in their box, but that level of connectivity can make you less productive, not more. Switching off your digital devices outside of work hours gives you a proper break and lets your body and mind relax so you can re-energize and hit the ground running the next day.
You Have Improved Focus and Concentration
Do you get easily distracted at work? It’s not unusual for business owners to be pulled from pillar to post, but your attention span could also be affected by all that digital exposure. In fact, simply receiving a notification on your phone is enough to distract you even if you ignore it. By taking a break from technology and switching your email and instant messenger off for an hour, you’ll be able to give your to-do list your undivided attention.
You’re Less Stressed
An estimated 1 million workers in the US are absent every day due to stress, costing small business owners huge amounts in lost productivity. Research has shown that technology use, particularly before bed, can disrupt our sleep cycle, which in turn, increases stress levels and damages our mental state. If you’re starting to feel like you’re constantly stressed, turning off technology in the evening and not using it before bed can really help.
You’ll Be More Creative
We’re here to tell you, the small business owners of America, that multitasking is a myth. When you have smartphones and other technology to distract you, your work will suffer. In fact, multi-tasking has been proven to lower both productivity and creativity.
The Harvard Business School studied the work patterns of 9,000 individuals working on creative projects and found those that concentrated on one activity were more likely to be creative. Those who focused on multi-tasking were less creative but stress levels rose. If it’s time to be creative, turn off your tech and let your imagination soar.
You’ll Have More Time for Your Team
If you don’t have multiple pieces of technology bleeping at you at once, fighting for your attention, then you can dedicate more of your time to getting to know those around you on a personal and business level. The best small business owners operate an open door policy and staff know they can go to them with any questions or queries they have.
You Can Work in a More Productive Way
Research by social scientists has revealed what supposedly is the most efficient way to work. They found that the most productive employees work in concentrated 52-minute bursts, followed by a 17-minute break. With smartphones, emails, and instant messaging notifications to contend with, it’s simply not possible to get through 52 minutes of continuous work without being distracted.
The researchers also revealed that the best way to spend the 17-minute break was away from digital devices, resting the eyes, mind, and body before the next concerted spell of work.
You might think being successful is all about squeezing as much as you can into the working day, but as a small business owner, you’d be better served to embrace elements of a digital detox and give all your attention to one task at a time.
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