Why Do Digital Detoxes Fail? What Works Better? | Monday Advice

So here's a mystery. That has long interested me. Uh back when I was working on my two thousand nineteen book Digital minimalism. I ran an experiment where I recruited around sixteen hundred people and I had them

uh do what I called a digital declutter. So the idea was they would spend thirty days abstaining from the use of what I called optional digital tools. And then at the end of the thirty days They would reflect on which tools they really missed and which ones they actually wanted to add back into their lives. I I was inspired by Mary Condo when I did this. You know, she said. If you want to clean out a closet, take everything out. And then only add back in the stuff that you really need. And I figured we should try to do this with our digital lives.

as well. So this was a fun experiment. It even ended up being reported on. in the New York Times. But here's the mysterious thing. There was a real division in the outcomes of the people who participated. Some people had great success in moderating and controlling their digital behavior going forward, while other people really failed and fell back.

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