Happy Hump Day {{first_name | Toaster}} 🐪 ,

Over the next two weeks, many of us are “out of office”, and taking PTO. Yet, somehow, we’re still online. Every year we’re told the same thing: “just digital detox”. As if logging off were as simple as flipping a switch, instead of unlearning years of being rewarded for always being reachable.

Digital detoxing gets labeled as extreme - like you’re about to throw your phone into the ocean and become Amish. In reality it’s about deciding who and what gets access to you when everyone suddenly wants your attention at once.

A recent randomized trial found that cutting smartphone screen time to about 2 hours a day for three weeks causally improved mental health, reducing stress, and improving sleep quality and overall well-being. Social media detoxes (even as short as one week) have been shown in research to significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, especially for individuals with higher baseline symptom severity.

The holidays are the easiest time to try this because your routine is already broken. You don’t need monk-level discipline, but you do need friction. Small, intentional barriers between you and the apps that eat your time. Less doomscroll, more presence.

Here’s are some suggestions that have worked for us:

If you’re with family or traveling, resist the urge to document everything. Take the photo, send the text, then put the phone down. Let silence exist and allow boredom to creep in. That’s where clarity, creativity, and actual rest show up (the things we all claim we want more of).

Although we love our readers, if you’re reading this in full on Christmas Eve - this email is about you. It might already be time to put your phone down and silence those notifications. Be present this holiday season - the internet will be there when you get back. Your peace might not be if you don’t protect it now.

Cheers,
Team Toast 🥂