9 Ways to Create Better Boundaries With Your Tech (When Your Tech Is Everywhere)

4. Batch Communication

Batching communication helps lessen the mental toll of constant notifications. Instead of responding to every notification when you receive it, set designated times for checking work emails, responding to personal texts, or looking at social media notifications, Duerden suggests.

Research shows that receiving notifications in three batches per day reduces stress and increases overall well-being.

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Be sure to share your communication boundaries with others, especially in the workplace. For example, you can update your email signature or Slack bio with the specific hours you’re available to respond to messages.

5. Curate Your Social Media Feed

Social media is built to overstimulate. It provides instant, short-lived gratification for your brain, which your brain craves again and again.

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Over time, that stimulation takes a toll: Scrolling can lead to trouble with focus and to mental exhaustion, sometimes called digital fatigue.

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One way to manage digital fatigue is to curate your social media feeds, Duerden says. Notice how specific accounts make you feel and unfollow any that cause stress or encourage comparison.

Comparison can be especially harmful. One systematic review found that people who use social media often have a greater tendency to compare themselves to others, which can increase body image concerns and the risk of eating disorder symptoms.

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6. Reclaim Your Downtime

If you have a habit of pulling out your phone anytime you’re trying to relax, enjoying a meal, or during periods of waiting, it may be time to reclaim your downtime. Downtime, or moments when your brain isn’t occupied with a task, engages a network of brain regions that researchers believe helps stabilize and consolidate memories.

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But compulsive tech use has been linked to differences in how that network functions, impacting concentration.

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And scrolling on your phone doesn’t count as true downtime because you are taking in information, Duerden says.

Try leaving electronics at your desk during your lunch break, keeping your phone in your bag on the subway or while in line for your morning coffee, or finding simple screen-free activities to fill your evening, Duerden suggests.

7. Downgrade Your Tech

Duerden also suggests finding different ways to complete tasks or swapping apps with low-tech or no-tech alternatives. Here are some examples.

Get a physical alarm clock instead of setting your alarm on your phone.
Buy or check out a physical book instead of reading on your phone.
Pick up your local or favorite national newspaper instead of reading all your news online.
Get a digital camera instead of only using your phone to take photos.

8. Establish a Tech-Free ‘Third Place’

A tech-free “third place,” or a space outside of work and home where you don’t use your devices, can make it easier to limit tech use within your weekly routine, Duerden says.

Spending time in third places — such as workout classes, libraries, and coffee shops — has been shown to promote emotional well-being and stronger social relationships.

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And if you’re not distracted by tech in these spaces, you may be even more likely to reap these benefits, Duerden says.

9. See a Mental Health Professional for Help

It’s very common to struggle when setting digital boundaries, Robbins says. In one poll of over 30,000 U.S. adults, roughly 58 percent say they use their smartphone too much.

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It may be time to seek help from a mental health professional if your device use is significantly affecting your relationships, mental health, productivity at work or school; if you experience significant monetary losses; if you’ve lost interest in in-person interactions; if you no longer find pleasure in non-tech activities you used to enjoy; or if scrolling has become compulsive, Duerden says.

A professional can help you break down your technology use and get to the root of the problem, Robbins explains. “The more we understand it, the more we can reduce it,” he says.