The Digital Diet: How to break free of your smartphone and other gadgets

Make a note of the times that you reached for your gadgets. Were you alone or with others? Was there a lull in the conversation, or were you just bored? Did you worry that you were missing something online — or something right in front of you?

Over time, set a conscious time limit for your e-day, whether 90 minutes, three hours or another realistic goal. If you feel your willpower flagging, you can always outsource your self-control. Ironically, and perhaps aptly, technology can help. In my book on this subject, I list dozens of sites and apps that can help you manage your tech time better. There’s the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine, which assists in eliminating your various social network profiles. The management software RescueTime breaks down where all those computer minutes go and helps limit your time online. And the ValleyZen blog offers insight on how Zen principles can help you cut back: For instance, the “kanso” principle of elimination of clutter translates into keeping favorite sites to a minimum, closing down old accounts and avoiding having too many devices in your pocket.

Personal Post

More on this Story

• How to break free of your smartphone and other gadgets
• Addicted? Take this test to find out.

Just don’t spend too much time with these sites.

Step 4: Revitalize

Going on a digital diet is also about reconnecting with people and renewing your relationships. It’s about finding the time for a coffee date, tucking your child in with a story, and looking friends and colleagues in the eye while talking with them. It’s about taking more control and recapturing a bit of sanity. After all, no one is forcing you to become so overloaded and frustrated. The answers are, well, in your hands.

I’ve developed some digital rules to live by that can help in this stage. Now, repeat after me:

I will live in the real world. It can be wonderful to learn more about the lives of my friends and family members through social networks, but I won’t let the screen become my only connection.

I must choose the human or the device. If someone is talking to me, I will do my best to put my gadget aside and listen to them.

I will not be afraid to disconnect. I can return to the detox stage every once in a while, perhaps one day a month. It can be a family event, a reminder of life without gadgets.

I will trust my instincts. If I worry that I’m spending too much time browsing social networks, texting or playing online games, I probably am.

I will avoid tech turds. I will not just dump my BlackBerry or smartphone on the table at a restaurant or at home. I will keep it in my pocket unless it is critical to have it out. (That’s a courtesy I’d appreciate as well.)

Finally, I will not be afraid to call out those people in my life who are burying their heads in technology too often. I will take a stand.

But I need to be prepared to have others tell me the same thing.

Daniel Sieberg, a former science and technology correspondent for CBS and CNN, is a contributor to ABC News, MSNBC and CBS News. This essay is adapted from his new book “The Digital Diet: The 4-Step Plan to Break Your Tech Addiction and Regain Balance in Your Life.”

Read more from Outlook, friend us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.