How our online habits have changed since lockdown

Unsurprisingly, UK online usage has gone up in the past six months; some key stats of our online habits include:

• On average, adults 18+ spent 3 hours and 29 minutes online in September 2020*
• In April 2020, Internet users in the UK spent an average of 4 hours and 2 minutes online each day – 37 minutes more than the average usage of an adult in January 2020
• 71% of all measured time spent online in the UK is through smartphones

UK adult’s usage of social media channels also went up significantly during lockdown:

• Tik Tok reached 12.9 million users in April 2020 from 5.4 million in January 2020
• From April 2020, on average adults spent 30 minutes per person on Facebook, 18 minutes on Snapchat and 16 minutes on TikTok
• Average time in social media messaging sites increased from 50 minutes in January 2020, to 1 hour 8 minutes in April 2020 for adults 18+

So how can you reduce your device usage in the coming month? Here are some top tips:

Top 10 Tips to Digital Detox from The Body Shop

1. Try to be mindful of your screen time. You could set limits or reminders or even use monitoring apps to prompt you.
2. Let friends and family know so they can support you or so they’re aware there might be a delay in your reply.
3. Turn off all banner-style notifications, pop-ups or sound alerts on your apps.
4. Make your bedroom a tech-free zone. You could keep your phone in another room overnight. If you need to wake up at a certain time, turn up the volume on your alarm so you’ll hear it when it’s further away, or consider buying an alarm clock.
5. Put your phone on airplane mode and only switch it on when you need to use it.
6. Don’t take your phone into the bathroom. Make this tech-free zone your very own spa. Use your focus to tune in to the senses and enjoy a long soak in a foamy bubble bath or slather on your favourite skincare.
7. If you don’t want to leave home without your phone, you can always keep it at a distance when you want to focus on other things, like under the table if you’re out to dinner or in your locker at the gym.
8. When you’re at home, keep your phone in a central place. Instead of carrying it around, aim for this to be the only place you check your phone.
9. Convert your screen to black and white. Suddenly the lure of the internet becomes far less appealing.
10. Spring clean your social media. When you scroll through your feed, think about which posts make you feel good and which ones do the opposite. If what you’re seeing is taking away from your confidence or frame of mind, you can block, mute or unfollow.

Read more here https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/tips-and-advice/digital-detox/e/e00146