Mel Greig: Why you NEED to do a digital detox

Have you ever done a 24 hour digital detox? If not, here is why you HAVE to.

My bestie Heather Maltman and I have now done two digital detoxes together and we normally plan them at moments where we really, really need to switch off. The last detox we had a break up, and this time it was the anniversary of my mum’s death and my brain was fried I needed to literally ‘switch off.’

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So, what happens in that 24 hours? What do you do and how do you feel? It’s quite incredible and life changing to be honest. Think about how much technology is a part of our lives. Social media is just a portion of that: computers, TV, music, mobile phone calls and text messaging. It truly does consume us and for different industries more so than others - and for Heather and I, we are ALWAYS using some form of technology.

The first hour is always the same. It truly is fascinating to watch. You sit there with nothing in your hands - just silence - and you without a doubt (because it’s habit) reach for your phone to check emails or see what’s happening in the world.

So, this time around, we jumped into the spa when we started to notice we were without contact. But we may have taken a quick selfie in the spa first to announce to the world that we were doing a digital detox #ironic. So, we restarted the 24hrs.

When you do this style of detox, it’s normally best if you plan 50 percent and leave the other 50 percent to random moments. I packed a novel that I had managed to read four chapters out of 23 before the trip, and I was determined to finish it - and I did. BOOM. I packed an adult colouring book and coloured in something meaningful to my mum, and it felt like such a special achievement.

But I had two highlights and both were thanks to my beautiful Maltman. See, when you do a digital detox you need to select the right person to do it with. We both wanted it and believed in it, but we understood when space was needed, and when friendship and love was needed.

Twelve hours on, we woke to the most perfect day. It was Monday August 14th, two years since I’d lost my mum to pancreatic cancer. I woke with an aching heart. On any anniversary associated with my mum, I normally do her favourite pastime of drinking champagne and eating seafood. But this time was different.

I wanted to throw flowers into the ocean because mum loved flowers, even the cheap $10 ones from the servo. We went for a walk to the beach and I stood on a rock and threw the flowers into the ocean and told my mum that I love her, that I miss her and that life has changed without her.

I’m too busy in that moment to worry about a photo, BUT my bestie isn’t and she is jumping on rocks taking photos and videos of the moment for me. Full disclosure: Heather doesn’t do water. It scares her. She nearly got knocked over by a wave chasing flowers for a photo #magical #everyoneneedsamaltman.

My second highlight after 24 hours of complete recharging and soul searching was when Heather said to me, “I know we are about to pack the car but I just found a delicious food treat that we need to share”. She pulls out this giant python snake and we decide to be just like those cute pooches eating spaghetti from the movie, and we sucked and shared that delicious snake like it was a piece of spaghetti.

I returned to work yesterday as a new person. You need to know when to recharge and you need to do something about it. Your mental health is more important than anything else because without it, you can’t function and you can’t be YOU. Never be afraid to put yourself first.

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