Kerry Watkins , Founder of Social for Good, tells us what inspired her 24/6? How to avoid being always on session at this year’s Brighton Summit 24/7. Here, she tells us about her three-day digital detox, her biggest takeaways and how it changed her. 

Last year, I decided to embark on a three-day experience without any technology. A digital detox without my smartphone, laptop or any other tech.

It started as an exciting idea- unplugging, switching off, relaxing…

But it also started to become quite a daunting prospect- being alone with my thoughts, not being able to contact anyone, take photos, being bored…

The thought of it started to make me feel quite uncomfortable. I couldn’t remember when I was last without a smartphone, a fair few years ago at least. And so I thought I’d better do it as a kind of personal challenge to see how I coped.

It was an experience that not only challenged my daily habits but provided profound insights into my personal and professional life.

How it went down 

Along with six students and alumni from the digital wellbeing coaching course I took in 2021, I left Barcelona and, a couple of hours laters, arrived at a stunning hotel, seemingly in the middle of nowhere in Catalunya. Super quiet, surrounded by nature and a stunning wine menu.

We handed over our smartphones and set intentions for what we hoped to achieve with our newfound time and creativity. I hoped to have a genius idea to take home for my business.

The next few days involved lots of walking in nature, fantastic local food and wine, stimulating conversations with my fellow digital detoxers, the odd lecture and plenty of self-reflection and journaling.

What did I learn from the experience? 

Firstly, that time lasts longer when you’re offline. I realised that when you don’t have a smartphone or laptop to occupy your time you can get so much more done. I swam a lot, read, crocheted some stuff, went for walks…

It makes sense now. My average daily screen time on my phone was usually between three and five hours. So I instantly gained that time back!

And thankfully, you don’t need to fly to Spain to do that.

Secondly, our brains need to be able to process information and emotions. But smartphones are too easy to reach for whenever we feel bored, lonely, anxious or sad. There’s so much on a phone to distract us from whatever we’re feeling and give us a dopamine hit instead.

I was really surprised by how emotional the whole three days were. None of us expected to cry as much as we did! There were of course times when I felt bored or a bit lonely without my normal life, work and people around me. And without the digital world to keep me busy, I just had to sit with it. Or walk with it, as we spent several hours a day walking in silence through the most beautiful forests.

I cannot tell you how glad I am to have experienced that. It’s really opened my eyes to how important it is to allow ourselves the time and space to process things. It was like therapy.

And finally, my biggest takeaway was the huge boost in creative energy I felt as the trip ended.

I left with what I can only describe as a beautiful ‘sparkly’ brain (and have just about managed to maintain it to this day, thankfully). I felt a real sense of calm and clarity, like I’d had some kind of neurological spring clean.

I believe the cumulative effect of no tech, walking miles in nature, daily swims and proper, unplugged downtime was incredibly powerful.

And much to my delight, on the bus to the airport I finally had my genius idea! And have had several more since. I put it all down to finding a healthy balance with tech, which was all kick-started by a three-day detox.

Brighton Summit 24/7 is on Wednesday 23 October- find out more get your ticket here.