Wellness is an overarching term that refers to all aspects of a person’s health: physical, mental and emotional, spiritual, and social. Technology can be a part of wellness, as both a hindrance and a help. The term digital wellness is important to understand because technology’s prevalence in our lives is only growing.

Digital Wellness Defined

Digital wellness, in its simplest terms, is a healthy relationship with technology. It is a simple definition that encompasses many things:

• A balance between using and turning off technology, devices, and screens
• Mindfulness around the amount time spent using phones, tablets, apps, and social media
• How using technology makes you feel and how it impacts your mental health
• Fitness devices that track health measures
• Harnessing wellness devices and apps for things like weight management, fitness, and sleep
• How productive you are with time spent online
• Whether social media and other tech features help you build and maintain healthy relationships or make you more isolated
• Online bullying or aggression

In general, you can break down digital wellness into two main components: using technology responsibly and avoiding harmful uses, and harnessing technology to improve health and wellness.

Balance in Technology Use

For many people, digital wellness means striking a balance between healthy, responsible use of technology, and harmful, excessive use. Finding balance can be as simple as limiting the time spent using social media or turning your phone off during dinner or other activities.

You can also dive deeper into this aspect of digital wellness by considering how you use technology and how it impacts your health. Time spent online is a simple measure, but not all tech use is the same. Some uses are more valuable than others.

For instance, if you’re using an app to meditate, and it helps you build a regular practice for relaxation and stress relief, it’s time well spent. On the other hand, passive scrolling through Facebook is mindless. It may even harm your mental health as you compare your life to the exciting highlights of other people’s lives.

Using Technology for Better Health

Digital wellness doesn’t have to mean eliminating or even drastically reducing technology use. If you are thoughtful about using tech, it can benefit your overall health and wellness. Fitness watches are a good example of this and a popular way that many people track and improve health measures. A watch can guide efforts to get fitter and maintain a healthy weight.

Technology is also useful for helping you achieve balance. For instance, you can use timers and alarms to limit time spent on social media. Apps allow you to manage online time or silence notifications for blocks of time. Trackers tell you how much time you spend online or on individual apps, so you can set goals for cutting back on that time.

In a world where technology use is only growing, it’s important to understand and consider your own digital wellness. Be critical of your time spent using technology and find ways to make tech benefit, not harm your health and wellness.