Intermittent screen fasting

We should treat technology as we treat food. Both are good, but only when consumed in moderation. Too much food and we get obesity, diabetes, and heart problems. Too much technology can distract us and harm our mental health.

Maybe it's time for us to take a leaf out of intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting is an eating schedule where you eat during a certain period of time, then stay fasted for another period of time. The most popular schedule is when you eat for 8 hours and be in a fasted state for 16 hours.

The idea behind intermittent fasting is that our bodies are not made to be fed the whole time. Our ancestors often fasted while waiting for another supply of food. Fasting is said to help with weight loss, increase our lifespan, and reduce cancer risk.

What if we apply the same concept to technology? I call this intermittent screen fasting. You have a schedule for using technology, then stay analogue for another period of time. Could it help with our health, productivity, and creativity?

I'm interested in trying this out and see where my experiment gets me. Even if I don't get much, at least I reduce the amount of time I'm exposed to blue light, something that's been said to interrupt our sleeping cycles.