But you shouldn’t just quit cold turkey.

Here’s how to prepare for your digital detox.

This post originally appeared onInc.

When I spoke to him about it not long ago, he was candid about how challenging it was.

“It was too difficult.

People thought I had disappeared.”

Weyrich’s candor underscores what might be the hardest part of a technology cleanse.

That was one thing I learned when attempting a technology cleanse of my own recently.

It was late January.

I was on vacation at ayogaretreat, out of the country for one week.

It was the third straight year I’d taken this vacation.

There were seven reasons, all of which were preparatory steps:

1.

Which means you don’t have to make any extra calls or send any extra emails or texts.

It’s the ideal task for achecklist.

What you gotta do is make an honest list of the emergencies you’re worried about.

Then speak to those who’d be in a position to contact you.

Let them know how they can reach you, even during a cleanse.

For example, if you’re staying at a particular hotel, give them the hotel’s phone number.

Challenge whomever you’re dining with to do the same.

check that your phone’s screen is out of your sight.

Turn it down on the table or put it away.

Enjoy your short period of peace.

It can help you rehearse what your “break glass” emergency thoughts might be.

In addition to the annoyance of unpacking, there were literally hundreds of emails to sort through.

The worst part was that most of them were unimportant notifications, needlessly inflating the inbox’s totals.

When I returned, I had fewer than 100 emails to sort through.

It took me one hour, compared to several hours in previous years.

I thought it would be the easiest way to execute the cleanse.

Call it the “throw out your cigarettes” approach.

I missed the songs and photographs I keep on it.

Without them, the vacation wasn’t as fun.

So this year, Ibrought the phonewith me andkept it in airplane mode.

& Rakimwhen I needed to; I enjoyed pictures of friends and family when I wanted to.

I had a better time on vacation as a result.

And I still adhered toand savoredthe no-communications tenets of the cleanse.

I mistakenly thought these pressures would help me appreciate the communications getaway that a cleanse could provide.

Instead, I just worried about missing important book-related messages.

This year, I was past the book launchand much more relaxed.

Inevitably, you’ll hear them talking about a weather emergency in your hometown or a scary news event.

Hearing about these subjects, you’ll be tempted to reach for your phone for one comfort or another.

To preserve the cleanse, you’ll need to combat these temptations.

Develop a litany of positive thoughts that can help you reroute your worries.

Above all, respect the commitment you’ve made to the cleanse.

But don’t be too hard on yourself, if you should probably break the commitment.

Boston’s NPR station named it one of 10 “Good Reads for the Summer.”

He is a senior writer for Inc. magazine.

Photo by Oleg GawriloFF(Shutterstock).

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