Digital Detox on Holiday: Can Tech Workers Really Switch Off?

We spend around 349 minutes a day in front of a screen, equivalent to 41 hours a week and almost 12 weeks a year. For people working in the tech sector, these figures tend to be even higher: between notifications, collaboration tools, development environments, and informal on-call responsibilities, the boundary between work and free time becomes increasingly blurred until it disappears altogether. Summer holidays are when this boundary should become clear again. But can tech workers really switch off?

The data suggests that the desire is there. According to a Mastercard survey of more than 27,000 European consumers, 62% of Italians intend to prioritize offline experiences to compensate for the time spent online, while 68% expect to take part in events designed to encourage disconnection. According to the 2025 Hilton Trends report, 27% of adults planning a trip say they want to reduce their use of social media during their holidays, while the Plum Guide platform has recorded a 17% increase in searches for properties without Wi-Fi.

Wanting to disconnect does not necessarily mean succeeding. For those working in IT, disconnecting carries a particular burden: the feeling that something could go wrong in production, an established habit of being available, and a work culture that rewards constant availability. Switching off requires an active effort; simply physically distancing yourself from the office is not enough.

Digital well-being experts suggest starting with small but concrete actions:

use an analog alarm clock so that the phone is not the first thing you look at in the morning
disable WhatsApp read receipts to reduce the anxiety of having to reply immediately
personalize your out-of-office message by emphasizing not only your absence but also the human need to recharge

The picture that emerges is one of a cultural shift that is still underway. The goal is not to demonize devices, but to return to using them more consciously and in greater balance. For tech professionals, who by nature and by profession live within technology, this balance must be built deliberately, one summer at a time.