A Conceptual and Strategic Examination of Digital Detox: Challenges, Consequences, and Future Research Directions

The increasing integration of digital technologies into everyday life has raised growing concerns about excessive technology use and its potential consequences for individual well-being, organizational functioning, and human–technology relationships. Digital detox has therefore emerged as an approach to consciously reduce, regulate, or temporarily discontinue digital technology use to promote digital well-being. However, the existing literature presents diverse definitions, approaches, and findings regarding digital detox, while its individual, organizational, and technological dimensions have not been sufficiently integrated. This study aims to conceptually examine digital detox, identify its major challenges and consequences, integrate relevant theoretical perspectives, and develop an initial conceptual framework for future empirical research. Methodologically, the study adopts a theoretical and conceptual design based on an analytical and integrative review of relevant literature. The findings indicate that digital detox should be understood as a multidimensional and multilevel phenomenon rather than merely as temporary abstinence from technology. Accordingly, six complementary dimensions are identified: Digital Awareness, Digital Self-Regulation, Technological Sustainability, Organizational Policy-Making, Mindful Leadership, and Sustainable Digital Environment Design. The theoretical synthesis further indicates that digital detox is influenced by individual capacities, organizational conditions, and technological environments. The proposed framework integrates these dimensions across individual, organizational, and environmental–technological levels and provides a basis for understanding how they can jointly support healthier patterns of digital behavior. The study contributes by organizing fragmented literature into an integrated conceptual framework and identifying directions for future empirical validation.