IT has become an integral part of our lives.

At the touch of a button we can connect with friends; order shopping; pay bills; sort our finances and virtually organise our lives.

Technology has widened our communication network, and made the world much smaller but at what cost?

At times it feels like we are bombarded with an avalanche of information and we would all probably appreciate the opportunity to switch off!

According to an Ofcom report, a third of UK internet users have undertaken a “digital detox” with well over half saying they are “hooked” on their connected devices.

Some 15 million people, or 34 per cent of all internet users, have taken between a day and a month away from the web.

Of the 2,205 adults and 500 teenagers surveyed, 59 per cent consider themselves to be “hooked” on their connected device and a third say they find it difficult to disconnect.

Adult users in the UK currently spend an average of one day a week - 25 hours - online.

Forty two per cent say they go online to check apps more than 10 times a day and around one in 10 access the internet more than 50 times a day.

Nearly half of all users said they spent longer online each day than they intended to, and, as a result 48 per cent neglected housework, 47 per cent missed out on sleep or were tired the next day and 31 per cent missed out on time with friends and family.

A quarter of teenagers had been late for school and 60 per cent said they had neglected school work, but 61 per cent said their parents had taken their device away or restricted their time on it.

A quarter of adults have sent a text or instant message to friends or family while in the same room.

But a quarter of adults also complained that someone bumped into them in the street at least once a week because they were looking at their phones, and 40 per cent felt a friend or relative had ignored them at least once a week because they were too engrossed in their device.

Of those who had taken time away from the internet, 25 per cent left it for up to a day; 20 per cent took up to a week and five per cent took up to a month away, with 44 per cent saying they wanted more time to do other things and 38 per cent needing more time to talk to friends and family.

However, while 33 per cent felt more productive as a result, 27 per cent found it liberating and 25 per cent enjoyed life more, 16 per cent experienced a “fear of missing out,” 15 per cent felt lost and 14 per cent felt “cut-off.”

Almost a third of UK holiday-goers have purposely abandoned technology, with 16 per cent choosing a destination with no internet access and nine per cent travelled to a place with no internet or phone coverage.

Jane Rumble, director of market intelligence at Ofcom, said: “The internet has revolutionised our lives for the better. But our love affair with the web isn’t always plain surfing, and many people admit to feeling hooked.

“So millions of us are taking a fresh look at the role of technology in our lives, and going on a digital detox to get a better tech-life balance.”

According to Professor Peter Excell, former deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Glyndwr in Wales and visiting professor of Telecommunications at Bradford University, says humans are now living through Moore’s Law - an observation made by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel - in the 1960s.

“It says computing power doubles every 18 months and there doesn’t seem to be any stopping it. Computers are getting ‘cleverer and cleverer’ all the time and humans have to adjust to this,” says Professor Excell.

But he welcomes a ‘digital detox’ to encourage people to take a more considered approach to what they are communicating.

“Detox is a good idea, getting people to think more about it, not just switching off, thinking more intelligently about what you are communicating in and out,” says Professor Excell.

For 29-year-old Bradford University worker Shazia, checking her phone is the first thing she does when she wakes up.

“I am always checking it at lunch breaks and as soon as I get a message I feel as though I have to check it straight away.”

Like many people, Shazia feels she needs to have her phone with her but, interestingly, she says on a recent holiday with friends they decided to put their phones away.

“And we had a laugh. Talking to each other we had some good conversations. I think that is important," she added.