April 29, 2024 • 39 mins
Technology is amazing! We can make video calls, find facts in an instant and watch movies on our phones. We take all this for granted, but have we let our screens and devices take over too much of our lives?
To mark Digital Wellness Day on May 3, we hear from Amy Blankson (author and "chief evangelist" at the Digital Wellness Institute) about her ten tips to tame our devices at home and in the workplace.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Pushkin ry. Hey Amy, how's it going good?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
How are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
If you told me when I was a kid that
I would one day be making free video calls to
friends and colleagues all over the planet, I'd probably have
said that you'd seen Star Wars one too many times.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Thanks so much for taking the time for this.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
So happy to join you guys. This is exciting.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
But today, in twenty twenty four, we use video calls
and so many other amazing technologies all the time.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
We totally take them for granted.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
How is the audio sounding? Are we good?
Speaker 1 (00:51):
I think so?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I mean I can share my photos instantly with hundreds
of relatives. I can find any existing recipe or song
lyric and seconds and yes, I can now even watch.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Star Wars on my phone.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Sounds great, awesome?
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Your recording is so you have headphones?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Thank you?
Speaker 1 (01:05):
And are you able to record your side?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Modern technology is amazing, but it does have a downside.
Research shows that our screens and apps and devices are
making us less social, less present, and even less happy.
And that's why I'm jumping on zoom with Amy Blankson.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I am the chief evangelist for the Digital Wellness Institute Masa,
the best selling author of the Future of Happiness and
I Am thrilled to be here.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Amy is at the forefront of a new holiday known
as Digital Wellness Day, which falls on May third. In
honor of Digital Wellness Day, I've asked Amy to share
her favorite ten tips that we can all use to
bring more balance to the way we use our devices well.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
First off, what is.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Digital Wellness Day?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So?
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Digital Wellness Day is a global holiday where we literally
just pause to think about how we interact with our technology.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
When, where, why?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
How?
Speaker 4 (01:58):
We know that some individuals really need that quiet space
in the morning to be mindful. Others need to get
through the slog of the day and then have time
at the end of the day to reflect on their habits.
But wherever you're coming from, there's an opportunity to learn
more about the ways that we interact with our technology.
Because it has become such a dominant force in our lives.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Why is this something we need to get intentional about.
What's the problem with our digital technologies and why it's
negatively affecting our happiness?
Speaker 4 (02:24):
So I would say that technology is not necessarily negatively
impacting our happiness. That was actually my assumption when I
started my book and as I got into the research,
that was actually not the case. The big differentiation here
is that it's the way that we're using our technology,
and the truth is that when we're not mindful about
how we're interacting, we wind up falling prey to the
(02:46):
snowball effect, which is that the snowball starts at the
top of a mountain very slowly and gain steam and
by the end it's.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Going such a velocity that it's hard to keep up with.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
We know that with our digital technology that fifty percent
of the time we pick up our phone, nobody's actually
called or messaged us. We're picking it up because the
need to be needed is actually highly addictive. And follow
that up by the fact that the second time you
reach for your phone, fifty percent of the time, it's
within two minutes of picking it up the first time.
(03:17):
So as the day rolls on, we are literally reaching
for our devices constantly, and the downside of that is
that we're a little bit less connected with other people
in our lives. We're less productive, we're making more errors,
we're feeling less happy about the way that we interact
with the world around us, and how tuned in we
are to ourselves and other people as well, and so
we know that has ripple effects and to burn out
(03:39):
mental health issues as well as physical problems like our backs,
our eyes, our necks. And so without really contemplating the
importance of this topic, I think it's hard to make
a difference in it change until you can actually see it.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
And so this year, the particular theme of Digital Wellness
Day is digital balance. What is digital balance and why
is it so important to achieve?
Speaker 4 (04:02):
So digital balance is really finding that sweet spot we
call it a spot of digital flourishing where it's not
that you are a dicted to technology and it's not
that you're swearing it off either. It's really that you're
finding that happy medium where technology is working for you,
not the other way around. And so the idea of
digital balance is that each one of us has the
(04:22):
capacity to find a better sense of balance, no matter
where your baseline is today, we all can do a
better job of being more thoughtful and really getting control
of the way that we're interacting with our technology.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
And so today we're going to walk through some of
your top ten tips for achieving digital balance in the
complicated spot we find ourselves in in twenty twenty four
right now. And one of the tips that you talk
about a lot, which I think is really relevant for
finding digital balance in our home lives, is finding ways
that we could become more intentional with our technology. Why
is kind of our intent so important there?
Speaker 4 (04:55):
So our intent is important because when you set your intention,
you are forty percent more likely to follow through on actions.
So intent, for me actually starts with data. It starts
with being able to get a real gauge of what
are your behaviors today, and then you can set an
intention so that moving forward you have an idea of
(05:15):
exactly what you'd like to see.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Change in your life.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
I'm a bit of a data geek, so maybe that
doesn't work for everyone, but I do find that that
moment where I have people in an audience pull out
their phone and look at their screen time is always
an AHA moment, even if you've done it before. I
think these numbers sneak up on us, and when we
bring our awareness back to the numbers, then we can
set an intention to go forward.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
And so one of the ways we can get intentional
is to really learn about those numbers. Do you have
particular techniques that you suggest to the people you work
with for how to do that better.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
I do so when I have people go look into
their phones before they ever touch their phone, I want
them to think in their minds about how much time
they think they're spending online and what are the top
three apps they think they're using. And I want them
to think about what are their top three values in
their life? Is it success? Is it fame? Is it fortune?
(06:07):
Is it family? Is it friends? Is it faith? Whatever
it is for you, those things should be the anchoring
things that determine how you use your time. Then I
have people guesstimate how long they're think that they're spending
on those three apps, and then we go look and
we get the real gut check in that moment of
how accurate were you? And I would say about ten
percent of the time people are accurate and ninety percent
(06:29):
of the time you hear a few guesps in the
audience as they realize, oh my gosh, I had no idea,
could this even be possible? And it's that moment, it's
that light bulb moment that suddenly people are inspired to
create change. And you know this as well, Doctor Santos,
that with all of the behavioral of modifications that we
are trying to create through positive psychology. That awareness is
(06:50):
that first step, and then comes the recognition that you
need to do something on the back end.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
And one of the things you suggests that people do
is it kind of little hack that I really like,
which is you call it a really rule?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
What's the really rule? And how can that make us
more intentional?
Speaker 4 (07:06):
The really rule comes from my brother when he was
helping me downsize my house and we were about to move,
and as he walked around the house with me, he
literally was following me around, going, Amy, do.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
You really need this? Come on?
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Like we had our sorting piles, and we had our
giving away piles and selling piles and literally everything he
would say really, but his voice got.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
In my head. And so now when I'm thinking about my.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Digital habits, I use what's called the really rule. Thank
you Shanni Koor for that, which is that moment where
you can think about how necessary it is to pick
up your phone to use that app, to play that game,
to read that extra book when you have other things
you might need to be doing. Because we all have
some distractions that are good for us, right that are
(07:55):
actually helpful. One cat video can be fantastic for boosting
your mood. Twenty cat videos is when you start to
have an issue, right, and so there's that point of
maximum utility and then a.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Steep drop off point.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
We want to be able to be so mindful and
aware thoughtful that we can say, really, do I really
need to watch another cat video? Or is this enough
for today? And that gut check is very helpful.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I love this rule because it can really allow you
to say no, no right now. Actually that engagement with
my technology feels fun. Like I've been in this period
where I've been traveling a lot, so I find myself
spending a lot more time than usual in like airport
waiting lounges and just kind of sitting around. And sometimes
when I use the really rule, it's like, you know,
should I really be checking my email or looking at
(08:37):
you know, goofy things on Reddit? And it's like, I've
got four minutes to get on this plane. I'm just
killing time. Yeah, this makes sense. But then sometimes I
realize like, oh, actually, is there something else I could
be doing?
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Is this really the best use of my time?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
And then I'll think back to all the research on
social connection and say, oh, maybe I should talk to
the person sitting next to me, or maybe I should
you know, text a friend.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
And so it was a really useful rule when I
heard you talk about.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
It, because it was like, it's just like kind of
a gut check or like a reminder of like is
this is this the best use of my time right now?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Really?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
And it was really powerful for me. No, no, no
pun intended. I guess another great tip you give is
the power of finding a stopping queue. What do you
mean by a stopping queue? And how can we build
more of those into our kind of digital activities online?
Speaker 4 (09:20):
So stopping cues are those moments where you have something
that helps queue you visually or even an auditory signal
that says this is a moment that maybe is a
time to step back or pause. For some people who
are familiar with the Pomodoro technique. There's some fantastic apps
online and yes I'm talking about using fire to fight
(09:40):
fire here, but I like to use one called the
Insight timer, and it is literally a timer that counts
down and then it dings at the end. So what
that's doing is number one is giving me a visual
cue Amy, it's time to focus, and it's only going
to be twenty minutes. And then the sound cueue reminds
me to come back out of that and say, Okay,
you've been.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Working for a good, deep chunk of time.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Now it's time to take a moment to stand up
and take a breather. And as long as the science
of distraction has been emerging since the early seventies, this
has been a very helpful strategy to help to signal
our brains this is deep work, this is a little
bit lighter work. And when you can bounce back and
forth between the two of them, you actually boost your
productivity by giving your brain many breaks and deeper focus breaks.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
But I found the stopping cues even more relevant for like,
I'm just scrolling through Reddit, and my brain, I'm just
going to do that for like two seconds. I'm just
going to go through a couple TikTok videos, But without
the stopping cue, I could be there for much more
time than, you know, a couple minutes, sadly, embarrassingly, So,
how can we use these stopping queues kind of for
leisure that we might want to get a little kind
(10:46):
of digital distraction in, but not to get stuck there.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
So and this is such a great call out there
as well, because the way that our technology is designed
is actually based on certain techniques that are designed to
keep our brains interacting and highly attuned to the content.
And so what the stopping technique does in that sense
is it takes what's been designed in an app as
what's called the bottomless bowl, meaning that if you scroll
(11:10):
on TikTok, you will scroll and scroll and scroll, and
you will never reach the bottom.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
And so there is no signal to you saying it's
time to stop.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
More apps that are being focused on human centered design
are starting to create a limit the number of videos
that they post at a given time because it's a
healthier way to consume content. So if you look on Pinterest,
or if you look on some of the news media apps,
you'll scroll down maybe for a couple minutes, and then
(11:38):
it will stop. It's not that the content stops, it's
just design feature that helps you to know, okay, time
to stop. When you don't have that in an app.
Those are the apps that are the most dangerous for us,
the ones that suck us in the most, and the
ones that require us as individuals to be stronger and
more intentional about setting boundaries for ourselves so that we
don't get sucked in.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
And so these are some ways that we can be
a little bit more intentional about our technology use. But
the next tip that you give us is that we
also have to manage our technological distraction. You know, how
does technologies steal our attention away? And how are even
simple things like the technology we have around us messing
with what we get to think about.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
So if you want to experience this firsthand, one of
the most interesting ways to see exactly how technology is
arresting our attention is by switching your phone into grayscale mode.
So if you don't know how to do this, just
google how do I turn my phone into grayscale. It's
a very simple three or four step process. But essentially
what it does is it takes all of the color
(12:36):
off of your screen, all the flashing lights, and sometimes
you can even turn off all the sounds.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
You get this very blank canvas. And I've had people.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Who've been able to do the gray scale for maybe
a day, two days, three days, and then it will
drive you nuts because it's so boring.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
You don't want to look at it anymore.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
So that just shows you just how much the interplay
of color, light, sound flashing does to stimulate our visual
cortex and how effective it is at keeping our attention
focused on whatever is put in front of us. And
that's why pop ups are so effective, is because they
literally come into your space and they take your attention
away from what you were doing before, and so this
(13:14):
is not by accident. Tristan Harris, who's the former Google
design ethicist, will often talk about how our phones were
designed like slot machines and that they were designed to
hijack our attention. And I love that message, but I
also want to call out that I think we as
human beings are stronger than these companies are designing for.
(13:36):
I think that we have the power to control our minds.
We just have to set our attention that this is
something that we care about, that we want to do,
and that we're going to get better at because our
attention is so important and so vital to our life.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
So it's simple. Just use a bit of willpower and
you can resist the urge to pick.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Up your phone so often. Well as you might have guessed,
it's not really that easy.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
You'll hear why when the happiness lad returns in a moment.
Author in digital wellness evangelist Amy Blankson already shared some
quick strategies we can use to prevent our screens from
taking over our limited attention, simple things like switching our
phones to grayscale or asking the question do I really
(14:20):
need to be checking this AUP right now? But she
also thinks we need to think a bit more radically.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
So there was a study called the Mirror Present Study
that found that the simply having your phone in your
line of sight decreases your attention, your focus, your connection
to the person or the task at hand, and that
by simply hiding your phone you can actually reclaim ten
percent of your brain power. So what this means to
me is that literally, when I'm working, I'll tuck my
(14:49):
phone behind my laptop or desktop screen, or I'll put
it in my back pocket, or I'll put it in
a bag. So it's not that it's not there. I'm
not walking away from it because sometimes people are uncomfortable
with that. All I'm doing is getting out of my
line of site. And the reason why this works is
because of that factor that the need to be needed
is so strong that our eyes are actually flickering back
(15:09):
and forth between our screen and our task or the
person we're.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
With because we might be needed.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
And that leads to another factor that I am on
a soapbox lately about the importance of not fubbing our
friends and fubbing. For those of you who've never heard
of this term, I apologize in advance for introducing you
to it because you might hate me later. But fubbing
is phone snubbing, and it is that moment where you're
having an awesome conversation with someone when all of a
(15:36):
sudden they get a notification.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
On their phone.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
They look down, and it's not that notification that gets them,
it's the one that pops up after that that they're
suddenly lost. And then by the time they come back
to you, they say, oh, I'm so sorry about that.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
What were we talking about again? That's fubbing.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
You are now going to see it everywhere, and I
think that that is the kind of impact that we're
trying to eliminate when we're focusing on the mere presence
of a device on our line of site. By having
out of our line of site, there's nothing to go check,
there's nothing to interrupt us. And that's us taking control
of our physical space as well as our mental space
there as well.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
So this is a nice transition to your third tip
that we need to engage with if we want to
find more digital balance, which is that we need to
be protecting our in real life social connections from digital
distraction and so many kind of digital challenges. You know,
I know that we've talked a lot on this podcast
about the importance of social relationships, but talk about how technology,
beyond just fubbing, can kind of mess with our kind
(16:34):
of social connection that we experience in real life.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
Well, we've certainly seen the rise of mental health concerns,
not just in the United States but across the globe,
and especially for our young people. And it's no accident
that this is a topic that comes back time and
time again to not just social.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Media, but also our devices.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
We see it with gaming, we see it with getting
lost in work for some of our hyper responsible young people.
We see it and the ways that we interact with
one another and feel less connected because we're not making.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
As much eye contact.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
We know that the brain has what's called mirror neurons,
which means that there's an emotional contagion effect that happens
between individuals.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
You see this all the time.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
When one person yawns, the next person yawns, Well, imagine
if they can't see each other, you don't get that connection.
The same thing happens not just with yawning, but also
with positive mood effect as well as negative affect. So
if we're not seeing one another, we literally can't have
that hardwired connection that we've had for all of human
(17:34):
existence before now.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
And so by getting the.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Devices out of our way, by reconnecting with our eyes,
with our bodies, with our attention, that's what really helps
us to form those bonds. And that's so important, as
we know, to social capital and bridging and bonding as well.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Another one of those strategies you suggest for how we
can kind of get back to kind of engaging with
each other socially away from our technology is to find
some screen free activities. I love this because I feel
like so much of my social connection unfortunately involves screens.
Like I'm gonna hang out with my husband, but we're
going to watch a movie together, watch Netflix, or you know,
we're gonna kind of get together with friends, but we
(18:10):
all have our phones, right beside us, and whenever that
lull in the conversation comes, we pull them out. What
are some good ideas for non screen social activities that
we can engage in, and what are some rules that
we can put in place around our technology when we're
engaging in those new activities.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
I like that question, and I think that it is
interesting because there are so many activities that exist that
we have done for years and years, but we're beginning
to kind of forget what the options are get.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
I know, it's like so sad, right, Like it's like, well,
what can we do tonight? Like I guess we'll do
something with the screen because we just like aren't creative
enough to come up with these other ideas.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Right is our creativity leaving us because of a lack
of use. It's like a muscle that we're forgetting. But
there's all sorts of activities from playing games outside playing
board games, from playing games, like for my children, they
still love Hide and go Seek, or there's art, there's music,
there's just sitting and being still and noticing the world
around you, just trying new foods and cooking. I really
(19:08):
liked it encourage people when they're trying to think of
this list is to actually write it down somewhere so
that when you hit that moment of what should I do? Now,
you have a go to list of all the other
things that you also enjoy that you can pick something
off the list.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
And we see this some people.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Have like a little jar of popsicle so you randomly
pull out a popsicle stick that has an idea for
something to do. But what's essentially happening here is you're
creating a different opportunity. Cost right, you could do this,
but you also get a lot of joy out of that.
So we're going to try to balance and as you
said earlier, it's not an either or, it's an and
it's an opportunity that you can have time to watch
(19:45):
a movie and really enjoy that, and we can do
some other things to balance out that time as well.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
And so those are some ways that we can kind
of boost up our in real life social connection. But
there's a second in real life thing we need to
pay attention to it if we're trying to achieve digital balance,
which is like our bodies and how they're affected by
our digital world. And so I think this is something
we often forget when it comes to kind of thinking
about how our technology can make us happier. But tell
me a little bit about the challenges that our bodies
(20:11):
face as we become more digital natives and interact with
screens more often.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
The physical challenge that we experience with being on screens
more is obviously the sedentary nature of sitting in front
of a screen creates less activity in our bodies, which
makes it harder to.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Regulate our metabolism.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
It changes our sleep habits, and it also makes us
even sometimes forget to eat or to mindlessly eat because
you're so busy watching something. So we know the mind
body connection here is really strong, and it's something that
we could be paying more attention to you. This is
another one of those moments, though, where I think that
we can fight fire with fire. We know fitbits have
been amazing or the Apple Watch has been incredible for
(20:51):
helping motivate individuals with data to change their behavior or
track their behaviors, been known to raise your mindfulness. So
I wouldn't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater,
but I do think that there is a balance.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
We also hear a lot of individuals who.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Get lost in tracking data. They are so concerned about
their streaks, that they lose track of the fact that
the whole purpose was to do other things besides being online.
And so again we come back to this place of
let's make technology work for us, not us work for
our technology, and any other.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Tips for how we can use technology a bit more
ergonomically in ways that really support our posture and the
kinds of ways we want to hold our body.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Yes, absolutely so.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Having a screen that is at your line of sight
is so important for those of you out there who
have been spending a lot of time on a laptop.
Because the screens are smaller, we tend to hunch down
because the table height is not set out a line
of sight for a laptop, and so the idea might
be to either put your laptop higher on a stack
of books, or it might be to have a desk
(21:55):
that raises some lowers depending on where you're looking into
your camera. You would not believe they kind of impact
this makes on back pain, on neck pain and posture
as well. It took me writing a book about digital
wellness to pay attention to the factor, and once I did,
I wasn't visiting the chiropractor all the time. I was
able to go through a day and not feel like
(22:15):
my whole body hurt just from sitting at work, and
it's really important.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Another thing that's really important, which gets us to tip
number five, is that we need to kind of navigate
our technology use in the bedroom in order to protect
our sleep. How has technology been affecting sleep and what
are some best practices we can do to allow ourselves
to protect our sleep while still enjoying the screens that
we enjoy so much.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
So there is some debate on this topic.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Actually, we've heard a lot about the importance of keeping
your phone out of the bedroom, and that specifically because
the blue light that's emitted from your screen has been
known to mess with your circadian rhythms, which makes it
harder for you to fall asleep, makes it harder for
you to have good sleep and then wake up at
it at a decent hour. And the second reason why
(23:01):
it's advised to keep your phone out of the bedroom
is because it's really tempting to check that email right
before bed, or to stay up watching something on your screen,
or to mess around, you know, playing a game or whatever.
And so the temptation is so high, I will tell
you truthfully, and I think it's important as a digital
wellness expert to be as authentic as possible. I do
(23:22):
sleep with my phone right beside my bed, and there's
two reasons why. Number one is because there's now the
ability to change the amount of blue light emitted on
your phone, so you can actually decrease the brightness if
it's not as impactful. Too, is I still use it
as my alarm calendar. That helps me feel more at peace,
and so if we're just going to be really real
here right now, that's important for me. The third reason
(23:43):
is I actually like to read myself to sleep, and
I find that is the number one thing that helps
me to naturally wind my brain down at the end
of the day. And so if I can have the
self control enough to not check that email right before bed,
then it works. If we don't have that self control,
then it can become a problem. And so it comes
back to evaluating for yourself, what are your triggers, what
(24:04):
are your boundaries, what works for you, And if there's
a way that you can keep your phone great, if
it feels better or you think that it will help
you to reach your goals by keeping it out of
the bedroom, that I highly suggest it.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Another strategy you've mentioned, which I think is a nice
balance when maybe keeping your phone there but not kind
of going to it as much, is this idea of
a screen free morning practice, so that your first moments
of wakefulness aren't interacting with that screen. Any good ideas
for how to engage with that screen free morning practice.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
I'm a huge advocate of the screen free morning practice,
and I'm still working on this practice myself, but I
think starting with baby steps is really important and understanding
the rationale for why would you not look at your
phone first thing in the morning, And the reason is
that when we open our phone, we have I think
the average number of notifications per day is three hundred
(24:54):
and twenty three notifications that are pinging at us throughout
the day my gosh, right, so including I'm sure a
bunch at night.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
So as soon as you wake up, there's like a
whole host of them just sitting there.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
They are all waiting for you, and they will be
there still even a little bit later in the morning.
So the thought is that rather than wake up to
the tyranny of the urgent, why not give yourself that
headspace where you control the course of your day where
you allow other people's thoughts and when you're ready. Most
of us don't want to wake up to a fire alarm.
(25:25):
And that's the equivalent of what's happening when we open
our phone and you think, Oh, this bill needs to
get paid, Oh, this person needs to go there, the
dog needs to get groomed. This project you forgot, you
didn't do ten tasks yesterday. Oh my gosh, my stress
levels rising. Right, So do yourself a solid keep that
for as long as you can to have that morning
mindfulness space, and even if it's five minutes for the
(25:46):
start of the day, that's a great place to start.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
And if you are using your phone even in the
mornings or however, one other tip, tip number six is
to find ways to use your technology to make sure
you're doing the kinds of happiness hacks that you've heard
about on this podcast and elsewhere. When I think about
my morning's screen practice, one of the things I like
to do is to kind of quickly scribble in a
gratitude journal or maybe to open up a screen, maybe
(26:10):
my laptop, and do a quick journaling practice. How can
we kind of maybe incorporate more technology into the healthier
side of practices and maybe what are some other examples
that people could think about in their own lives.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
So one of the things that I love to talk
to audiences about is what's called the J game. And
these are the five most well researched habits, positive habits
that can help raise your baseline for happiness. You know
these well, Doctor Santos, But these would be J for journaling,
G for gratitude, A for acts of kindness, IN for meditation,
and E for exercise. And while these are all potentially
(26:43):
offline habits, I think there's also a way to do
all five of them online. For instance, I know that
iPhone now has a new journal app and it'll ping
you at the evening to remind you, Hey, write down
two or three things that happened today so you didn't forget.
There's a gratitude app I love. It's called Gratitude, and
it just gives you three blinks to write your gratitudes
and it keeps tracks so you can look back at.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Them over time.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
For acts of kindness, I like to send a text
message once a day to somebody in my social support
network just saying hey, I'm thinking about you or thanks
for something you did meditation, Check out.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Headspace, check out YouTube.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Lots of great resources and of course, exercise tying in
some of the ways that we can be inspired to
keep track of our health and fitness. These are always
that if you have an intention to raise your happiness,
you can use technology to do it or not. Either way,
but whatever works best for you, you will need to
find that so that you can stick with it over time.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Finding digital balance during your leisure time is hugely important,
but many of us spend the majority of our waking
hours at work. How do we make sure our phones
and screens don't boss us around there? The Happiness Lab
will be back in a moment. All my good intentions
(28:00):
about finding a healthy digital balance fall by the wayside
when it comes to work. I know I should be
avoiding screens and Reddit rabbit holes in my free time,
but as a profession with so many responsibilities, shouldn't I
be responding to email at all hours or checking social
media for the latest psychology news. It kind of feels
like my duty. Author and digital wellness expert Amy Blankson
(28:22):
isn't so sure.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
The greatest challenge in the workplace for finding digital balance
is being able to carve out digital boundaries in a
way that you feel will be seen and respected, especially
by those who are more senior to you. I talk
to employees all the time who are worried that if
they don't respond to that email at eleven PM and
all of their colleagues do, that they'll be seen as
(28:43):
non responsive and this creates sort of a slippery slope
of negative habits and round the clock, always on connectivity.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
That's not helping anyone.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
So really beginning to have those conversations at work is
an important next step in terms of figuring out what
is allowed, what kind of latitude do you have to
make choices? And then for those who are junior to you,
how can you impact their lives with what power you
do have to set some policies or set some behaviors
(29:12):
or even just social scripts in the workplace that help
reinforce positive digital balance and a more positive digital culture.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
And so that was sort of tips umber seven how
we can fight our hyperconnectivity. Your tip number eight is
that we should think more about screen fatigue and how
to deal with it.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I think I know very very well what this is,
but I want.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
To hear your definition of screen fatigue and I definitely
want to hear all your tips that we can use
to kind of deal with it and make it better.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Screen fatigue is essentially when you get tired of looking
at screens. A lot of times it is prompted by
zoom fatigue, or team's fatigue, or even slack fatigue, but
there is a general sense of malaise and even irritability
that emerges when you're on a screen for too long.
It could show up physically, like your eyes start to
dry out or you start to get headaches, but for
(29:57):
a lot of people, it's a lot more subtle than that.
It's just that general sense of unrest that you're frustrated
and you don't know why that comes from a screen fatigue.
And we've had some interesting studies emerge now since the
pandemic around why this happens specifically with zoom fatigue, and
it's often called the Brady Bunch effect. And the idea is,
like the Brady Bunch, you have all these different small
(30:19):
screens and pictures of individuals that might be on the
call with you, and your brain is spending so much
energy flickering between all the other faces on the screen
the chat. What you're looking like you're managing for your background,
and so the amount of mental energy that it takes
to manage all of that actually drains you way faster
(30:39):
than an in person interaction would. And so as we
are adults and professionals being mindful of our screen fatigue,
it's really important to both plan for short breaks in
between different screen activities and to give others that same
sort of break when we're planning and scheduling activities. Because
we know that this plays an important factor in burnout.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
It also seems that we just need to be a
little bit more intentional about noticing it. I loved your
comment about sometimes the screen fatigue isn't that I've developed
some sort of mind grade or a headache. It's really
just that, like, I'm incredibly frustrated on my last nerve,
but that actually comes from the fact that I'm kind
of a little bit more depleted because I've been on
zoom calls all day. So any kind of tips for
kind of noticing that and allowing it to I.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
Think that you'll notice it. Now that you've heard it,
you think about it, you'll notice it more often. The
harder question is what do you do on the back end?
Once you notice it and you're required to be on
Zoom all day for work.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
And there are a few hacks that I'm finding.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
My number one most favorite hack so far as that
when people book meetings with me on my calendar, I
made a new option that's called the walk and talk option,
So you can meet with me. They're thirty minutes or
an hour, or you could have a walk and talk
and we could put on tennis shoes and walk in
the sunshine and be aware that there might be when
there might be noise, but we're both just going to
(31:56):
embrace it and love the fact that we can get
away from the desk for a little bit. People have
been loving this option, so I think there's some ways
that we can reclaim that. I also really recommend that
when you feel like that frustration rising up within yourself
with screen fatigue, is to step away, step away from
the computer, and then do something really manual. So if
(32:18):
you happen to have the luxury to work from home,
maybe it's washing dishes or folding laundry. If you're in
the office, maybe it's going to take a walk, could
be talking to a colleague for a minute or two.
It could mean taking a trip to the bathroom just
to have a change of scenery for a minute. But
whatever it is, having that break is absolutely essential so
that you don't send yourself into a mental decline over
(32:40):
a frustration.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
I love exactly this tip because I literally just did
this just before we're having this conversation, not in a
studio together, but over Zoom, as many of my podcast
interviews are, and I was on Zoom a bunch today
and I just took time to just go do some laundry.
Not necessarily because there was like an urgent laundry need,
but just because like I needed something physical to do.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
I needed something that was like away from the screens.
And I think it did help right just to kind
of get that time away.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
But the laundry the idea sort of fits with your
tip number nine of how to kind of get digital
balance at work, especially when we're working remotely, which is
to think really critically about the spaces that we're working
from and how we can set up some separations between
the digital world and the in real life world. You've
talked about this idea of an invisible fence. What is
that and how can it impact our home office?
Speaker 4 (33:30):
So an invisible fence is literally just a digital boundary
that you set for yourself. But a lot of times
what happens is that when we set a boundary, say okay,
I don't want to have phones at the dinner table.
If you don't ever tell anybody that is your invisible fence,
they will literally cross over it all the time. But
there are ways that we can set up boundaries for
(33:50):
ourselves and communicate them or post them that help others
to help us to keep those boundaries together. The idea
of the invisible fence initially came from trying to train
my dog to stay in my yard in Virginia, so
the first house I'd ever lived in where there were
no fences, and I discovered that it wasn't just that
all Virginia were so well behaved, all the houses had
(34:11):
invisible fences. And what was even more amazing is that
when we got consultation for our invisible fence for our dog,
we learned that eighty percent of the fences are not
turned on, that the dogs learn the boundaries and once
they learn them, they don't cross over them again. And
so it really is about a training process. And while
we're not dogs, I do think there's certain ways that
(34:32):
we as humans can train ourselves, but it starts with
a recognizing this is a boundary I want to have,
and then be working with people around us to respect
those boundaries so that they're not unconsciously tripping over them
and the pandemic. For me, this was a moment where
I had to put a sign on my office door
for my children that said I am in a podcast,
or I am.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Recording, or I am doing deep work right now.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
And beyond that, it wasn't just about posting the note.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
It was about telling them.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
When I was going to be available again, because they
didn't actually want to know what my schedule was. They
just wanted to know when they could have my attention.
And a lot of times that happens with colleagues with emails.
They don't necessarily need your response right now, They just
want to know when they're going to get your response.
And so when you put a footer in your email
that says I do not respond to messages on the weekend,
(35:22):
but I look forward to getting back to you on Monday,
it gives them a sense of calm that they know
where they're going to hear from you, and it gives
you that digital space to be able to flourish yourself.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
And so any other good examples of kind of invisible
fences that you've set up in your home to kind
of protect your remote work or maybe to protect your
home life from.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
The remote work seeping into your home life.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Yes, I mean one of the most familiar invisible fences
that many people use is some sort of filter. If
you're a parent, it's a filter for your children on
what they can see on the internet.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
We can have them as adults as well. We can
also have them.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
I know my husband is a gamer, and so he
will put screen limits for himself so that when he's
been on the screen for too long, it'll have a
message say, hey, it's time for a break. That's an
invisible fence he set up for himself. I think for
my children, one of the invisible fences that I'm trying
to create is a mantra in their head. It's literally like,
(36:15):
I want to be more mindful, I want to be
more digitally.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Well, this is a good thing.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
So we can even use our own mental game as
an invisible fence to help us to stay on task.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
And so that's some ways we can set better boundaries
using these invisible fences. But now we're going to get
to the tenth and final tip that I think is
specifically about digital balance at work, which is how we
can get some in real life social connection at work,
even given the fact that we might be working remotely.
I know that there's so many studies that have shown
that belonging at work and having friends at work is
(36:46):
so important for our happiness at work, but that can
be so tricky when we're engaged in remote work, and
so any specific tips for how we can kind of
be better about connecting socially even if we're connecting on
Zoom or Slack and the like.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
So I actually watched Mark McConnell, who is a senior
wellness specialist at ATV Financial, literally give up masterclass on
how to do this. My jaw was just dropped as
I watched him lead a session and it was a
forty five minute webinar, and he packed so much social
connection into this forty five minutes. He started off with
three minutes of chat and get to know you, Then
(37:23):
he led one minute meditation where he brought people together,
one minute of reflection, got right into the task, and
all through the webinar.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
There was opportunity for.
Speaker 4 (37:34):
Both chat where he would call out people's names in
the chat so that he could have some back and
forth with colleagues, and there's some banter, and there's some
official work, and then of course the emoticons and emojis
when we're virtually connecting, and then at the end wrapping
up by talking about gratitudes. So what he was essentially
doing is weaving together some of the best practices that
(37:54):
we've seen in terms of recognition of gratitude and meditation.
But he was so focused and timely about it and personable.
And what I like about that, and when I think
we can pull from it, even if you're not at
ATB is to recreate a little bit of that in
our sessions. I think sometimes we think, oh, we got
to get straight to work, or this is a business meeting,
(38:15):
so we need to jump right into the tasks and
be very official. And I've seen a massive shift in
what's happened in the workplace since the pandemic. Less and
less are we focus so much on task and more
about this cross between personal and work at the same time,
and more interest in one another's lives. So I want
to encourage individuals. If you haven't been doing that, it's okay.
(38:37):
It's okay to ask how your colleagues are doing. It's
okay to take a minute to play around as long
as you work hard and play hard. And it's also
a great opportunity to really tune in and ask questions
about people's lives, to send them an encouraging message, to
say thank you for something they've done. These are the
little things that actually deeply matter. Whether you're in person
(38:58):
or virtual, we can still find ways to connect together.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Work hard, play hard.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I really love Amy's message about Digital Wellness Day because
she's not telling us to break up with our phones
or delete all our apps. Yes, May Third's new holiday
is all about finding balance. It's about embracing the digital good,
but also noticing what we might be missing out.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
On in real life.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Whatever you do on Digital Wellness Day, I hope these
strategies will help you find a bit more balance, and
I hope you'll join us again for the next episode
of the Happiness Lab with me Doctor Laurie Santos
Pushkin ry. Hey Amy, how's it going good?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
How are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
If you told me when I was a kid that
I would one day be making free video calls to
friends and colleagues all over the planet, I'd probably have
said that you'd seen Star Wars one too many times.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Thanks so much for taking the time for this.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
So happy to join you guys. This is exciting.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
But today, in twenty twenty four, we use video calls
and so many other amazing technologies all the time.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
We totally take them for granted.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
How is the audio sounding? Are we good?
Speaker 1 (00:51):
I think so?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I mean I can share my photos instantly with hundreds
of relatives. I can find any existing recipe or song
lyric and seconds and yes, I can now even watch.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Star Wars on my phone.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Sounds great, awesome?
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Your recording is so you have headphones?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Thank you?
Speaker 1 (01:05):
And are you able to record your side?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Modern technology is amazing, but it does have a downside.
Research shows that our screens and apps and devices are
making us less social, less present, and even less happy.
And that's why I'm jumping on zoom with Amy Blankson.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I am the chief evangelist for the Digital Wellness Institute Masa,
the best selling author of the Future of Happiness and
I Am thrilled to be here.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Amy is at the forefront of a new holiday known
as Digital Wellness Day, which falls on May third. In
honor of Digital Wellness Day, I've asked Amy to share
her favorite ten tips that we can all use to
bring more balance to the way we use our devices well.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
First off, what is.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Digital Wellness Day?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So?
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Digital Wellness Day is a global holiday where we literally
just pause to think about how we interact with our technology.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
When, where, why?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
How?
Speaker 4 (01:58):
We know that some individuals really need that quiet space
in the morning to be mindful. Others need to get
through the slog of the day and then have time
at the end of the day to reflect on their habits.
But wherever you're coming from, there's an opportunity to learn
more about the ways that we interact with our technology.
Because it has become such a dominant force in our lives.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Why is this something we need to get intentional about.
What's the problem with our digital technologies and why it's
negatively affecting our happiness?
Speaker 4 (02:24):
So I would say that technology is not necessarily negatively
impacting our happiness. That was actually my assumption when I
started my book and as I got into the research,
that was actually not the case. The big differentiation here
is that it's the way that we're using our technology,
and the truth is that when we're not mindful about
how we're interacting, we wind up falling prey to the
(02:46):
snowball effect, which is that the snowball starts at the
top of a mountain very slowly and gain steam and
by the end it's.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Going such a velocity that it's hard to keep up with.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
We know that with our digital technology that fifty percent
of the time we pick up our phone, nobody's actually
called or messaged us. We're picking it up because the
need to be needed is actually highly addictive. And follow
that up by the fact that the second time you
reach for your phone, fifty percent of the time, it's
within two minutes of picking it up the first time.
(03:17):
So as the day rolls on, we are literally reaching
for our devices constantly, and the downside of that is
that we're a little bit less connected with other people
in our lives. We're less productive, we're making more errors,
we're feeling less happy about the way that we interact
with the world around us, and how tuned in we
are to ourselves and other people as well, and so
we know that has ripple effects and to burn out
(03:39):
mental health issues as well as physical problems like our backs,
our eyes, our necks. And so without really contemplating the
importance of this topic, I think it's hard to make
a difference in it change until you can actually see it.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
And so this year, the particular theme of Digital Wellness
Day is digital balance. What is digital balance and why
is it so important to achieve?
Speaker 4 (04:02):
So digital balance is really finding that sweet spot we
call it a spot of digital flourishing where it's not
that you are a dicted to technology and it's not
that you're swearing it off either. It's really that you're
finding that happy medium where technology is working for you,
not the other way around. And so the idea of
digital balance is that each one of us has the
(04:22):
capacity to find a better sense of balance, no matter
where your baseline is today, we all can do a
better job of being more thoughtful and really getting control
of the way that we're interacting with our technology.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
And so today we're going to walk through some of
your top ten tips for achieving digital balance in the
complicated spot we find ourselves in in twenty twenty four
right now. And one of the tips that you talk
about a lot, which I think is really relevant for
finding digital balance in our home lives, is finding ways
that we could become more intentional with our technology. Why
is kind of our intent so important there?
Speaker 4 (04:55):
So our intent is important because when you set your intention,
you are forty percent more likely to follow through on actions.
So intent, for me actually starts with data. It starts
with being able to get a real gauge of what
are your behaviors today, and then you can set an
intention so that moving forward you have an idea of
(05:15):
exactly what you'd like to see.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Change in your life.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
I'm a bit of a data geek, so maybe that
doesn't work for everyone, but I do find that that
moment where I have people in an audience pull out
their phone and look at their screen time is always
an AHA moment, even if you've done it before. I
think these numbers sneak up on us, and when we
bring our awareness back to the numbers, then we can
set an intention to go forward.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
And so one of the ways we can get intentional
is to really learn about those numbers. Do you have
particular techniques that you suggest to the people you work
with for how to do that better.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
I do so when I have people go look into
their phones before they ever touch their phone, I want
them to think in their minds about how much time
they think they're spending online and what are the top
three apps they think they're using. And I want them
to think about what are their top three values in
their life? Is it success? Is it fame? Is it fortune?
(06:07):
Is it family? Is it friends? Is it faith? Whatever
it is for you, those things should be the anchoring
things that determine how you use your time. Then I
have people guesstimate how long they're think that they're spending
on those three apps, and then we go look and
we get the real gut check in that moment of
how accurate were you? And I would say about ten
percent of the time people are accurate and ninety percent
(06:29):
of the time you hear a few guesps in the
audience as they realize, oh my gosh, I had no idea,
could this even be possible? And it's that moment, it's
that light bulb moment that suddenly people are inspired to
create change. And you know this as well, Doctor Santos,
that with all of the behavioral of modifications that we
are trying to create through positive psychology. That awareness is
(06:50):
that first step, and then comes the recognition that you
need to do something on the back end.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
And one of the things you suggests that people do
is it kind of little hack that I really like,
which is you call it a really rule?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
What's the really rule? And how can that make us
more intentional?
Speaker 4 (07:06):
The really rule comes from my brother when he was
helping me downsize my house and we were about to move,
and as he walked around the house with me, he
literally was following me around, going, Amy, do.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
You really need this? Come on?
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Like we had our sorting piles, and we had our
giving away piles and selling piles and literally everything he
would say really, but his voice got.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
In my head. And so now when I'm thinking about my.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Digital habits, I use what's called the really rule. Thank
you Shanni Koor for that, which is that moment where
you can think about how necessary it is to pick
up your phone to use that app, to play that game,
to read that extra book when you have other things
you might need to be doing. Because we all have
some distractions that are good for us, right that are
(07:55):
actually helpful. One cat video can be fantastic for boosting
your mood. Twenty cat videos is when you start to
have an issue, right, and so there's that point of
maximum utility and then a.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Steep drop off point.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
We want to be able to be so mindful and
aware thoughtful that we can say, really, do I really
need to watch another cat video? Or is this enough
for today? And that gut check is very helpful.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I love this rule because it can really allow you
to say no, no right now. Actually that engagement with
my technology feels fun. Like I've been in this period
where I've been traveling a lot, so I find myself
spending a lot more time than usual in like airport
waiting lounges and just kind of sitting around. And sometimes
when I use the really rule, it's like, you know,
should I really be checking my email or looking at
(08:37):
you know, goofy things on Reddit? And it's like, I've
got four minutes to get on this plane. I'm just
killing time. Yeah, this makes sense. But then sometimes I
realize like, oh, actually, is there something else I could
be doing?
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Is this really the best use of my time?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
And then I'll think back to all the research on
social connection and say, oh, maybe I should talk to
the person sitting next to me, or maybe I should
you know, text a friend.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
And so it was a really useful rule when I
heard you talk about.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
It, because it was like, it's just like kind of
a gut check or like a reminder of like is
this is this the best use of my time right now?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Really?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
And it was really powerful for me. No, no, no
pun intended. I guess another great tip you give is
the power of finding a stopping queue. What do you
mean by a stopping queue? And how can we build
more of those into our kind of digital activities online?
Speaker 4 (09:20):
So stopping cues are those moments where you have something
that helps queue you visually or even an auditory signal
that says this is a moment that maybe is a
time to step back or pause. For some people who
are familiar with the Pomodoro technique. There's some fantastic apps
online and yes I'm talking about using fire to fight
(09:40):
fire here, but I like to use one called the
Insight timer, and it is literally a timer that counts
down and then it dings at the end. So what
that's doing is number one is giving me a visual
cue Amy, it's time to focus, and it's only going
to be twenty minutes. And then the sound cueue reminds
me to come back out of that and say, Okay,
you've been.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Working for a good, deep chunk of time.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Now it's time to take a moment to stand up
and take a breather. And as long as the science
of distraction has been emerging since the early seventies, this
has been a very helpful strategy to help to signal
our brains this is deep work, this is a little
bit lighter work. And when you can bounce back and
forth between the two of them, you actually boost your
productivity by giving your brain many breaks and deeper focus breaks.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
But I found the stopping cues even more relevant for like,
I'm just scrolling through Reddit, and my brain, I'm just
going to do that for like two seconds. I'm just
going to go through a couple TikTok videos, But without
the stopping cue, I could be there for much more
time than, you know, a couple minutes, sadly, embarrassingly, So,
how can we use these stopping queues kind of for
leisure that we might want to get a little kind
(10:46):
of digital distraction in, but not to get stuck there.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
So and this is such a great call out there
as well, because the way that our technology is designed
is actually based on certain techniques that are designed to
keep our brains interacting and highly attuned to the content.
And so what the stopping technique does in that sense
is it takes what's been designed in an app as
what's called the bottomless bowl, meaning that if you scroll
(11:10):
on TikTok, you will scroll and scroll and scroll, and
you will never reach the bottom.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
And so there is no signal to you saying it's
time to stop.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
More apps that are being focused on human centered design
are starting to create a limit the number of videos
that they post at a given time because it's a
healthier way to consume content. So if you look on Pinterest,
or if you look on some of the news media apps,
you'll scroll down maybe for a couple minutes, and then
(11:38):
it will stop. It's not that the content stops, it's
just design feature that helps you to know, okay, time
to stop. When you don't have that in an app.
Those are the apps that are the most dangerous for us,
the ones that suck us in the most, and the
ones that require us as individuals to be stronger and
more intentional about setting boundaries for ourselves so that we
don't get sucked in.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
And so these are some ways that we can be
a little bit more intentional about our technology use. But
the next tip that you give us is that we
also have to manage our technological distraction. You know, how
does technologies steal our attention away? And how are even
simple things like the technology we have around us messing
with what we get to think about.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
So if you want to experience this firsthand, one of
the most interesting ways to see exactly how technology is
arresting our attention is by switching your phone into grayscale mode.
So if you don't know how to do this, just
google how do I turn my phone into grayscale. It's
a very simple three or four step process. But essentially
what it does is it takes all of the color
(12:36):
off of your screen, all the flashing lights, and sometimes
you can even turn off all the sounds.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
You get this very blank canvas. And I've had people.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Who've been able to do the gray scale for maybe
a day, two days, three days, and then it will
drive you nuts because it's so boring.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
You don't want to look at it anymore.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
So that just shows you just how much the interplay
of color, light, sound flashing does to stimulate our visual
cortex and how effective it is at keeping our attention
focused on whatever is put in front of us. And
that's why pop ups are so effective, is because they
literally come into your space and they take your attention
away from what you were doing before, and so this
(13:14):
is not by accident. Tristan Harris, who's the former Google
design ethicist, will often talk about how our phones were
designed like slot machines and that they were designed to
hijack our attention. And I love that message, but I
also want to call out that I think we as
human beings are stronger than these companies are designing for.
(13:36):
I think that we have the power to control our minds.
We just have to set our attention that this is
something that we care about, that we want to do,
and that we're going to get better at because our
attention is so important and so vital to our life.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
So it's simple. Just use a bit of willpower and
you can resist the urge to pick.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Up your phone so often. Well as you might have guessed,
it's not really that easy.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
You'll hear why when the happiness lad returns in a moment.
Author in digital wellness evangelist Amy Blankson already shared some
quick strategies we can use to prevent our screens from
taking over our limited attention, simple things like switching our
phones to grayscale or asking the question do I really
(14:20):
need to be checking this AUP right now? But she
also thinks we need to think a bit more radically.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
So there was a study called the Mirror Present Study
that found that the simply having your phone in your
line of sight decreases your attention, your focus, your connection
to the person or the task at hand, and that
by simply hiding your phone you can actually reclaim ten
percent of your brain power. So what this means to
me is that literally, when I'm working, I'll tuck my
(14:49):
phone behind my laptop or desktop screen, or I'll put
it in my back pocket, or I'll put it in
a bag. So it's not that it's not there. I'm
not walking away from it because sometimes people are uncomfortable
with that. All I'm doing is getting out of my
line of site. And the reason why this works is
because of that factor that the need to be needed
is so strong that our eyes are actually flickering back
(15:09):
and forth between our screen and our task or the
person we're.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
With because we might be needed.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
And that leads to another factor that I am on
a soapbox lately about the importance of not fubbing our
friends and fubbing. For those of you who've never heard
of this term, I apologize in advance for introducing you
to it because you might hate me later. But fubbing
is phone snubbing, and it is that moment where you're
having an awesome conversation with someone when all of a
(15:36):
sudden they get a notification.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
On their phone.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
They look down, and it's not that notification that gets them,
it's the one that pops up after that that they're
suddenly lost. And then by the time they come back
to you, they say, oh, I'm so sorry about that.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
What were we talking about again? That's fubbing.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
You are now going to see it everywhere, and I
think that that is the kind of impact that we're
trying to eliminate when we're focusing on the mere presence
of a device on our line of site. By having
out of our line of site, there's nothing to go check,
there's nothing to interrupt us. And that's us taking control
of our physical space as well as our mental space
there as well.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
So this is a nice transition to your third tip
that we need to engage with if we want to
find more digital balance, which is that we need to
be protecting our in real life social connections from digital
distraction and so many kind of digital challenges. You know,
I know that we've talked a lot on this podcast
about the importance of social relationships, but talk about how technology,
beyond just fubbing, can kind of mess with our kind
(16:34):
of social connection that we experience in real life.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
Well, we've certainly seen the rise of mental health concerns,
not just in the United States but across the globe,
and especially for our young people. And it's no accident
that this is a topic that comes back time and
time again to not just social.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Media, but also our devices.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
We see it with gaming, we see it with getting
lost in work for some of our hyper responsible young people.
We see it and the ways that we interact with
one another and feel less connected because we're not making.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
As much eye contact.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
We know that the brain has what's called mirror neurons,
which means that there's an emotional contagion effect that happens
between individuals.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
You see this all the time.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
When one person yawns, the next person yawns, Well, imagine
if they can't see each other, you don't get that connection.
The same thing happens not just with yawning, but also
with positive mood effect as well as negative affect. So
if we're not seeing one another, we literally can't have
that hardwired connection that we've had for all of human
(17:34):
existence before now.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
And so by getting the.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Devices out of our way, by reconnecting with our eyes,
with our bodies, with our attention, that's what really helps
us to form those bonds. And that's so important, as
we know, to social capital and bridging and bonding as well.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Another one of those strategies you suggest for how we
can kind of get back to kind of engaging with
each other socially away from our technology is to find
some screen free activities. I love this because I feel
like so much of my social connection unfortunately involves screens.
Like I'm gonna hang out with my husband, but we're
going to watch a movie together, watch Netflix, or you know,
we're gonna kind of get together with friends, but we
(18:10):
all have our phones, right beside us, and whenever that
lull in the conversation comes, we pull them out. What
are some good ideas for non screen social activities that
we can engage in, and what are some rules that
we can put in place around our technology when we're
engaging in those new activities.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
I like that question, and I think that it is
interesting because there are so many activities that exist that
we have done for years and years, but we're beginning
to kind of forget what the options are get.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
I know, it's like so sad, right, Like it's like, well,
what can we do tonight? Like I guess we'll do
something with the screen because we just like aren't creative
enough to come up with these other ideas.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Right is our creativity leaving us because of a lack
of use. It's like a muscle that we're forgetting. But
there's all sorts of activities from playing games outside playing
board games, from playing games, like for my children, they
still love Hide and go Seek, or there's art, there's music,
there's just sitting and being still and noticing the world
around you, just trying new foods and cooking. I really
(19:08):
liked it encourage people when they're trying to think of
this list is to actually write it down somewhere so
that when you hit that moment of what should I do? Now,
you have a go to list of all the other
things that you also enjoy that you can pick something
off the list.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
And we see this some people.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Have like a little jar of popsicle so you randomly
pull out a popsicle stick that has an idea for
something to do. But what's essentially happening here is you're
creating a different opportunity. Cost right, you could do this,
but you also get a lot of joy out of that.
So we're going to try to balance and as you
said earlier, it's not an either or, it's an and
it's an opportunity that you can have time to watch
(19:45):
a movie and really enjoy that, and we can do
some other things to balance out that time as well.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
And so those are some ways that we can kind
of boost up our in real life social connection. But
there's a second in real life thing we need to
pay attention to it if we're trying to achieve digital balance,
which is like our bodies and how they're affected by
our digital world. And so I think this is something
we often forget when it comes to kind of thinking
about how our technology can make us happier. But tell
me a little bit about the challenges that our bodies
(20:11):
face as we become more digital natives and interact with
screens more often.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
The physical challenge that we experience with being on screens
more is obviously the sedentary nature of sitting in front
of a screen creates less activity in our bodies, which
makes it harder to.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Regulate our metabolism.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
It changes our sleep habits, and it also makes us
even sometimes forget to eat or to mindlessly eat because
you're so busy watching something. So we know the mind
body connection here is really strong, and it's something that
we could be paying more attention to you. This is
another one of those moments, though, where I think that
we can fight fire with fire. We know fitbits have
been amazing or the Apple Watch has been incredible for
(20:51):
helping motivate individuals with data to change their behavior or
track their behaviors, been known to raise your mindfulness. So
I wouldn't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater,
but I do think that there is a balance.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
We also hear a lot of individuals who.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Get lost in tracking data. They are so concerned about
their streaks, that they lose track of the fact that
the whole purpose was to do other things besides being online.
And so again we come back to this place of
let's make technology work for us, not us work for
our technology, and any other.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Tips for how we can use technology a bit more
ergonomically in ways that really support our posture and the
kinds of ways we want to hold our body.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Yes, absolutely so.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Having a screen that is at your line of sight
is so important for those of you out there who
have been spending a lot of time on a laptop.
Because the screens are smaller, we tend to hunch down
because the table height is not set out a line
of sight for a laptop, and so the idea might
be to either put your laptop higher on a stack
of books, or it might be to have a desk
(21:55):
that raises some lowers depending on where you're looking into
your camera. You would not believe they kind of impact
this makes on back pain, on neck pain and posture
as well. It took me writing a book about digital
wellness to pay attention to the factor, and once I did,
I wasn't visiting the chiropractor all the time. I was
able to go through a day and not feel like
(22:15):
my whole body hurt just from sitting at work, and
it's really important.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Another thing that's really important, which gets us to tip
number five, is that we need to kind of navigate
our technology use in the bedroom in order to protect
our sleep. How has technology been affecting sleep and what
are some best practices we can do to allow ourselves
to protect our sleep while still enjoying the screens that
we enjoy so much.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
So there is some debate on this topic.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Actually, we've heard a lot about the importance of keeping
your phone out of the bedroom, and that specifically because
the blue light that's emitted from your screen has been
known to mess with your circadian rhythms, which makes it
harder for you to fall asleep, makes it harder for
you to have good sleep and then wake up at
it at a decent hour. And the second reason why
(23:01):
it's advised to keep your phone out of the bedroom
is because it's really tempting to check that email right
before bed, or to stay up watching something on your screen,
or to mess around, you know, playing a game or whatever.
And so the temptation is so high, I will tell
you truthfully, and I think it's important as a digital
wellness expert to be as authentic as possible. I do
(23:22):
sleep with my phone right beside my bed, and there's
two reasons why. Number one is because there's now the
ability to change the amount of blue light emitted on
your phone, so you can actually decrease the brightness if
it's not as impactful. Too, is I still use it
as my alarm calendar. That helps me feel more at peace,
and so if we're just going to be really real
here right now, that's important for me. The third reason
(23:43):
is I actually like to read myself to sleep, and
I find that is the number one thing that helps
me to naturally wind my brain down at the end
of the day. And so if I can have the
self control enough to not check that email right before bed,
then it works. If we don't have that self control,
then it can become a problem. And so it comes
back to evaluating for yourself, what are your triggers, what
(24:04):
are your boundaries, what works for you, And if there's
a way that you can keep your phone great, if
it feels better or you think that it will help
you to reach your goals by keeping it out of
the bedroom, that I highly suggest it.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Another strategy you've mentioned, which I think is a nice
balance when maybe keeping your phone there but not kind
of going to it as much, is this idea of
a screen free morning practice, so that your first moments
of wakefulness aren't interacting with that screen. Any good ideas
for how to engage with that screen free morning practice.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
I'm a huge advocate of the screen free morning practice,
and I'm still working on this practice myself, but I
think starting with baby steps is really important and understanding
the rationale for why would you not look at your
phone first thing in the morning, And the reason is
that when we open our phone, we have I think
the average number of notifications per day is three hundred
(24:54):
and twenty three notifications that are pinging at us throughout
the day my gosh, right, so including I'm sure a
bunch at night.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
So as soon as you wake up, there's like a
whole host of them just sitting there.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
They are all waiting for you, and they will be
there still even a little bit later in the morning.
So the thought is that rather than wake up to
the tyranny of the urgent, why not give yourself that
headspace where you control the course of your day where
you allow other people's thoughts and when you're ready. Most
of us don't want to wake up to a fire alarm.
(25:25):
And that's the equivalent of what's happening when we open
our phone and you think, Oh, this bill needs to
get paid, Oh, this person needs to go there, the
dog needs to get groomed. This project you forgot, you
didn't do ten tasks yesterday. Oh my gosh, my stress
levels rising. Right, So do yourself a solid keep that
for as long as you can to have that morning
mindfulness space, and even if it's five minutes for the
(25:46):
start of the day, that's a great place to start.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
And if you are using your phone even in the
mornings or however, one other tip, tip number six is
to find ways to use your technology to make sure
you're doing the kinds of happiness hacks that you've heard
about on this podcast and elsewhere. When I think about
my morning's screen practice, one of the things I like
to do is to kind of quickly scribble in a
gratitude journal or maybe to open up a screen, maybe
(26:10):
my laptop, and do a quick journaling practice. How can
we kind of maybe incorporate more technology into the healthier
side of practices and maybe what are some other examples
that people could think about in their own lives.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
So one of the things that I love to talk
to audiences about is what's called the J game. And
these are the five most well researched habits, positive habits
that can help raise your baseline for happiness. You know
these well, Doctor Santos, But these would be J for journaling,
G for gratitude, A for acts of kindness, IN for meditation,
and E for exercise. And while these are all potentially
(26:43):
offline habits, I think there's also a way to do
all five of them online. For instance, I know that
iPhone now has a new journal app and it'll ping
you at the evening to remind you, Hey, write down
two or three things that happened today so you didn't forget.
There's a gratitude app I love. It's called Gratitude, and
it just gives you three blinks to write your gratitudes
and it keeps tracks so you can look back at.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Them over time.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
For acts of kindness, I like to send a text
message once a day to somebody in my social support
network just saying hey, I'm thinking about you or thanks
for something you did meditation, Check out.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Headspace, check out YouTube.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Lots of great resources and of course, exercise tying in
some of the ways that we can be inspired to
keep track of our health and fitness. These are always
that if you have an intention to raise your happiness,
you can use technology to do it or not. Either way,
but whatever works best for you, you will need to
find that so that you can stick with it over time.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Finding digital balance during your leisure time is hugely important,
but many of us spend the majority of our waking
hours at work. How do we make sure our phones
and screens don't boss us around there? The Happiness Lab
will be back in a moment. All my good intentions
(28:00):
about finding a healthy digital balance fall by the wayside
when it comes to work. I know I should be
avoiding screens and Reddit rabbit holes in my free time,
but as a profession with so many responsibilities, shouldn't I
be responding to email at all hours or checking social
media for the latest psychology news. It kind of feels
like my duty. Author and digital wellness expert Amy Blankson
(28:22):
isn't so sure.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
The greatest challenge in the workplace for finding digital balance
is being able to carve out digital boundaries in a
way that you feel will be seen and respected, especially
by those who are more senior to you. I talk
to employees all the time who are worried that if
they don't respond to that email at eleven PM and
all of their colleagues do, that they'll be seen as
(28:43):
non responsive and this creates sort of a slippery slope
of negative habits and round the clock, always on connectivity.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
That's not helping anyone.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
So really beginning to have those conversations at work is
an important next step in terms of figuring out what
is allowed, what kind of latitude do you have to
make choices? And then for those who are junior to you,
how can you impact their lives with what power you
do have to set some policies or set some behaviors
(29:12):
or even just social scripts in the workplace that help
reinforce positive digital balance and a more positive digital culture.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
And so that was sort of tips umber seven how
we can fight our hyperconnectivity. Your tip number eight is
that we should think more about screen fatigue and how
to deal with it.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I think I know very very well what this is,
but I want.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
To hear your definition of screen fatigue and I definitely
want to hear all your tips that we can use
to kind of deal with it and make it better.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Screen fatigue is essentially when you get tired of looking
at screens. A lot of times it is prompted by
zoom fatigue, or team's fatigue, or even slack fatigue, but
there is a general sense of malaise and even irritability
that emerges when you're on a screen for too long.
It could show up physically, like your eyes start to
dry out or you start to get headaches, but for
(29:57):
a lot of people, it's a lot more subtle than that.
It's just that general sense of unrest that you're frustrated
and you don't know why that comes from a screen fatigue.
And we've had some interesting studies emerge now since the
pandemic around why this happens specifically with zoom fatigue, and
it's often called the Brady Bunch effect. And the idea is,
like the Brady Bunch, you have all these different small
(30:19):
screens and pictures of individuals that might be on the
call with you, and your brain is spending so much
energy flickering between all the other faces on the screen
the chat. What you're looking like you're managing for your background,
and so the amount of mental energy that it takes
to manage all of that actually drains you way faster
(30:39):
than an in person interaction would. And so as we
are adults and professionals being mindful of our screen fatigue,
it's really important to both plan for short breaks in
between different screen activities and to give others that same
sort of break when we're planning and scheduling activities. Because
we know that this plays an important factor in burnout.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
It also seems that we just need to be a
little bit more intentional about noticing it. I loved your
comment about sometimes the screen fatigue isn't that I've developed
some sort of mind grade or a headache. It's really
just that, like, I'm incredibly frustrated on my last nerve,
but that actually comes from the fact that I'm kind
of a little bit more depleted because I've been on
zoom calls all day. So any kind of tips for
kind of noticing that and allowing it to I.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
Think that you'll notice it. Now that you've heard it,
you think about it, you'll notice it more often. The
harder question is what do you do on the back end?
Once you notice it and you're required to be on
Zoom all day for work.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
And there are a few hacks that I'm finding.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
My number one most favorite hack so far as that
when people book meetings with me on my calendar, I
made a new option that's called the walk and talk option,
So you can meet with me. They're thirty minutes or
an hour, or you could have a walk and talk
and we could put on tennis shoes and walk in
the sunshine and be aware that there might be when
there might be noise, but we're both just going to
(31:56):
embrace it and love the fact that we can get
away from the desk for a little bit. People have
been loving this option, so I think there's some ways
that we can reclaim that. I also really recommend that
when you feel like that frustration rising up within yourself
with screen fatigue, is to step away, step away from
the computer, and then do something really manual. So if
(32:18):
you happen to have the luxury to work from home,
maybe it's washing dishes or folding laundry. If you're in
the office, maybe it's going to take a walk, could
be talking to a colleague for a minute or two.
It could mean taking a trip to the bathroom just
to have a change of scenery for a minute. But
whatever it is, having that break is absolutely essential so
that you don't send yourself into a mental decline over
(32:40):
a frustration.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
I love exactly this tip because I literally just did
this just before we're having this conversation, not in a
studio together, but over Zoom, as many of my podcast
interviews are, and I was on Zoom a bunch today
and I just took time to just go do some laundry.
Not necessarily because there was like an urgent laundry need,
but just because like I needed something physical to do.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
I needed something that was like away from the screens.
And I think it did help right just to kind
of get that time away.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
But the laundry the idea sort of fits with your
tip number nine of how to kind of get digital
balance at work, especially when we're working remotely, which is
to think really critically about the spaces that we're working
from and how we can set up some separations between
the digital world and the in real life world. You've
talked about this idea of an invisible fence. What is
that and how can it impact our home office?
Speaker 4 (33:30):
So an invisible fence is literally just a digital boundary
that you set for yourself. But a lot of times
what happens is that when we set a boundary, say okay,
I don't want to have phones at the dinner table.
If you don't ever tell anybody that is your invisible fence,
they will literally cross over it all the time. But
there are ways that we can set up boundaries for
(33:50):
ourselves and communicate them or post them that help others
to help us to keep those boundaries together. The idea
of the invisible fence initially came from trying to train
my dog to stay in my yard in Virginia, so
the first house I'd ever lived in where there were
no fences, and I discovered that it wasn't just that
all Virginia were so well behaved, all the houses had
(34:11):
invisible fences. And what was even more amazing is that
when we got consultation for our invisible fence for our dog,
we learned that eighty percent of the fences are not
turned on, that the dogs learn the boundaries and once
they learn them, they don't cross over them again. And
so it really is about a training process. And while
we're not dogs, I do think there's certain ways that
(34:32):
we as humans can train ourselves, but it starts with
a recognizing this is a boundary I want to have,
and then be working with people around us to respect
those boundaries so that they're not unconsciously tripping over them
and the pandemic. For me, this was a moment where
I had to put a sign on my office door
for my children that said I am in a podcast,
or I am.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Recording, or I am doing deep work right now.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
And beyond that, it wasn't just about posting the note.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
It was about telling them.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
When I was going to be available again, because they
didn't actually want to know what my schedule was. They
just wanted to know when they could have my attention.
And a lot of times that happens with colleagues with emails.
They don't necessarily need your response right now, They just
want to know when they're going to get your response.
And so when you put a footer in your email
that says I do not respond to messages on the weekend,
(35:22):
but I look forward to getting back to you on Monday,
it gives them a sense of calm that they know
where they're going to hear from you, and it gives
you that digital space to be able to flourish yourself.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
And so any other good examples of kind of invisible
fences that you've set up in your home to kind
of protect your remote work or maybe to protect your
home life from.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
The remote work seeping into your home life.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Yes, I mean one of the most familiar invisible fences
that many people use is some sort of filter. If
you're a parent, it's a filter for your children on
what they can see on the internet.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
We can have them as adults as well. We can
also have them.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
I know my husband is a gamer, and so he
will put screen limits for himself so that when he's
been on the screen for too long, it'll have a
message say, hey, it's time for a break. That's an
invisible fence he set up for himself. I think for
my children, one of the invisible fences that I'm trying
to create is a mantra in their head. It's literally like,
(36:15):
I want to be more mindful, I want to be
more digitally.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Well, this is a good thing.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
So we can even use our own mental game as
an invisible fence to help us to stay on task.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
And so that's some ways we can set better boundaries
using these invisible fences. But now we're going to get
to the tenth and final tip that I think is
specifically about digital balance at work, which is how we
can get some in real life social connection at work,
even given the fact that we might be working remotely.
I know that there's so many studies that have shown
that belonging at work and having friends at work is
(36:46):
so important for our happiness at work, but that can
be so tricky when we're engaged in remote work, and
so any specific tips for how we can kind of
be better about connecting socially even if we're connecting on
Zoom or Slack and the like.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
So I actually watched Mark McConnell, who is a senior
wellness specialist at ATV Financial, literally give up masterclass on
how to do this. My jaw was just dropped as
I watched him lead a session and it was a
forty five minute webinar, and he packed so much social
connection into this forty five minutes. He started off with
three minutes of chat and get to know you, Then
(37:23):
he led one minute meditation where he brought people together,
one minute of reflection, got right into the task, and
all through the webinar.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
There was opportunity for.
Speaker 4 (37:34):
Both chat where he would call out people's names in
the chat so that he could have some back and
forth with colleagues, and there's some banter, and there's some
official work, and then of course the emoticons and emojis
when we're virtually connecting, and then at the end wrapping
up by talking about gratitudes. So what he was essentially
doing is weaving together some of the best practices that
(37:54):
we've seen in terms of recognition of gratitude and meditation.
But he was so focused and timely about it and personable.
And what I like about that, and when I think
we can pull from it, even if you're not at
ATB is to recreate a little bit of that in
our sessions. I think sometimes we think, oh, we got
to get straight to work, or this is a business meeting,
(38:15):
so we need to jump right into the tasks and
be very official. And I've seen a massive shift in
what's happened in the workplace since the pandemic. Less and
less are we focus so much on task and more
about this cross between personal and work at the same time,
and more interest in one another's lives. So I want
to encourage individuals. If you haven't been doing that, it's okay.
(38:37):
It's okay to ask how your colleagues are doing. It's
okay to take a minute to play around as long
as you work hard and play hard. And it's also
a great opportunity to really tune in and ask questions
about people's lives, to send them an encouraging message, to
say thank you for something they've done. These are the
little things that actually deeply matter. Whether you're in person
(38:58):
or virtual, we can still find ways to connect together.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Work hard, play hard.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I really love Amy's message about Digital Wellness Day because
she's not telling us to break up with our phones
or delete all our apps. Yes, May Third's new holiday
is all about finding balance. It's about embracing the digital good,
but also noticing what we might be missing out.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
On in real life.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Whatever you do on Digital Wellness Day, I hope these
strategies will help you find a bit more balance, and
I hope you'll join us again for the next episode
of the Happiness Lab with me Doctor Laurie Santos
Popular Podcasts
1. Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
2. Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
3. Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.