Meaningful Disconnection and Optimising Technology Use

This week, we are joined by Sarah Keane, Wellbeing Specialist for Zevo Health. Modern technology has a massive hold over us today. As much as technology is a fantastic asset to us, understanding how to optimise it for our overall wellbeing is key.

Technology is growing at a pace never experienced before, gaining healthy habits now can help your own wellbeing.

Some key points we will cover:

  • Understanding the hold technology has on us
  • Optimising your own wellbeing
  • Gain a balance on how technology can work for you

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Speaker 1

You’re very welcome to this month’s episode of Zevo Talks, where we’re going to explore meaningful disconnection and how to optimize tech case in order to promote your well-being. My name is Sarah Kean, Wellbeing Consultant and Integrated Health Coach with Zevo, and today I very much look forward to unpacking this subject, as it’s so incredibly relevant and so present for us now more than ever.

 

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Perhaps you’ll have recognized maybe in your own personal life your use of technology and exposure to screen time increasing in recent years, but also in particular for any listeners who are parents, who may be witnessing first-hand as well the increase in screen time among young family members, and maybe even feeling a little bit helpless or unsure of how to handle it.

 

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So while this is a big topic and we’re not going to solve the world today, we will explore why awareness of healthy tech use is so vital right now, and we’ll take into account the many benefits and the pros of technology, as well as the cons and the negative health outcomes that are associated with what we might term the more default autopilot and maybe even addictive use of technology.

 

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We’re going to distinguish between the strategy of digital detoxing, which you may have heard of and may be familiar with or the concept of unplugging, and how you can maybe explore a more consistent balanced integration of technology.

 

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We’ll delve into that a little bit and on the back of that we will explore seven potential commitments that you might make to support you to ingrain healthier habits around tech use. As a part of that we will look at some simple behavior change techniques that have been proven to be effective to sustain some positive changes.

 

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So to begin it may be helpful to expand a little bit more on this umbrella term of meaningful disconnection, what it means because some people might be that familiar with it. So for the sake of the conversation today we’re really looking at two key branches to this, and one is this more deliberate conscious and intentional use of technology and avoiding gravitating into that sort of automatic and default autopilot way of engaging with technology,

 

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being more boundry and self-aware. So that’s one aspect and the other aspect of meaningful disconnection also includes restorative practices. So how do you spend your chill time or your relaxation time and are you engaging in activities again that involve perhaps technology that are actually serving to diminish or reduce your energy levels even further rather than having that positive impact and really supporting you to reboot.

 

Speaker 1

So these are kind of the two things we’re going to focus on today under this subject. Another thing I guess worth exploring right now is just the relevance of this and why it’s so important and you know if anyone has perhaps lived in the 80s they’ll know that the view on a train for example if we use that example where you hop on the train in the 80s and you look around you’d see a carriage full of people most likely engaged in conversation with each other and maybe not everyone but you’d certainly see a lot more conversation than you do now when we get on a plane out on a plane equally on a plane or a train and you just see a sea of heads face downwards as people are engrossed in the screen in their hands.

 

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So this is a tiny example of the the evolution and the change that’s happened we can see it everywhere and as mentioned in the intro for any of you who are parents you’ll also likely see the increase in that screen time exposure particularly as children and go through the years up until teens you’ll be prying prying that screen out of their hands of a 14 year old myself and have been um yeah the struggle is real and so we know how prevalent this is and with the um acceleration and technological developments like every every month new things coming our way with that surge in exposure to information and reaching a point of almost like information overload where never before in history where our brains are required to process such a vast amount of information and stimulation um and all of these factors contributing to or certainly playing a significant part in the quite concerning trajectories that we’re seeing in terms of mental health um in the collective not only nationally in Ireland but also globally where we’re seeing an increase in the prevalence of burnout for example um Forbes published an article last year in 2021 citing a study of over 15 000 workers 60 of whom reported that they felt used up at the end of their work day so quite a staggering statistics and one that most likely perhaps you have felt at some point or maybe consistently also identify with.

 

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And so this almost taking for granted the normality of being depleted after a day of work and how this of course does directly and indirectly tie in with tech use for individuals who are desk-based and work on a computer all day, it’s very obvious.

 

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But for some people who perhaps don’t work on a computer all day, but maybe still in their leisure time and then spend a lot of time perhaps gaming or on Netflix or on social media platforms, it’s everywhere.

 

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And so for us to really be aware of that link between the negative mental health outcomes that are associated directly and indirectly with the prevalence and the growing use of technology and screen time, it’s very relevant.

 

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Part of this and this ties in with the second branch that I mentioned around how we spend our recovery time or relaxation and restoration. Part of this is also linked to this always on culture that is so dominant in the West where we oftentimes make high performance synonymous with being 100% on 100% of the time and having very high expectations in terms of productivity and energy output to such an extent that some very goal-oriented individuals even reduce their sleeping hours so they have more waking time to be able to work longer.

 

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And while this may yield a short-term return in terms of productivity, the cost for long-term health is undeniable. And so it’s for all of these reasons that it’s important for us today to really look a little bit closer at this topic and see maybe even have just the real golden nugget here is for you to take a couple of minutes and even reflect on your own use of technology retrospectively over the last few days or few weeks or few months and consider if any of the potential commitments as I mentioned or ways that you can ingrain healthier habits may be a positive contribution to you and may really even in small ways make significant changes to your health and wellbeing over time.

 

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So in relation to this always on culture, there’s a disregard to some extent of kind of natural laws. And by natural laws, I mean that everything in nature has cycles including our body and our energy production and how we generate and create energy also has a natural cycle to it and it has an ebb and a flow.

 

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And so what that means is actually throughout the day we have times of peak alertness and attentiveness. And then this is followed by this sort of recalibration and reboot phase where if we have that awareness of our body’s natural energy patterns we can begin to work with them rather than work against them which is what many people unconsciously do.

 

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And so hand in hand with this always on culture can be this sort of pathologizing of low energy. And when the energy dips instead of perhaps giving yourself time and space and maybe doing some nurturing activities that actually work with the body to reboot, often the reflexes to reach for sugar or caffeine in order to override that dip keep the energy levels high and keep going.

 

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And what we do in terms of this sort of more kind of nutritional source of energy, there’s also a parallel in how we handle technology. And oftentimes when there’s those dips in our energy as well instead of perhaps relaxing and doing some breath work, meditating, the reflex can be to reach for the phones and distract or engage the mind in something rather than giving it an opportunity to reboot.

 

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And so for this reason, it’s really, really important especially for individuals who are living in quite a consistent routine because when we have routine, it can be so much easier for this autopilot mode to take root and become quite automatic in what we do.

 

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And so it requires real attentiveness to really consider more about our environment and what maybe sometimes term the choice architecture of your life. So is it easy for you to make a healthier choice or is everything primed for you to go into these loops of behavior that actually aren’t serving you and aren’t benefiting you in the long term?

 

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So just like caffeine and sugar, and there’s many ultra-processed foods that are engineered and designed in a way to hook us in and make things moreish, and we won’t go as far as saying addictive, but certainly making certain ultra-processed foods difficult to stop consuming, so too with technology, and a huge amount of money is invested in this digital consumer space to quite literally where the commodity is your attention.

 

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And so these platforms are expertly designed in ways to really hook in your attention, and so it really requires this awareness of again your environment and also of the mediums through which you access technology to be able to deliberately buffer against falling into that loop of automaticity, as they call in the research, where you’re just doing things reflexively without that kind of conscious deliberate response.

 

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So developing self-awareness and having an active commitment to put buffers in place in order to preserve the sanctity of your inner world and your mental escape to reduce that bombardment from external stimuli and still yield all the positive benefits that technology can bring to your life.

 

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Interestingly there was a research published by Pew Research Centre in 2018, and it was really exploring public opinion on the destiny of humanity with all these technological advancements. And just shy of 50% of respondents really felt that the impact of technology was so positive, that it was so supportive for connection, for commerce, for the development of society, for our intelligence and that access to information and really entertainment,

 

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really all serving to enrich our life quality. However, there was just over a third of respondents really foresaw that the negative health outcomes associated with technology and the negative societal impact far outweighed the benefits.

 

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They painted a picture of this sort of digital dystopia, very much rooted in this awareness of the negative effects of information overload, reducing concentration and attention span. Some of you may be familiar with the Microsoft study from 2015, which cited that our attention spans have reduced from being approximately 12 seconds in the year 2000, I think it was around 12 seconds, then to 8 seconds in 2015.

 

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Again, this is all context specific and that would have been very much looking at online use attention span, given that Microsoft was the researcher. So context does matter, but it was still a study that’s widely cited.

 

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So these negative mental health outcomes fed into this sort of digital dystopian vision. And we can also see, for example, in social media, how distrust and divisiveness can arise. There can be many negative, as I said, societal impacts.

 

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There can be disconnection. Individuals can fall into the trap of comparing themselves and only putting forward a very one sided view of their life experience that can lend itself to individuals having false ideas about how other people’s lives are.

 

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And that can have, again, many negative health outcomes associated or negative mental health outcomes associated. So in essence, this sort of duress of technological use can really take its toll. Fortunately, though, there was a significant number of individuals in this sort of midway ground where they could weigh up the negative impact with the positives and really saw that the solution took root in having greater media literacy and being able to reimagine the use of technology in healthier ways and reinventing its use with this more deliberate and intentional engagement with greater regulation and really recalibrating our expectations around how we use technology and its impact.

 

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And so in essence, boiling it down, reducing it to where there’s a way. And we don’t have to be so extreme and all or nothing in our approach to this. So this links into this perhaps more prevalent mindset around digital detoxing and unplugging versus a more balanced and consistent integration of technology into how we live our lives.

 

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So it can be quite similar to the idea of fad dieting. While it can certainly yield initial positive benefits, sometimes quite significant and staggering and in certain contexts it can certainly be really called for and required.

 

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Oftentimes when we are looking at changing a behavior it’s far more beneficial to see what is sustainable and what are you more likely to be able to consistently maintain over weeks and months and years particularly when it’s something so integral to how you live your life.

 

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And so this is where we are exploring this kind of optimal integration of technology on a daily basis rather than having to be all or nothing and cutting it out entirely or putting unrealistic expectations on yourself.

 

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Imposing unrealistic expectations that can sometimes feel self-sacrificing or grossly limiting and very uncomfortable and may not again over the long term yield the desired outcome. So how can we disconnect in a way that’s sustainable and balanced is the focal point for today.

 

Speaker 2

Self-awareness is a core component of optimising health and wellbeing. Gaining clarity around personal needs, preferences and boundaries helps to manage daily stressors and life demands. Whether financial, relational, work-based or environmental, it is vital to recognise how common stressors can impact our physical and mental health left unchecked.

 

Speaker 2

Often times, self-care can gravitate into becoming another to-do list, leaving people burdened by a sense of needing to do specific things in order to be healthy. By gaining an understanding of the benefits of a self-care routine, you will see positive steps in all areas of your life.

 

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Speaker 1

Now we’re going to take a look at seven potential commitments that you could make to help you ingrain some healthier habits around tech use. So the first one top of the list is around taking a look at your tech usage around two key times of the day, bedtime and first thing in the morning.

 

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This is possibly one of the most discussed digital detox or unplugging strategies out there, so likely you’re already very familiar with it. But that importance, particularly at the end of the day as we wind down in reducing that screen time and the exposure to blue light which can significantly negatively impact on melatonin production.

 

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Melatonin of course playing a key part in supporting us to drop into deeply relaxed states at night and allowing systemic restoration and recalibration to happen. So if there is not enough melatonin the depth and quality of sleep can be compromised.

 

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So this can be one of those hidden saboteurs because you’re still sleeping so you don’t really notice that you’re you’re not getting that optimal quality of sleep, unless of course you are a sleep tracker and maybe you’re more attuned and aware of the quality of sleep you have night and night, but for most individuals they might not have that level of awareness.

 

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And so this can be one of those hidden saboteurs that the negative effects that accumulate over time and can be quite like almost insidious that you don’t really notice it. And so this is definitely something to begin to give attention to and explore if making changes in this domain impacts on how you’re feeling at the end of the week and over time and having some sort of a baseline reference can be helpful.

 

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I was dealing with a with a young coaching partner over the last few months around this very theme and it was very sweet week on week. He was moving his phone further and further away from the bed so it started going from under the pillow to the bedside locker and from the bedside locker over beside the wardrobe to over beside the door to eventually being left down in the kitchen.

 

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So it was very sweet to notice the progression week on week and what he was actually doing to support himself optimizing or maximizing that time window between when he last checked his phone and closed his eyes to go to sleep.

 

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So there’s of course many different approaches that you can take depending on your specific circumstances and of course some people do decide you know to go for gold and set that kind of hard boundary that okay I’m going to at least allow an hour before bed and some people can do that and sustain it but for the vast majority of people if we make it gradual and make the change steadily over time it really allows it to take root and become you know less of a shock to the system and thereby more doable and accessible.

 

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So this is certainly one thing to consider and on the back of that then when you wake up in the morning what is the first thing you do? Do you reach for your phone immediately and start scrolling either through work emails or social media checking the news or whatever it may be that you’re you’re drawn to or do you actually allow yourself time to wake up to connect with yourself to consider with more intentionality the day that is ahead of you before you bombard yourself with that external stimuli.

 

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So two key moments of the day to really take a look at and that’s quite top of the list as something that could yield a really positive return quite quickly in terms of how you’re feeling and functioning.

 

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The second one is exploring the creation of digital free spaces not only in your home but perhaps also in workplaces or social places where you gather and quite literally implementing almost like a policy that okay we don’t have tech here I’m currently in Sweden at a festival center for the summer for the last eight weeks and the entire main shared living area all around the cafe and the green spaces outdoors and there’s this lovely big barn where they have lots of social gatherings all are expressly digital free zones you see no phones ever and it’s incredibly nourishing and also can be a bit of a shock to the system when you initially arrive I know my my daughter found it a bit jarring initially but it’s amazing how quickly we adapt so this again is one of these strategies to really look at the choice architecture of the spaces that you use and how you begin to make it easier to make the healthier choice.

 

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The next one, number three, is around managing expectations and looking at ways to relieve what’s sometimes referred to as telepressure, which is that urgency in the perceived need to respond to a message or a text or an email.

 

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And by managing expectations, it may involve having conversations with work colleagues, with management, with friends, and really setting your boundaries around what’s doable for you and what you’re willing to do.

 

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We have the policy around public policy in Ireland, around the right to disconnect government initiative in recent years in 2020, so just being informed around what are reasonable expectations and then how that marries with your own personal expectations and really perhaps challenging some beliefs and narratives that you have around what you expect of yourself in connection.

 

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And that may serve to give you more space to relax and know if the phone’s vibrating and buzzing, that it doesn’t mean you have to be immediately there to reply. So this is a very, again, practical and real life and relatable scenario that often we can take for granted and not really give conscious attention to that can radically transform our use of social, sorry, of technology and our social connection.

 

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So the fourth one, again, around looking at engineering the choice of architecture, not only of our external environment and our spaces, but also of our technology itself. So simply put, on our phone, this may mean removing social media platforms from the phone.

 

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So if that particularly is a weak spot for you and that you find perhaps here on Facebook or Instagram or perhaps TikTok or Snapchat, a huge amount of the time, by deleting some of these apps, it will inevitably reduce that reflexive use of the phone in that way.

 

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There is many, a wide variety of stats and research on the hours used on technology averaging from four hours to five and a half. For the average adult, of course, it’s going to depend on context and demographic, but for many individuals, this could be a huge game changer so that you’re not cutting out social media entirely.

 

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You are still able to access all the benefits on your laptop, but the likelihood of accessing it on a laptop is far reduced in comparison to when you’re walking around all day with it in your pocket.

 

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So again, another simple strategy that can make a huge amount of difference. The next one is social agreements. So similar to the digital free spaces, perhaps having conversations with friends about agreements when you go for dinner or go for a drink or head out in whatever social context it may be and having a shared agreement around tech use in that space and being a little bit more deliberate around it and maybe even experimenting and exploring rather than having this kind of a harsh approach to it.

 

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Social agreements are incredibly supportive in terms of behaviour change. When we have that kind of mutual support where everyone is aligned with their intention, it really fortifies the likelihood of the positive outcome.

 

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And so if you find that there’s certain groups of friends that that is actually you already know that that won’t go down too well, that’s fair enough. Perhaps it’s about reconsidering the amount of time or the frequency with which you engage in that, of course, depending relative to the impact of the amount of tech use in that particular situation.

 

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So setting some social agreements in place, exploring, experimenting with it, seeing what it creates, it could be enjoyable and may seem, may unfold to be a lot easier than you may have imagined to reduce the phone use.

 

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So number six is exploring the possibility of weaving in movement breaks, especially for extended periods of time spent on screens, whether it’s at work, on your computer or perhaps at home watching TV.

 

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Dr. Alan Hedge, a Cornell University professor, has coined the term the ideal work pattern based on his work around sedentary behaviour and screen time exposure, where he suggests that every 20 minutes individuals preferably should get up and stand for about eight minutes and then for two minutes stretch or move and then sit back down again.

 

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And from his research this really helps to buffer against many of the negative health outcomes associated with prolonged sitting. Now for many people that’s a huge leap and it’s called an ideal work pattern for us for a reason, but taking that on board and maybe weaving in even starting small with every every 25 or 30 minutes adding in a minute or two minutes of movement where you get up and stretch and walk around so that you’re not seated for these extended periods of time.

 

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So this is one of the more kind of indirect negative health outcomes that’s associated with tech use and by weaving in the movement breaks it can really help to to buffer against that and reduce the negative impact.

 

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So number seven is about exploring restorative alternatives to help buffer against burnout and these negative mental health outcomes associated with high screen time and a high volume of tech use. So there is a significant body of evidence mounting around the benefit of including even short bites of what we might call presence in practices.

 

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So under the umbrella of presence in practices we could look at any sort of meditative technique and also breathwork. Those two kind of tend to come hand in hand. For some individuals who perhaps again have been in that loop of high high volume of tech exposure meditation can feel incredibly challenging and difficult and uncomfortable and so in these cases breathwork can be a really powerful adjunct or a kind of a primer to support you.

 

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The physiological adaptations that happen when you engage in even short bite of breathwork can really support you in enjoying meditation a little bit more. So rather than these presence in practices being things you feel you should do or you need to do or you have to do they can actually quite quickly become something that you enjoy and really benefit from with a quite quick return.

 

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timeout in nature is another one of these lovely restorative alternatives. So again this is totally a flagstone or foundation of this meaningful disconnection to be able to be out in nature and nature exposure affects us on a multitude of levels so biochemically even being around the aerosols that are emitted from certain plants and trees can have a very relaxing effect on our systems as well as that reduction in stimuli and then the novel aesthetics of being in natural environments.

 

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Amazing research done on being around aquatic environments, blue mine theory as well as around green spaces and the positive mental health effects that they yield. Social connection of course also incredibly energizing and uplifting and of course it can depend.

 

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Some of you may be familiar with the term energy vampires so there are certain social connections that may be diminishing and depleting but social contexts in which there is humor, laughter, stimulating conversation, conversing around things that are of interest to you and then also hugs and physical touch can also be incredibly restorative and nurturing.

 

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And lastly engaging in activities that you love and I guess the word active is kind of key here so generally things that involve movement but things that you love such as perhaps digging in the garden and dancing and other creative pursuits that also include movement with the body.

 

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So these are kind of four deeply restorative alternatives to what we might more typically consider as relaxing or chill time activities that as mentioned before when we go over that ideal window can actually really serve to diminish us and and deplete our level of vitality and sense of energy.

 

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So just lastly to talk about some simple behavior change techniques and strategies that may be supportive when we you know when you take on board some of the ideas here some as I said might land and resonate and others are just things you know immediately but they’re not going to be things you do.

 

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The one that comes to mind is the social agreements that one might be one of the least likely things you’ll confront but when it comes to embedding these new choices and really allowing them take root and become something that’s more consistent nothing trumps the leverage between cost benefit.

 

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The second you start to realize that the benefit is outweighing the amount of effort or investment required it will quite quickly take root but in order to get to that point there’s two specific strategies one is setting context specific cues so pairing your new behavior with a very clear prompt or reminder or in a very distinct setting or time of the day.

 

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So an example of that like we spoke number one was looking at your bedtime routine and morning routine so this is something that will happen consistently so when you pair something that you do perhaps brushing your teeth so you brush your teeth at night that’s something that happens automatically it’s a non-negotiable and when you pair that non-negotiable with the new behavior it can start to find its kind of I was going to say rhythm but it can gradually build more consistently until it reaches that point of becoming automatic and of course like setting reminders whether that’s on your phone and this is one of the multitude of ways technology can be incredibly supportive of your health and well-being and so using it using technology to remind you not use the technology with trackers or even little post-it notes little reminders and then that social agreement piece perhaps with family members or friends and setting up as many prompts as you can in your environment to support you in remembering until it takes root and becomes automatic and that you see that cost benefit leverage and then the other one which we’ve referenced several times throughout this conversation is around choice architecture and the kind of two key things to ask yourself is like how can I make this both easier for me to choose and also more appealing for me to choose so I don’t want to make it easier and more appealing we tend to be creatures of habit of course but also um yeah creatures of ease whatever we tend to take the the path of least resistance um in many in many in many situations at least especially when it comes to these kind of automatic things that are a routine part of how we live each day so we explore the kind of the shortcuts and uh they tend to yeah the quicker and more convenient we can make it the more likely again it is to take root and in conjunction with that that support circle piece ties in again so um how you can leverage accountability and the shared agreements with your friends and colleagues to reinforce the new behavior So I really hope you enjoyed this short exploration of potential ways that you might enhance your use of technology in a way that allows you to yield all the gold and the benefits of our advancements in recent decades but not to that saturation point where it then begins to detract from your other vitality So there may be some things you want to put into practice straight away and begin to explore other things you might just percolate in the background for a while and some things you’ve perhaps totally packed and you know will never feature and that’s okay too It’s about taking what works for you and again,

 

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knowing that there’s no static end point to reach here It’s always a journey and exploration and a progression over time but really keeping that intent clear in mind are very nice technology to enhance your life Thank you for your time and attention today and we’ll see you soon, see you later