Elevating your Digital Habits is as simple as ABC
A Path to Improved Performance, Focus, and Happiness:
Are you struggling to focus on your studies and work due to distractions from social media, communication platforms, and other apps on your screens?
Does your screen time seem to be spiraling out of control, leaving you overwhelmed and fatigued?
Perhaps you find yourself engrossed in late-night gaming sessions with friends or endlessly binge-watching series on streaming platforms, only to pay the price in the form of disrupted sleep and groggy mornings. It's a cycle we've all been caught in at some point.
The next day, we all regret not going to classes/ feel sleepy during classes and resolve to get up early again!
Later to fall in that recurring pattern of going down that rabbit hole of playing games late at night, binge-watching series, mindless scrolling on social media feeds…Repeat!
If you can relate to these struggles, you're not alone. We are not in control of our screens. Our screens control us.
Before we dive into the solution, let's pause for a moment. How many of you were able to make it here till this point of the article without getting distracted from your phone or switching to something else on your screen? Congratulations! you have a better attention span than an average human being! As per research, the average human has an attention span of just 8.25 seconds. That’s less than the goldfish's 9-second attention span.
But, it’s not the end of the world. The good news is that we have control and agency to be in control of our Screens.
Drawing from insights in Psychology, Neuroscience, and cutting-edge research in this area, transforming your Digital Habits is as simple as ABC..
"The first step towards change is awareness. The second step is acceptance. And the third step is action." - Unknown
1. Awareness: Changing your habits starts with understanding what the problems are in the first place!
a. Quantitatively: Begin by assessing your screen time using tools like Android Digital Wellbeing, Apple Screen Time, or Rescue Time on your laptop. This will reveal your top three troublesome apps.
b. Reflection: Reflect on your digital habits to identify your major pain points.
c. Qualitatively: Assess your Digital Wellness here
2. Behaviour Change:
a. Let’s become an Engineer in the Habit Lab and experiment with our Digital Habits! If from Awareness you found out that:
i. Endless Social Media Feeds are a Problem? Check out this tool to make your feed intentional
ii. Get Free from YouTube distractions
iii. Block distracting apps for certain periods through the Freedom tool
iv. Anything else.. Screen Time Genie by Stanford can answer
v. If the Screen Time Genie is not able to answer, you can reach out to me
‘ Your Screen Time Advisor and Consultant’ for personalized assistance.
vi. The mantra is to keep experimenting with your Digital Habits and see what works best for you!
3. Consistency:
a. From the experiments above, there might be some habits that worked well for you! Once you've identified effective habits, make them a part of your daily routine.
"It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently." - Tony Robbins (Leading American author, coach and speaker)
Remember to Start Small with one micro-step and avoid procrastinating by putting things off until tomorrow or next week.. Let’s start with checking our Screen Time today to understand what problems we are facing with our Screens.
For additional techniques and in-depth research on establishing a healthy relationship with technology, You can access my highest-rated Udemy course on Digital Wellness for FREE here.
If you’re back, I want to quickly conclude as I’m not sure how long I have your attention span for. In conclusion, Digital Wellness is no longer a luxury. It’s a lifestyle imperative for academic performance, happiness, and focus. Your future self will thank you for taking the steps to cultivate a healthier relationship with technology.
For more queries, reach out to your Screen Time Advisor and Consultant below:
· Rijul Arora, Best Selling Author, Speaker, Consultant and Coach on Digital Wellness (www.rijularora.com)
