In this modern world so many of us have a smart phone, we carry it with us everywhere and feel lost if we have left it behind.
Recent evidence has shown that the majority of adults spend four to five hours a day on their screens, and even more for teenagers.
We all know this, we know we spend to much time on screens. Understandably, for many of us we have to use screens for our work. But what about when we are not at work?
How many times do you wake up in the morning and the first thing you do is look at your phone. Then it’s with you all day until you go to sleep, and even then you may fall asleep listening to or watching something on your screens.
The light from devices keeps the brain awake. I recently heard that the CEO of Netflix once said, “Our biggest competitor is sleep.” When you are watching an episode of your favourite programme the next episode follows on and you are drawn into it subconsciously. This is because it is designed to keep you watching no matter what the time so your brain will stay awake for another hour.
Mobile technology is addictive and it is not your fault! Technology companies know the principals of human behaviour. If it is easy to access we will do it.
Research has shown that we have one to two hours sleep less than we did 60 years ago. Just something to think about!
So what impact does it have on our physical and mental wellbeing? Lack of sleep reduces our ability to concentrate, it affects our mood, we struggle to fucus and we show less empathy. Alarmingly, research has shown if we lose 2 hours sleep a night we eat 22% more than our normal calorie intake the following day.
We all know down time is good for our wellbeing, but phone down time will have more impact.
Allowing your mind and your brain to breath.
So how can we help ourselves?
Just making these small changes every day will increase happiness and reduce anxiety.
- During mealtimes, either on your own or with others, do not bring your device to the table.
- Turn off alerts for your apps. These draw you in.
- Take a walk in nature (guaranteed to reduce cortisol our stress hormone) and leave your phone at home, but if you must take it leave it in your bag or your pocket, turned off.
- Turn your phone off an hour before you go to bed do not take it to your bedroom. If you use it as an alarm, buy an alarm clock (remember those?!)
I am sure after only one week of doing this you will feel the benefits, not only will your physical and mental wellbeing will be improved, so will your relationships.
June Brade, Mindfulness & Relaxation Coach
Let me ask you a question.
When you are feeling good, confident and in an up beat mood do you have a better day and get more done?
I hope the answer is yes! Would you like to be in that good state more often? Well you can and here is how.
When you read a book, words trigger pictures in your mind and pictures trigger feelings. So if you read a sad story you may feel sad, whilst a happy tale makes you feel good.
So here it is a simple formula.
What you put into your mind results in either a good state which has a positive impact on your behavior or a not so good state which has a negative impact on your behavior and results.’
If a farmer plants seed of corn in their land what is going to grow out of it? That’s right corn! If the same farmer plants seeds of a poison ‘deadly night shade’ then after a few months that is what will grow.
What you put in – is what you get out – and you control what you allow in. And NLP can help teach you HOW to control what you allow in.