Develop Healthy Digital Habits

In today's lesson we will explore how mindfulness can be used as a tool to use technology mindfully and without reactivity. You will be offered different techniques including: how to manage interruptions by devices, how to use devices to soothe both your mind and body and the importance of taking breaks and decluttering your devices. We will also explore how these techniques can help you to increase productivity and focus and ultiamtely reduce the stress and guilt that come with digital distraction.

In today's lesson we will learn how to manage interruptions, specifically for increasing focus and reducing mindless device usage. You will learn specific tools such as how to control notifications on your devices so that you can block and delay notifications. These are valuable tools to use when feeling stressed or overwhelmed by technology.

Today, we will explore how your devices can facilitate mindfulness using images and sounds. No matter how much we may practice and cultivate mindfulness internally, our external environment can have a significant impact on how mindful, calm, and focused we are. In this lesson, I’ll give many concrete and practical examples of simple ways for using technology to help you to be calm, focused, and present.

In today's lesson, we will learn how to apply mindfulessness to guide our actions, particularly in relation to pulling away from your smartphone. One common definition of mindfulness, which is usually attributed to Jon Kabat-Zinn, is: “paying attention to our experience on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” In light of this definition, mindfulness meditation can be seen as a way of practicing being mindful, in order to build up what you could think of as our “mindfulness muscles”.

Today we will discuss the history and benefits of meditation and how it is being transformed by technology. For thousands of years, meditation was taught in person and transmitted from teacher to student, often at meditation centers holding group retreats. These retreat centers helped spread mindfulness meditation to a larger audience in the west which has since seen the birth of meditation in the online realm.

Today, we will discuss the importance of taking breaks and point you to tools to help prompt you to be mindful and give yourself a break! The workaholics among us often feel that taking a break is a sign of weakness, or at least that it will reduce our productivity. In reality, and perhaps counter intuitively, taking breaks can help you to rejuvenate and regain your focus, and thereby increase your overall effectiveness and productivity, whether the work you are doing is physical, mental, or a combination of both.

Today, we will provide tips to declutter your devices to reduce stress and anxiety. Most people regularly (or at least semi-regularly) go through their stuff and declutter. We donate old clothes, we throw away broken items around the house, we host yard sales to sell off those things that we no longer want or need. It can leave us feeling cleansed and refreshed! So why should we treat our digital clutter any differently?

Today we will examine how to limit our device time. Many of us feel frustrated with ourselves about the amount of time we spend on our devices. But the fact that modern technology has been designed to take hold of our attention extremely effectively doesn’t mean that we’re powerless against it. In fact, there are many steps that we can take to exercise control over how much time we spend using our devices and how we spend that time. In this lesson we will learn how to be intentional about our use of technology and take back control over our device usage.

Today, we will discuss setting, and sticking to, your intentions. Setting a clear intention is one of the most important parts of mindfulness practice. At the beginning of the day you might set an intention to act respectfully towards everyone you interact with, to be grateful for what you have, or to exhibit generosity. Regular mindfulness practice can help to bring your intention back to the forefront of your attention more frequently, so that you can re-set your intention between your formal meditation sessions.

Today, in the final class of this course, we will explore ways to break free of the feeling that you always be using your device. Many of us find that we can easily get sucked into messaging on our smartphones and other devices, whether that be on Facebook or other social media, or on email or text messaging. The habits that many of us have developed around messaging can have many harmful effects in addition to sucking up too much of our time. In this lesson we will do a final exercise that can play a role in alleviating all of these problems, and it doesn’t require anything more than yourself and your smartphone.