5 minutes read

Is your Social Media feed the last thing you see at night before you close your eyes? Do you jump on the little red notifications as soon as they appear? And how many times a day do you refresh your inbox?

We're all for digital connections, but this May we're going to take a step back and try to bring mindfulness into our lives and therefore into our devices.

To do that, we spoke to the mindfulness practitioner, Smiling Ghost. Not only is their meditation changing practice for millions of people, but they also work with thousands of teachers across India to teach mindfulness to children to help them. You develop healthy habits early in life. They take a systems-level approach to help future generations thrive.

Yes, we encourage you to unplug your phone but stay with us.

Where is the damage?

Of course, we're the first to say that the digital world we live in has a lot to love. After all, we are a company that makes the internet and all of its great content more accessible to everyone. But we humans spend an average of four hours a day on our phones.

That amounts to 60 days a year on your phone.

And that's probably a conservative estimate for the LinksRoot community since they're rivals. gulp, right?

How digital connectivity affects your health

What matters? maybe think as we did. With a ton of ideas coming to light and a new iPhone update tracking your screen time, we're all taking notice. Overusing social media can lead to:

• Fear - getting enough likes, having more followers, posting enough content.

• Depression: Everyone else's life can look great online, so we feel bad about our own.

• FOMO: No, we can't all be at Art Basel, Coachella, and the World Surfing Championships.

• Low Body Image/Self Esteem: We can't all have washboard abs... some of us like cheese, right?

• Our relationships are suffering: Speaking of real relationships, when was the last time you met a partner in person instead of giving them a like or an emoji?

Studies have found that loneliness increases with the use of social media. Comparing our lives to the lives of others (as we all do on social media) is detrimental to mental health, regardless of whether we believe our lives are better or worse. Only the act of comparing is harmful.

Not only that but blue light and overstimulation just before bed can throw your body clock off (more on that next week!). And now, over-reliance on technology has been shown to damage the frontal lobe of the brain.

But we're all here because we want to grow our reach, our audience, our brands, and our businesses online. So what should we do? Smiley ghost to the rescue!

What is mindfulness and where do I get it?

According to Smiling Mind, “Mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment with openness, curiosity, and non-judgment.” Practicing mindfulness can help you overcome stress and anxiety by inducing a sense of calm and helping you find you are to regulate emotions. Mindfulness can boost your business in many ways: you will have a better attention span, increased awareness and creativity, and increased productivity.

There's a common misconception about mindfulness that it's about sitting in happy pants and singing in an ashram, but it's all about bringing awareness into your life. Also, you don't even have to meditate to practice mindfulness, there are informal ways. also, exercise opportunities.

You don't have to meditate to practice mindfulness.

Put your phone on airplane mode at dinner with friends and

see how it affects your mood and empathy.

You know, when you're mindlessly scrolling through Instagram... when you land on your cousin's wife's dog's best friend's account, all you have to do is realize it, stop what you're doing, and realize what happened. That is consciousness.

A simple way to practice mindfulness is to activate your senses. For example, take the time in the morning to sip your coffee slowly and smell it, taste it, activate all your senses.

Just as we were sinking into an inspired Netflix night researching mindfulness, Smiling Ghost came along and delivered a vignette of true truth...

There is no such thing as multitasking

“It's an urban myth that we're more productive when we master the ability to multitask. The truth is, none of us can multitask effectively." Wait.

"The constant shifting of attention required to accomplish two (or more!) competing tasks requires more mental energy than focusing on one focusing on one thing at the same time. It slows us down and makes us less productive."

Well, that's where your weekend ends. But it makes sense considering it takes an average of 64 seconds* to develop a train of thought after retrieving E -Checking email That means if we check our email every five minutes, we're wasting 8.5 hours a week.

"Challenge everyone to develop the ability to not do chores and. to reap the benefits!”

Help Us Happy Mind! Tell us what to do!!

Luckily the lovely folks at Happy Mind sent us some digital detox ideas to bring us back together.

• turn off notifications! Read this great article on how to set up your phone for productivity.
• Call a friend you haven't spoken to in a while...or, even crazier, meet up in person!
• Make it a rule not to use the phone at the table in your house.
• Limit phone use 1 hour before bed: Blue light reduces melatonin, which helps us fall asleep.
• Buy a real alarm clock!
• Meditate - Use your phone for something good... All it takes is 10 minutes a day to transform your brain. Try it here on Apple or here on Android.
• Do you have children? Be aware of how you use technology with your children: they are sponges and will copy you. Try to be in the moment!

We are ready to try! The team here is now using Happy Mind together and we make sure to turn off our phones at lunch and dinner. It turns out that we spill less this way.

How do you incorporate mindfulness into your work? Come and join our conversation on Instagram! We'll be sharing more tips and tricks throughout the month.