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Digital Wellbeing

Computer and phone, The availability of information and the sophistication of current software, means that many people can find themselves spending hours in front of screens each day.

When added to the amount of time we spend using technology in our personal lives, we can easily spend most of our waking time staring at pixels.

While the technology itself is broadly neutral, the way in which we use it can have an impact on our energy levels, mood and social engagement. 

The key is to be consciously engaged with your digital wellbeing.

Phone addiction, So how much is too much?

There is no right or wrong answer to this, and it may vary by person.

If you are concerned about your screen use, there is now a smart phone compulsion test you can take for free.

A good place to start is by being aware of how much time you spend using digital devices.

Monitoring your time can be done in several ways, most upgraded smart phones now have the ability to monitor your activity, or you can use Apps.

Ways to look after your Digital Wellbeing:

  • Take breaks

    When you get lost in your assignments or feel frustrated that something isn’t going well, you can neglect breaks. Here are some tips to prompt you to regularly step away and rebuild your energy.

    Agree break times with your peers and help each other to stick to the break time you’ve agreed.

    Set an alarm on your phone to prompt you.

    Plan to do something in your break that you enjoy – the anticipation of pleasure will motivate you to keep to the break.

    Pay attention to any benefits you experience when you take a break – this will lodge in your mind and motivate you to take breaks in future.

    Use post-it notes or drawings in your workspace to remind you that for a long-term piece of work – you won’t complete it well, if you burn yourself out: so, take a break.

  • Avoid Digital Overload

    Create a morning ritual. Get up. Do some exercise? Eat breakfast. Drink some water. Have a shower. There’s no reason to involve your phone in any of these activities. Similarly, create “phone zones” and “no-phone zones” in your house.

    Start a ‘15 minute rule’. When you get home from University, for the first 15 minutes do something that will take your mind off your studies and makes you happy! The Action for Happiness website provides useful tips.

    Send less emails. Do we sometimes create more workload for ourselves when it would be easier to talk to someone, e.g. your tutor?

    Learn about your digital footprint and identity to keep you safe online, websites like ‘Think You Know’ have further information and advice available.

     

  • Clean up your inbox

    Cleaning out your inbox if you have too many emails lingering there might save you a lot of time.

    It’s especially useful when you’ve just returned to your studies and have lots of emails to sort through.

    As a result, the first suggestion is to use Outlook’s clean-up function as a quick approach to reduce the number of emails you need to manually filter through.

    The clean-up tool removes all emails that have been duplicated in a subsequent thread, allowing you to view a single conversation thread rather than individual emails.

    Simply choose the “Clean Up Folder” option, and you’re done! There are fewer emails to read in a single click.

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