This was a great short post, Rachel. I think it comes down to ACTUALLY doing the act of unplugging. To sit away from devices even if it is for an hour a day. This post acts as a motivator. I might go away, on a walk, or to do the dishes, or to simply meditate perhaps. Thank you for this. My question to you is this: is there anyway to do this for a prolonged period of time without any relapses or without it being SUPER hard? I write about a similar topic and hope to gain some knowledge from an actual doctor. I'm wondering if it's at all possible to switch back to an older way of functioning, using phones only to connect to real life friends, to build community. How do we use the internet in a more healthy manner? Any habits or practices you suggest? I think one practice may be to begin your day AWAY from ANY device. Read, meditate, make coffee, make breakfast, all away from devices for the first couple of hours. This sets context for the rest of the day, and has proved (at least in my case) to be very valuable in reducing cravings and relapses of going back on Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube and losing hours and hours of my time in addition to my mental health.
Once again, great post! Looking forward to more content!
Thank you so much for your comment! You are so right in what you have written. Consistency is key but also being aware that if a brain has got used to certain habits especially those that are linked to dopamine release/activation that when we cease those behaviours then we are not going to get the same feelings in the same way that we used to. This can make us feel that we are doing the wrong thing even if it’s something that is better for us. This is why we need to have a good communication plan that seeks to keep reminding our brain of why we need to change our habits and why it’s better to move forward in a different direction.
I am an advocate of living a lifestyle that we can be consistent with whether that is taking things slowly to get the brain to adapt and adjust or if we have sufficient resources and energy to go all out and understand how and when to do it then doing that. It takes at least 56 days to create new neural pathways so it’s accepting that in that time the brain will do all it can to get us to be who we used to be and behave how we used to act. The brain is not our friend! Thank you for your comment again 😊
Such an informative reply, Rachel! What you've said about feeling "wrong" about what we're doing, is highly related. I find myself going through similar feelings when attempting to break free of hard habits and thought patterns. I'll attempt to create a sort of stronger communication with myself. Would the reasons for the initial break in habit help? Or must we use other strategies?
Yes they would help but we also need to have a compelling view of where we are wanting to go or who we want to be! To make the future self both achievable and an attractive prospect! So better than the previous version of self ☺️
This was a great short post, Rachel. I think it comes down to ACTUALLY doing the act of unplugging. To sit away from devices even if it is for an hour a day. This post acts as a motivator. I might go away, on a walk, or to do the dishes, or to simply meditate perhaps. Thank you for this. My question to you is this: is there anyway to do this for a prolonged period of time without any relapses or without it being SUPER hard? I write about a similar topic and hope to gain some knowledge from an actual doctor. I'm wondering if it's at all possible to switch back to an older way of functioning, using phones only to connect to real life friends, to build community. How do we use the internet in a more healthy manner? Any habits or practices you suggest? I think one practice may be to begin your day AWAY from ANY device. Read, meditate, make coffee, make breakfast, all away from devices for the first couple of hours. This sets context for the rest of the day, and has proved (at least in my case) to be very valuable in reducing cravings and relapses of going back on Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube and losing hours and hours of my time in addition to my mental health.
Once again, great post! Looking forward to more content!
Thank you so much for your comment! You are so right in what you have written. Consistency is key but also being aware that if a brain has got used to certain habits especially those that are linked to dopamine release/activation that when we cease those behaviours then we are not going to get the same feelings in the same way that we used to. This can make us feel that we are doing the wrong thing even if it’s something that is better for us. This is why we need to have a good communication plan that seeks to keep reminding our brain of why we need to change our habits and why it’s better to move forward in a different direction.
I am an advocate of living a lifestyle that we can be consistent with whether that is taking things slowly to get the brain to adapt and adjust or if we have sufficient resources and energy to go all out and understand how and when to do it then doing that. It takes at least 56 days to create new neural pathways so it’s accepting that in that time the brain will do all it can to get us to be who we used to be and behave how we used to act. The brain is not our friend! Thank you for your comment again 😊
Such an informative reply, Rachel! What you've said about feeling "wrong" about what we're doing, is highly related. I find myself going through similar feelings when attempting to break free of hard habits and thought patterns. I'll attempt to create a sort of stronger communication with myself. Would the reasons for the initial break in habit help? Or must we use other strategies?
Yes they would help but we also need to have a compelling view of where we are wanting to go or who we want to be! To make the future self both achievable and an attractive prospect! So better than the previous version of self ☺️
Thanks a lot for your inputs, Rachel