Useful resources for employers
Listen to the podcast
Activities to try
Digital health – how to find a ‘digital balance’
Being able to easily access the digital world can be a wonderful thing. It brings people together, helps with collaboration and simplifies daily activities. Unfortunately, this ease of access and the instant gratification it brings can lead to addiction, feeling isolated and poor mental and physical health.
This topic will help you understand more about digital dependency, how to recognise problematic behaviours and give you some simple tools and techniques to help you find a better ‘digital balance’.
It seems the more we do virtually, the less we interact in reality. So why can it be so hard to simply ‘switch off’? The answer? Addiction!
Social media is so addictive because it provides instant gratification. When someone ‘likes’ a post or comments positively on a status or photo update, we receive a surge of our bodies ‘natural high’ hormone, dopamine.
Take some time to listen to the podcast to help you understand more about addiction to social media and what we can do to help reduce our dependency. There’s a supporting toolkit to download along with an informative poster and digital banners to help your company share the activities/resources with your colleagues and signpost them to support.
Digital dependency’ can be defined as the ‘overuse of the internet or electronic devices to the point that a person’s daily life is affected’. This includes phone, social media, and internet dependency.
Source: https://www2.unbc.ca/sites/default/files/sections/academic-success-centre/digitaldependency.pdf
Digital usage and dependency is more common than you may think:
- A 2021 study by Statista revealed there are 53 million active social media users in the UK. This accounts for 77.9% of the population (1)
- 35% of young people interviewed admitted to feeling lonely most of the time despite spending at least 3 hours per day on social media (2)
- 43% (2 out of 5) of UK adults believe they spend too much time online and 66% fear losing their mobile phones (3)
Sources: (1) 2021 Statista study (2) UK Addiction Treatment Centre (3) Time to Log Off
Read the blog article
Whilst spending less time in front of screens can improve our overall health and wellbeing, it’s also important that we look at how, when and, most importantly, why we use our devices, if we are going to find a healthy digital balance.
Podcast: Finding your digital balance
This 8 minute podcast is full of information to help you understand more about:
- The difference between healthy and unhealthy use of technology
- The reasons why we have a fear of missing out (FOMO)
- What we mean by a healthy ‘digital balance’
- Find additional support if you’re struggling with unhealthy digital habits
Click here to download the resources mentioned in the podcast
Useful resources for employers to download
We’ve designed an A4 printable poster, digital banners to use on social media or your intranet page, and a handy toolkit which includes exercises and helpful handouts to help your employees find a ‘digital balance’. Feel free to download and share, print and put them up, or email them to your employees.
Toolkit
This downloadable toolkit includes exercises and links to help support your employees and introduces simple tools and techniques to help them find their digital balance.
Poster
This poster will help to raise awareness with your employees about digital balance. Feel free to download, print and put up or share it with everyone you work with via email.
Digital banners
You can use these digital banners to signpost employees to available resources. Use them on your own wellbeing hub, intranet or on your internal social media channels.
Activities to help you find a ‘digital balance’
Staying physical in a digital world
Many of us are now more dependent on technology to do our work, working in a hybrid or virtual way, so when we add in essential digital use, the amount of time we are ‘online’ can be quite surprising. We often focus on the impact this has on our mental wellbeing, but it’s also important to consider how this impacts our physical health too.
Most of us could benefit from moving more and sitting down less, taking time away from our screens to have a short break. Click here to visit our previous topic ‘Charge UP’ for tools and techniques on how to move and stretch everyday.
So how can we redress the balance? Well, there are some simple things you can do to help:
The 20:20:20 rule
Every 20 minutes spend 20 seconds focussing on something 20 feet away.
This short break will allow your eyes to rest – something we don’t do ordinarily. If you can combine this with some focused deep breathing, (breathe in to the count of 4, hold the breath to the count of 7, exhale through your mouth to the count of 8) then you will also rest your brain, which may help with productivity and focus.
Click here to find out more about keeping your eyes healthy and safe when online
Walk and talk
Get up and move around when you can. If you need to take a call, why not try to stand up and walk while you talk. If you are having face-to-face meetings, turn them into walking meetings or, at the very least, standing meetings. Not only does this help keep you moving, but research has found that walking can actually boost creativity by up to 60%!
How to beat ‘tech neck’
If you spend lots of time staring at a screen each day or bending your neck down towards your smartphone, you might start to feel the effects of ‘tech neck’ through headaches or soreness of your shoulders, neck and back.
Try and take regular breaks away from your devices and screens. If you need to access social media, do this midway through your break, that way you will give your eyes, neck and brain a chance to rest. Take a look at some expert-backed tips for alleviating ‘tech neck,’ including stretches to immediately ease pain and discomfort
Are you spending too much time online?
Try this quick calculation:
It’s far too easy to lose track of how long we are spending online, in all its many guises.
- Over a week, track how many hours you are spending online, (Download the ‘Toolkit’ in the useful resources area to find a helpful tracker) – gaming, interacting on social media, researching and even shopping. Ironically, your various devices can help you with this as most track usage by category.
- Now calculate that as a percentage of the number ‘168’ – (this is the number of hours in a week): Number of hours online, divided by 168 and multiplied by 100, equals ??%
- The figure you have is the percentage of time you spend online each week. If you feel this is too high, why not consider ways to reduce it? Take a look at the ‘Staying physical in a digital world’ activities for some tips!
Colouring pens at the ready!
Useful links
All the videos and links to further information shared below, have been peer reviewed, continue to be free at the time of writing this campaign and can be used to read, learn and contact others in order to support you.
Addiction support
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support/addiction-what-is-it
Social media addiction
https://www.ukat.co.uk/addiction/behavioural/social-media/
Internet addiction
https://www.ukat.co.uk/addiction/behavioural/internet/
25 tips on digital distractions
https://www.teachthought.com/technology/25-tips-to-deal-with-digital-distractions/
Beating tech neck
https://www.everydayhealth.com/wellness/how-to-beat-tech-neck-and-why-its-so-bad-for-your-health
Technology addiction
The advent of the smartphone has escalated the occurrence of ‘Fear Of Missing Out’, (FOMO) which is generated when our brains perceive being left out as a threat. FOMO often lies at the heart of digital dependency and can lead to us feeling stressed or anxious.
Here are some top tips to reframe FOMO and to help you reduce feelings of stress and anxiety:
Forge 121 connections
Spend time with a friend, ideally in the real world, rather than always looking to be part of a group. If you’re present, you’re not missing out!
Overcome comparing yourself
Remember, what we see about others online isn’t a full representation of their lives. Everyday disappointments, embarrassments and chaotic lives are rarely seen on shiny social media posts.
Modify your social media
Unfollow any accounts/feeds that you recognise are making you feel unhappy or low.
Own your experiences
Keep a diary of your fun times rather than sharing them online. This shifts the focus from public validation to private admiration of what’s great in your life.