Digital Dictatorship
. . . AND HOW TO RUN AWAY FROM IT
Six hours daily! On average, that is how much time people spend on their phone, according to several studies. Our Instagram account was blocked and removed last week, and that was an eye opener. It made us realize how extremely dependent we are on one single app. I guess you can relate? Especially after Facebook's breakdown on Monday (Oct 4, 2021). So how to deal with this?
Six hours daily! On average, that is how much time people spend on their phone, according to several studies. Our Instagram account was blocked and removed last week, and that was an eye opener. It made us realize how extremely dependent we are on one single app. I guess you can relate? Especially after Facebook's breakdown on Monday (Oct 4, 2021). So how to deal with this?
There’s an app for tracking sleep and one for tracking your run in the forest. There’s one for meditation and breathing and eating. It's your tool at work and when doing banking matters, food orders, shopping and ordering cabs . You socialize on it, share moments with family and friends or strangers you fancy. Dating, playing games, dancing, listening to books, exercising, writing - there’s one for all. They make our lives easier. But there’s also a backside.
More and more research is being done on how social media, games and other phone related stuff is affecting our brains and overall well being.
The LED illuminated screens suppress the secretion of melatonin - the “sleep hormone” that influences our circadian rhythms, and it leads to sleeping disorders, increasing blood sugar levels, decreasing leptin levels (a hormone that makes you feel full after a meal) and several other deadly diseases. Read more about it here.
Psychologist Dr. Jon Elhai and his colleagues investigated how smartphone use was associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as increased experience of stress and found that these factors were strongly related. Studies from University of Arizona find a connection to feelings of loneliness, some other studies show worse physical fitness and academic performances among students.
Research also reveals that walking and driving while using your phone greatly increase your chances of a deadly accident. The more terrible the results are, the more addicted we get. So how can you get out of that infinite loop of information?
1. GO FOR A RUN
If you spend 6 hours on your phone like the average person, could you consider spending 30 minutes of that time on running? You’ll get fresh air, exercise and your eyes will pay attention to surroundings instead of graphic elements on a blue light screen. Running provides better sleep, improved immune system, a better more joyful mood and decreases stress levels, memory loss, anxiety and the risk of getting a stroke.
2. TAKE A DIGITAL BREAK
Digital detox is a word that most people know of nowadays. Decide to put your phone away for a while. Perhaps even turn it off? Start with one hour, and later on you can try to not use it for a day or perhaps a week. Try to always put it away while sleeping. Observe the changes in your body and mind - the good ones and the bad ones. This exercise can teach you about yourself.
3. SET UP RULES
Create digital boundaries to ease your addiction. For instance, set the phone to flight mode, turn it off or simply put it in another room during nighttime. Try not to use it the hour before going to sleep, since it will affect your melatonin levels a lot. If you are a parent, think about how you use your phone when your kids are around. They will do like you do. And absolutely DON’T put your kids in front of screens just because YOU are stressed and can’t deal with the everyday chaos. WHO points out how kids' physical and cognitive growth and healthy lifelong habits are greatly affected by screens and therefore recommend restrictions.
4. CLEAN UP
How many apps are really meaningful to you? Take some time to reduce your digital clutter and create a clean and relevant interface on your phone. Simply put: erase apps - you can always bring them back later! Perhaps also clean among the accounts you follow on social? Does some content make you feel depressed, jealous or angry? Do you need it in your life? No, you don’t! Let go of the FOMO and “bye-bye influencers”!
5. SET PRIORITIES
Ok, face it! You spend more time on your phone than necessary. Focus instead on your dreams! What do you keep wishing you had more time for? Create a list and - just before you completely get lost in infinity scrolling - put your phone down and start ticking off your passion agenda. Going running or learning to play the guitar for 30 minutes a day will have a greater effect on your everyday life in one year from now than liking some celebrities photos on social media.
We strongly dislike the fact that our Instagram account @iamrunbox is down. It is devastating for a small business like ours and we are completely in the godforsaken hands of a world dominating company. But after one, two, three breaths we find peace in the realization of our dependence, and that is the first step on the way towards independence. Perhaps that’s the path to keep running on for you too?
Six hours daily! On average, that is how much time people spend on their phone, according to several studies. Our Instagram account was blocked and removed last week, and that was an eye opener. It made us realize how extremely dependent we are on one single app. I guess you can relate? Especially after Facebook's breakdown on Monday (Oct 4, 2021). So how to deal with this?
There’s an app for tracking sleep and one for tracking your run in the forest. There’s one for meditation and breathing and eating. It's your tool at work and when doing banking matters, food orders, shopping and ordering cabs . You socialize on it, share moments with family and friends or strangers you fancy. Dating, playing games, dancing, listening to books, exercising, writing - there’s one for all. They make our lives easier. But there’s also a backside.
More and more research is being done on how social media, games and other phone related stuff is affecting our brains and overall well being.
The LED illuminated screens suppress the secretion of melatonin - the “sleep hormone” that influences our circadian rhythms, and it leads to sleeping disorders, increasing blood sugar levels, decreasing leptin levels (a hormone that makes you feel full after a meal) and several other deadly diseases. Read more about it here.
Psychologist Dr. Jon Elhai and his colleagues investigated how smartphone use was associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as increased experience of stress and found that these factors were strongly related. Studies from University of Arizona find a connection to feelings of loneliness, some other studies show worse physical fitness and academic performances among students.
Research also reveals that walking and driving while using your phone greatly increase your chances of a deadly accident. The more terrible the results are, the more addicted we get. So how can you get out of that infinite loop of information?
1. GO FOR A RUN
If you spend 6 hours on your phone like the average person, could you consider spending 30 minutes of that time on running? You’ll get fresh air, exercise and your eyes will pay attention to surroundings instead of graphic elements on a blue light screen. Running provides better sleep, improved immune system, a better more joyful mood and decreases stress levels, memory loss, anxiety and the risk of getting a stroke.
2. TAKE A DIGITAL BREAK
Digital detox is a word that most people know of nowadays. Decide to put your phone away for a while. Perhaps even turn it off? Start with one hour, and later on you can try to not use it for a day or perhaps a week. Try to always put it away while sleeping. Observe the changes in your body and mind - the good ones and the bad ones. This exercise can teach you about yourself.
3. SET UP RULES
Create digital boundaries to ease your addiction. For instance, set the phone to flight mode, turn it off or simply put it in another room during nighttime. Try not to use it the hour before going to sleep, since it will affect your melatonin levels a lot. If you are a parent, think about how you use your phone when your kids are around. They will do like you do. And absolutely DON’T put your kids in front of screens just because YOU are stressed and can’t deal with the everyday chaos. WHO points out how kids' physical and cognitive growth and healthy lifelong habits are greatly affected by screens and therefore recommend restrictions.
4. CLEAN UP
How many apps are really meaningful to you? Take some time to reduce your digital clutter and create a clean and relevant interface on your phone. Simply put: erase apps - you can always bring them back later! Perhaps also clean among the accounts you follow on social? Does some content make you feel depressed, jealous or angry? Do you need it in your life? No, you don’t! Let go of the FOMO and “bye-bye influencers”!
5. SET PRIORITIES
Ok, face it! You spend more time on your phone than necessary. Focus instead on your dreams! What do you keep wishing you had more time for? Create a list and - just before you completely get lost in infinity scrolling - put your phone down and start ticking off your passion agenda. Going running or learning to play the guitar for 30 minutes a day will have a greater effect on your everyday life in one year from now than liking some celebrities photos on social media.
We strongly dislike the fact that our Instagram account @iamrunbox is down. It is devastating for a small business like ours and we are completely in the godforsaken hands of a world dominating company. But after one, two, three breaths we find peace in the realization of our dependence, and that is the first step on the way towards independence. Perhaps that’s the path to keep running on for you too?
There’s an app for tracking sleep and one for tracking your run in the forest. There’s one for meditation and breathing and eating. It's your tool at work and when doing banking matters, food orders, shopping and ordering cabs . You socialize on it, share moments with family and friends or strangers you fancy. Dating, playing games, dancing, listening to books, exercising, writing - there’s one for all. They make our lives easier. But there’s also a backside.
More and more research is being done on how social media, games and other phone related stuff is affecting our brains and overall well being.
The LED illuminated screens suppress the secretion of melatonin - the “sleep hormone” that influences our circadian rhythms, and it leads to sleeping disorders, increasing blood sugar levels, decreasing leptin levels (a hormone that makes you feel full after a meal) and several other deadly diseases. Read more about it here.
Psychologist Dr. Jon Elhai and his colleagues investigated how smartphone use was associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as increased experience of stress and found that these factors were strongly related. Studies from University of Arizona find a connection to feelings of loneliness, some other studies show worse physical fitness and academic performances among students.
Research also reveals that walking and driving while using your phone greatly increase your chances of a deadly accident. The more terrible the results are, the more addicted we get. So how can you get out of that infinite loop of information?
1. GO FOR A RUN
If you spend 6 hours on your phone like the average person, could you consider spending 30 minutes of that time on running? You’ll get fresh air, exercise and your eyes will pay attention to surroundings instead of graphic elements on a blue light screen. Running provides better sleep, improved immune system, a better more joyful mood and decreases stress levels, memory loss, anxiety and the risk of getting a stroke.
2. TAKE A DIGITAL BREAK
Digital detox is a word that most people know of nowadays. Decide to put your phone away for a while. Perhaps even turn it off? Start with one hour, and later on you can try to not use it for a day or perhaps a week. Try to always put it away while sleeping. Observe the changes in your body and mind - the good ones and the bad ones. This exercise can teach you about yourself.
3. SET UP RULES
Create digital boundaries to ease your addiction. For instance, set the phone to flight mode, turn it off or simply put it in another room during nighttime. Try not to use it the hour before going to sleep, since it will affect your melatonin levels a lot. If you are a parent, think about how you use your phone when your kids are around. They will do like you do. And absolutely DON’T put your kids in front of screens just because YOU are stressed and can’t deal with the everyday chaos. WHO points out how kids' physical and cognitive growth and healthy lifelong habits are greatly affected by screens and therefore recommend restrictions
4. CLEAN UP
How many apps are really meaningful to you? Take some time to reduce your digital clutter and create a clean and relevant interface on your phone. Simply put: erase apps - you can always bring them back later! Perhaps also clean among the accounts you follow on social? Does some content make you feel depressed, jealous or angry? Do you need it in your life? No, you don’t! Let go of the FOMO and “bye-bye influencers”!
5. SET PRIORITIES
Ok, face it! You spend more time on your phone than necessary. Focus instead on your dreams! What do you keep wishing you had more time for? Create a list and - just before you completely get lost in infinity scrolling - put your phone down and start ticking off your passion agenda. Going running or learning to play the guitar for 30 minutes a day will have a greater effect on your everyday life in one year from now than liking some celebrities photos on social media.
We strongly dislike the fact that our Instagram account @iamrunbox is down. It is devastating for a small business like ours and we are completely in the godforsaken hands of a world dominating company. But after one, two, three breaths we find peace in the realization of our dependence, and that is the first step on the way towards independence. Perhaps that’s the path to keep running on for you too?
