5 digital solutions for a healthier, happier brain in 2016
A lot of people are talking about how the time we spend behind a screen can be harmful for our brain. In 2016, it’s likely that the research which points to the mental health repercussions of excessive phone use will hit an all time high. But although people are becoming more aware that scrolling for hours and posting daily selfies aren’t healthy habits, some of us are just not prepared to toss our devices or embark on a $2000 digital detox escape just yet.
So, instead of spending wasteful time behind a screen, why not make your technology work for you? It may sound ironic, but there are a number of great apps and hacks that can help you become a more productive, focused, and less anxious being to make for a healthier brain this year.
1. Less stress: Calm
I never thought I would need a meditation app, but after 23 years of stress-free air travel, I was suddenly overcome with a fear of flying. Sweaty palms, shortness of breath, sometimes even crying during intense turbulence — these were real symptoms of my fear that had begun to occur every time I flew. Finally deciding to take control over my anxiety, I gave Calm a try. It’s a free meditation app that works offline and sends you into a quiet sense of calmness with very little effort. In a recent bumpy flight, I put my headphones in and listened to the guided meditation, focusing on my breath and body instead of my environment. The soft white-noise that you can choose to enable — from raindrops to familiar lakeside sounds — also helped keep my focus reeled in. I was even lulled into a light sleep until the meditation was complete.
Calm has a number of guided meditations in their premium version for different use-cases (like Sleep or Emergency Calm), but even the free version has just enough to give calmness to a person in need — like it has for me.
If you find it difficult to manage stress and anxiety, or you sometimes need to bring your focus back to your breath, I highly recommend this app.
Free on Android and iOS app, in-app purchases
2. Managed screen time: Flipd
Have you ever thought about “quitting” social media or apps? Maybe it happened after a a few hours of scrolling and finding yourself feeling envious of your friends’ travels. Or maybe you played Candy Crush for a little too long and now your afternoon plans are an unintended write-off.
Whatever the case, it’s not a fun place to find yourself in — and you end up feeling like crap afterward. There is some science to why this happens, much of it having to do with passive scrolling. When you scroll through social media without actively engaging in the content, you’re actually becoming more bored. You would think the opposite is happening — that you’re averting boredom by scrolling. But because you’re not meaningfully engaging with anything, you end up more bored, less satisfied with yourself, and ultimately less happy. With games, the same thing is happening except you’re giving yourself shots of dopamine every time you play. You feel happier while you’re playing, but once the game is over you don’t. That’s why you might play contently for hours, only to find yourself feeling bad when you decide it’s time to move on. So with either a game or social media, you might think that you’re making yourself feel better by filling your time with scrolling or thumb tapping, but your brain is actually worse off afterward.
One great way to prevent unwanted scrolling from stealing your time and sanity is to use a distraction blocker app like Flipd. It works like a lock screen on a timer and prevents you from accessing apps and games that you might normally spend too much time on. One of its best use-cases: unplugging before bed. I use it when I know it’s about time I get off of my phone and clear my mind before sleeping. It’s especially useful because you can still use your phone’s alarm and access phone calls if you need to, but you can’t — for any reason — check Facebook that one last time, only to wind up scrolling until 2 am.
So if managing how you spend time in front of a screen is what your brain needs this year, then try Flipd.
Free Android app with in-app purchases, launching soon on iOS
3. Mindful reading: Pocket
I never really thought much of the benefits of an offline reader. You’re just bookmarking an article in a more well-organized format, right? Actually, using an offline reader like Pocket is a great way to read mindfully and without distractions. Remember that really important article that you were reading that was polluted with ads and click-bait celebrity gossip in the side panel? On top of making it really difficult to focus on what you’re reading, these sorts of articles make it way too easy to get off task. But with Pocket, you can save an important article and you can then read it with only the text — nothing else. No ads, no click-bait, just the words that you intended on reading and nothing more. An offline reader is essential for students that might be doing research for a paper: you can save all of your articles and then switch off your WiFi to do all of your reading and referencing, without distractions or time-sucking temptations.
You won’t understand the beauty of this until you experience it.
If filtering the clutter is what you want your technology to do for you, then check out Pocket.
Free Android and iOS app, free Chrome and Safari extensions
4. Yoga practice: Yoga with Adriene
Yoga is something we all know is incredibly healthy for both the body and mind, but not all of us have the money or time for a membership. Believe it or not, YouTube is a great place to find free guided yoga — and I’m a big fan of Yoga with Adriene in particular. Aside from being the best yoga channel I’ve found, Adriene’s quirky and infectious personality will keep you motivated to stick with it. She isn’t a yogi that you feel intimidated by; she’s this down to earth, easy to listen to and laugh-along-with person who just happens to be guiding you through yoga. Her videos are accessible for any level of yoga practice and last anywhere from 10 minute to hour long sessions.
I completed her 30-Days of Yoga challenge at the beginning of 2015 and found it gave me a whole new perspective of practicing yoga. Before, I had mostly gone to hour-long sweaty hot yoga sessions at $20 a pop, but I found that switching to yoga at home still gave me a similar outcome. What’s best about practicing yoga from home is the lack of effort required to just get started — which is often half of the battle when committing to an exercise routine.
If you don’t already have a daily or routine yoga practice for a healthier mind and body, I suggest getting started with Adriene here.
Free channel on YouTube
5. Improved attention: Disable notifications
Did you know that you can do this? It’s this ingenious setting where your phone actually won’t ping or buzz for every like, comment, share, or upvote you receive across your online existence. You do have to select apps one by one to disable them from begging for your attention every five minutes, but a simple uncheck of the “Show notifications” box in your settings and you’ll no longer be pulled away for something entirely unimportant. You’d be surprised by how effective this hack is at preventing you from switching tasks and keeping you focused. Instead of checking Twitter when Twitter wants you to, with this hack you’re more likely to check when it’s intentional.
So if giving your brain a break from multi-tasking or unintended checking is your goal, then try this simple hack.
Free setting on your phone
What tools or hacks do you use to maintain a healthy mind? What resolutions do you have for 2016 that involve better care of your brain? Please share in the comments!
