Speaker 1:
Hi and welcome to this month's healthy

living resources my name is Amanda woods

healthy finances program specialist and

this month I'm going to be joined by

Jenny lob to discussed digital detoxing

so stay tuned

[Music]

Hi and welcome to this month's episode

of healthy living resources my name is

Amanda woods I'm the healthy finances

program specialist with OSU Extension

family consumer sciences I'm this

month's episode we're gonna be

discussing our use of technology

possible overuse of technology and the

need for digital detoxing so today we

are joined by Jenny laughs she is a

Franklin County Extension educator and

I'm gonna just real quick have you tell

us a little bit about yourself and the

work that you do in Franklin County sure

so my background is in nutrition I'm a

dietitian and I do primarily programming

around healthy living being active

healthy eating and stress coping

strategies excellent so before we dive

into this month's topic of digital

detoxing just give us a little bit of

insight as to why this is something that

you feel so strongly about and why this

is something that you're choosing to

tackle in your work sure so I was

approached actually by a librarian about

this topic a few years ago and the whole

term digital detoxing was a new one to

me but I did some research on what it

might mean and the need and found that

there is a pretty great need and

honestly I found this to be beneficial

to me not just professionally but

personally as I've tried to implement

some of the strategies in my own life

perfect yeah we hear a lot about our use

of technology we hear a lot about how

much we should or shouldn't be using

digital devices online media that sort

of thing so before we get into the

actual detoxing portion what we should

do let's talk a little bit about the why

we should do it so give us a little bit

of insight into maybe how we're using

devices and the impact that it's having

yeah so we're using devices all the time

technology is just part of daily life

and this day and age

it's not necessarily a bad thing

technology has a ton of positive uses

you know for example we Amanda and I

work for OSU Extension which is across

the state so we use technology to have

meetings that are virtual so people

don't have to travel so there are many

positive ways to use technology but I

think what we're finding is that more

and more the overuse of Technology where

we're attached or even addicted to

devices can have negative impacts on our

health and well-being so it is kind of

hard to know I think for us where that

line is like you said we're being in an

organization where we do work across the

state it is really hard to separate

ourselves from working in an onliner

technologically forward way um so you

mentioned the negative impact why is it

that the use of technology or digital

devices are overuse we should say why

does that have a negative impact on us

what kind of negative impact do we see

from that there are many negative

impacts that can be on physical mental

and even emotional health and I think a

lot of it stems from just the sheer

volume of information that we encounter

one analogy I heard that has really

resonated with me is that the amount of

information we receive on a daily basis

is akin to walking into a library and

hearing all the books talking at once so

there's so much information coming at us

from the news stream from email both

personal and professional email accounts

from social media that it's it's hard

for our brains to keep up they're just

not wired to process that amount of

information and so

our effects on our health that come

along with that everything from feeling

anxiety or even depression to you know

physical impacts not getting enough

sleep as we try to keep up with

technology and activity living more

sedentary lifestyles and then emotional

impacts we're seeing especially with

kids as they're growing up in this age

where they are absorbed in technology

from a young age that emotional

development is is lacking and social

skills need to be learned to an even

greater degree than than they once did

because so much interaction happens

virtually as opposed to in person so

they're just not getting that connection

with other people and really learning

how to sure learning soft skills like

you know how to make eye contact

learning empathy for example if you if

you have plans to have dinner with a

relative and you cancel by text message

you never see that person's reaction or

disappointment when you cancel and it

has become more normal to you know to to

communicate over text or over email and

not have that face-to-face interaction

where you're learning to read others

emotions or even learning to carry in

person conversation it's really

challenging right because they feel like

the way that we absorb information and

really that like you said that pressure

for us to engage and constantly be aware

of what's going on has kind of created

this environment where we are constantly

attached and we feel the need to be

constantly attached and I feel like it

affects all of us our obviously children

are playing games and they're constantly

using their parents devices probably a

lot of kids I think have their own

devices but even as adults I mean I find

myself mindlessly scrolling through

social media and I'll close my phone and

I'll open the phone again two minutes

later and she starts scrolling again so

really is this just like kind of

ingrained behavior now and it is

important I think for us to identify the

negative impacts right why why so how

can we start to maybe before actually

making the effort to change how we're

engaging with digital devices how can we

come more become more aware of the fact

that we maybe are overusing them sure

yeah I think some technology has made it

easy now with some you know iPhone

upgrades if you're an iPhone user you

can actually monitor how much time

you're spending in different

applications and actually see how many

hours you might spend in your email or

on social media or so forth and and know

that some of that is okay for example if

you're you have a job where you are on a

computer using email all day while at

work that's to be expected but in your

free time you might want to actually pay

a little more attention and take

inventory and a sentence of how much

time you're spending in your leisure

time on social media versus doing other

activities and I think for families you

might think about what you're doing at

home as a family are you all sitting in

the same room but each on a different

device or are you having conversations

as a family and interacting with the

people that are physically present

versus those who are on the same

platform as you are but not physically

present it's interesting that you say

that because it just reminded me one

social media platform actually I think

now will give you an alert if you're

using that platform to for a certain

amount of time and so I thought it would

be funny to set a limit for myself so I

set a limit of 30 minutes a day for this

specific social media platform and I'm

like 30 minutes feels like a long time

to be you know looking or scrolling or

whatever and I'm often really shocked

when I get that alert that says hey

you've been using this this platform for

30 minutes already

today I'm like what if I actually

accomplished doing this but it really is

just kind of I think breaking that habit

and becoming aware of the fact that

while certain technology use and device

use is necessary and important and can

have a positive impact it's really

learning where to draw that line so what

are some things that we can do to maybe

steer steer the ship in a different

direction sure yeah so I think that

building that awareness and and using

tools like setting limits or so forth is

a starting step and then once you've

done that initial step asking yourself

those questions you you just brought up

such as what have I accomplished in this

time is is there maybe something that

would have been more beneficial for me

to be doing with my time and evaluating

your purpose and using that technology

are you trying to you know keep up with

with family who maybe doesn't live

closeby and actually sharing pictures or

updates with them or are you just

scrolling through because it's what you

do it's become a habit and it's not

really accomplishing anything and then

from there I think you can set

additional guidelines or boundaries

sure the the actual limits that are

built in to different platforms are

wonderful but you can also maybe

establish some own ground rules like

having a screen free meal time as a

family that might be an example or

having a docking station where you can

put a phone before bed so you're not

tempted to if you wake up in the middle

the night pick up your phone and start

scrolling through or checking email or

so forth

maybe having a screen free backyard so

if you can actually get outside get some

fresh air and get some activity and

aren't tempted to instead just end up

sitting and scrolling through a phone so

those are just a couple examples of some

boundaries that someone might choose to

set when we first started hearing about

recommended screen time really putting

the screens down and really focusing on

detoxing the amount that we use digital

devices it really can be kind of

shocking for some people I don't

personally have kids but for a lot of

people who do focus on the a lot of

people who focus on maybe kids use of

screen time it doesn't really have to be

all or nothing all or not saying it

doesn't really have to be this like

shocking they can't use that we can't do

this so what are some ways that we can

maybe use screen time is there like a

positive way to engage as a family with

these with these devices with certain

with certain ways that we engage with

digital devices or should it should

those things be separate I think that it

certainly doesn't have to be all or

nothing

kids are growing up in this age where

technology is just part of culture and

life so they're going to be exposed to

it eventually and I think as a parent

there's opportunity to utilize

technology with your children whether it

be watching educational programs

together and talking about the content

that you're seeing or maybe setting up

limits or rules about what programs

children are allowed to use on

tablet or computer or even a smartphone

if they have a smartphone because we

know that there are some programs that

are much higher quality than others some

programs might be educational and might

be very beneficial whereas others are

more mindless just more for

entertainment so questions that a parent

might ask are what what is my child

learning during this time what is my

child gaining and and some of that is

more subjective but I think as an adult

you you can make those calls and just

feel empowered to make those those calls

around when and how to let your children

use technology I was driving here this

morning and as I mentioned previously I

heard a news story where they were

discussing the idea of a meat-eor

mentorship when it can't Media

mentorship when it comes to your family

and the use of technology and this

specific story was actually talking

about how the family would get together

and play video games together and so the

parents would be engaged in the it was

just a video game not an educational

experience but they really felt that it

did kind of help break down some of the

negative impacts because they were

working through things together they

were explaining how to maybe overcome

some difficult things together the mom

actually felt that it helped instill

some resilience and kind of teach that

lesson of resilience because when things

get hard

I have Nephi oh and he loves video games

and when things get hard he really wants

to quit and so there is that lesson

there are lessons that we can kind of

fill in and and kind of get around that

negative that's negative impact but like

you're saying it's it's quality moms of

choosing maybe the right way to interact

and engage with technology for youth we

talk a lot about youth and a lot of

maybe Millennials also making this we

hear with use of the internet overuse of

internet the amount that maybe

millennial age people are engaging in

interpersonal relationships are less the

amount that we are having children is

less like a lot of things are blamed on

technology but do you think that it's

just the younger generations that have

this problem or is it really everybody

that could take this lesson no I think

this is something that affects everybody

even you know older generations of

working adults are most likely using

email in the workplace and it's easy

with with smartphones and tablets to

bring that home you have access to your

your work pretty much 24/7 and there's

this whole culture now of the ideal

worker who who responds around the clock

and and so I think that's a challenge

that certainly affects people of all

ages and not just Millennials and it's

probably important how we frame the

discussion to that it's not just around

social media or video games it really is

just how we engage

I am also guilty of picking up the phone

late at night to respond to emails that

I'd know that I had received and I am

not the only one I got an email from

somebody at 4:30 that's right so we're

definitely I think letting it kind of

spill out a little bit maybe too much do

you think that this is so we have we see

this problem here in the United States

do you feel like maybe this is a problem

that a lot of people are also trying to

address maybe outside of our country and

are there some steps that you know that

are being taken or steps that we can all

kind of take because technology

obviously does connect us with people

around the world but maybe that's a

problem that maybe we're not the only

people that are facing I'm sure we're

not the only country that's facing these

issues I don't know what is being done

around the world

and most of those statistics I found our

studies or statistics from the United

States but I would imagine that these

are similar issues worldwide

so you mentioned the use of email with

work mm-hmm I'm wondering how we can

work to keep that balance when people I

have just enrolled in an online graduate

program and I know what a lot of people

are involved in online school and so the

way that we are engaging with digital

technology and devices it is how we

spend a lot of our day can you give some

suggestions on maybe how to work to have

that balance and know where to draw

those lines yeah I think a lot of it

starts from within just you know

accepting that it's it's ultimately up

to you to set your own boundaries and

being comfortable with that because

there's no one no supervisor telling you

you must respond to emails around the

clock you know you have to send that

email at 4:30 in the morning or so forth

so it's it's allowing yourself to have

your own boundaries you know whether

that means choosing to not to access

work email from your phone I know some

people who do that when they shut down

their computer at the end of the day

that's it's the end of the day it might

be for someone else you might still have

email come to your phone but maybe you

have a docking station for your phone at

night so that you're not tempted to

check at all hours of the night for for

someone else you know I heard one woman

say a strategy that she uses is to have

the hour that she gets home from work be

via transition hour where she is not

going to use her phone at all for the

first hour she's there with her family

and this just be present and try to

reframe that time with her family and

then it makes it easier when you're not

immediately giving in to that urge to

keep checking things it makes it easier

as the night progresses to let things go

and know that they'll still be there for

you the next morning when you check back

in it really kind of feels like breaking

a habit right for me personally I know

that it definitely feels that way I

mentioned earlier that I mindlessly

picked my phone up I scroll

I don't really realize why I'm doing it

and it seems like it kind of goes back

to a lot of other things that we teach

in family and consumer sciences you know

taking action for a more healthy

lifestyle being aware of mindfulness and

how we can use those things to kind of

maybe focus more on how we're living our

lives and doing it in a healthier and

better way how do you feel like maybe in

implementing mindfulness and being aware

of how we're spending our time you can

kind of or again like engaging in

physical maybe health or focusing on

maybe taking a walk leaving our devices

at home what are some ways that you

could maybe suggest that we could focus

on those other areas and we can just

naturally let the digital device kind of

say yeah so learning to practice

mindfulness is a wonderful digital

detoxing strategy and it could just be

as as simple as if you are taking a walk

to choose to leave your phone behind or

if you you know feel like you need your

phone with you in case of an emergency

just having it on silent and paying

attention to what's going on around you

it's so easy whether you're walking or

driving to be so absorbed in what's

going on in the world whether it be news

or social media that you miss what's

right in front of you and so essentially

I think that's you know part of

mindfulness at its most basic level just

paying attention to what's going on

around you using your senses to be in

the

the moment and so that would naturally

if you're choosing to practice

mindfulness be a way to hone in on

what's happening in front of you rather

than what's going on on social media or

at worker or so forth and another

strategy I might mention is turning off

notifications on your phone so if you're

someone who's really tempted to check

notifications when you hear them or see

them come through choosing to turn off

what's not essential so you might keep

phone calls and text messages but she's

the turn off notifications for the email

or social media and then go in and check

those things on your own time when you

want to or feel like you need to check

them right but for many it is actually

an addiction and it's a low-level stress

response when you when you see that

notification come through we have this

spike in our cortisol and feel like we

have to check it right away

so taking that action step could help

you hone in on what's happening in front

of you yeah there have definitely been

times in the past where I have deleted

certain apps from my phone because I

found myself kind of navigating towards

that mindlessly and we also here so

anxiety and depression are a major issue

especially in the United States and you

mentioned that that could be one of the

negative impacts of technologies and

social media use and I do find that

sometimes when I'm mindlessly scrolling

I'm seeing pictures people traveling or

I'm seeing pictures and like doing all

these amazing things and then before I

realize that I feel stressed out and I'm

like why am I not doing these things and

how come I haven't gone to Bali and you

know what I mean like things that

obviously would never I would not

normally be spinning out or stressing

out about but there's that kind of that

quote that says that we compare our

lives to other people's highlight reels

so just our normal everyday life

so again just have you know practicing

that mindfulness and realizing that like

what you're seeing is probably not

what's real

right um and how can we kind of differ

our attention back to all right great so

what are some other suggestions

especially going back to youth because I

think a lot of young people have

obviously they've grown up but

technology I think is easier for people

our age and maybe a little bit older to

say well when I was a kid I used to play

outside and I used to you know spend

hours and that's great but we also

didn't grow up with the use of cell

phones until I was in college for sure

so our high school so it's not quite as

easy because it is obviously ingrained

into the way that they've been brought

into this world especially when mom or

dad are constantly right so yeah there's

probably something to be said for

setting that example so what are some

tips that you could make for maybe

families with young children to set that

example and strike that out right well

setting the example that is the starting

point so I'm glad that's where you you

went with that it's hard for a child to

want to have healthy habits and

boundaries right they see their parent

constantly on their phone scrolling and

there's actually so there was a Diane

Sawyer special report just earlier this

year where she did some really

interesting experiments and there was

one with young children toddlers who

whose parents were told to scroll for

two minutes straight okay and they they

essentially had to ignore their children

and these children they were you know

some were trying to crawl up in front of

the phone in front and their parent slap

others it was really sad others just

gave up entirely and you know we're kind

of kind of just felt like well they

don't see me anymore so I'm done and you

know others worse

we're screaming and so a whole range of

reactions but I think it just goes to

show that

as parents if we're not setting a

healthy example then we're not going to

expect our kids to develop that that

healthy habit so that's definitely the

yes starting point there and having

hobbies is important so it's it's hard

to just get rid of something if you

don't have a replacement so whether that

be a sport or playing board games or you

know doing arts or music or just getting

outside going to the park as a family

having hobbies or leisure activities

that you can enjoy I think is critical

and then making that conscious choice to

to leave the technology behind or maybe

you pull it out to use for photos or

whatnot but have healthy boundaries so

that you're not you know using it for

the wrong reason right when you're with

your loved one and I have to imagine it

it does kind of also go back to us being

okay with maybe being bored or being

okay with just existing and not

constantly being engaged right we're non

stantly engaged and bombarded like you

said our brains aren't really meant for

that but I think we get used to it I was

driving my seven year old nephew around

and we didn't bring his tablet he's

leaning on his tablet makar and he said

what am I supposed to do right now and

my response was like well obviously

we're in the car just look out the

window but then it became clear that

Lake he was used to being engaged so

really kind of understanding that it's

okay to have that time and to maybe give

ourselves a little a little bit of space

to just breathe and not be constantly

something yeah there's this whole fear

of missing out if we're not constantly

engaged and we don't know what to do

anymore

but there is you know benefit to putting

things aside even having some solitude

sometimes it's just like your your

thoughts roam written in spark those

creative innovate

ideas yeah definitely I think there are

a lot of good takeaways for probably all

of us if we have kids in our lives

understanding that balance for us as

adults understanding where to draw that

line and when in when enough can be

enough so thank you so much Jenny for

joining us this is a really important

topic and I think one that's gonna

continue to be super relevant to how

we're living our lives and how we're how

we grow and evolve as people so thank

you all right well thank you so much for

joining us on this month's edition of

healthy living resources digital

detoxing what is an important topic so

you know take some time and maybe

address how you are engaging with

digital devices in your life and we'll

see you next month

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