Longworth: Navigating the digital tide part two

(editor’s note: West Carleton Online published the first half of this two part column Friday, May 17, and you can read that here)

Things you could do for yourself on a daily basis:

Take deep breaths, in fact lots of deep breaths. 

Get your body moving. We’re not forcing you to become a marathon runner, but a little exercise goes a long way. As John Green says Takea now-iconic TikTok, much to his chagrin, going on “stupid walks” for his “stupid mental health” works. 

Practice meditation and mindfulness. Apps like Headspace, Calm and Breethe are a great place to start.

Drink more water. You’ve heard it a million times, so what’s one more? Check out this hydration calculator to help you know how much H2O your body needs. 

Snuggle your dog, cat, or bunny (or just spend time around animals). Scientific evidence shows that pets reduce our stress levels and provide unconditional companionship. 

Wear sunscreen. Okay, fine, you can have a little skin care routine, as a treat. And as a cancer preventative. 

Water your plants. Bring nature to you! Taking care of something else is also a great catalyst to treat ourselves with kindness, too. 

Recite meaningful affirmations. Positive affirmations help us maintain a positive self-view and help us visualize our desires and needs.

Adopt a kindness act each and every day.

Go to bed at a reasonable hour. Prepare a helpful nighttime routine, stick to a good bedtime, and maintain a consistent sleep schedule to keep yourself well-attuned to one of your core needs: rest. 

Practice a daily sensory activity. It can be as simple as listing things you can feel, smell, or see, but you can also try using fidget toys, smelling flowers, or swaying in a hammock. 

Take more pictures. Make albums of things you’re grateful for, or start a random collection of smiley faces or hearts you see out in the wild. It’s bound to cheer you up now — and in the future.

Create a wind-down routine to ease out of your work or school day — especially if you spend  a lot of time at home.

Enjoy the silence. When was the last time you turned off your cell phone, TV, music, or podcast? Allow yourself even just one moment a day of quiet time.

Do something active during your TV time. Lift weights, bring Hulu to the treadmill, or even clear off some counter space during your new favorite binge. You don’t have to do this every time, but sometimes it helps decrease that couch fatigue. 

Organize your digital files. Delete the random screenshots, make some new folders on your desktop, and ooh and ahh at your simplified system

Create a playlist of music you like to dance to. Then dance to it. 

Lie on the floor. Physical therapists say this is a grounding activity that can help with your posture and even alleviate anxiety. 

Crawl. It’s not just for babies! Crawling — or quadrupedal movement — has a number of mental and physical health benefits.

Listen to a bedtime story. Embrace your inner child and hop on this live bedtime story feed on TikTok every night for a childhood classic.

Get to know yourself better with a personality assessment! There are lots to choose from: Myer’s Briggs, Enneagram, Human Design, and more.  

Write out your values or discover what you’re passionate about. While value assessments are often tools for career growth, this can also be a great way to better understand yourself and what is most important to you. 

Have a TED Talk marathon. These bite-size videos are awesome alternatives to other digital media if you want to learn something new. We’d recommend some classics on vulnerability, injustice, and storytelling. 

Join a social media network that doesn’t suck your soul. We’d recommend Communia, an app for women and non-binary folks, as well as MeWe, a social network designed for people; not data. 

Set timers with your phone’s Screen Time — controls. Guilty of the endless scroll? Put a stop to it. Give yourself an allotted amount of time on certain apps per day by adjusting your digital wellbeing settings on your phone. 

Listen to a mental health podcast. There’s a whole world of podcasts out there. Try finding a few about mental health that resonate with you to help you learn and grow. 

Turn off unnecessary notifications. Past 5 pm. Ditch those work notifications. Don’t want to see who’s liking your Facebook posts from a decade ago? Toggle those notifications off. 

Unsubscribe from emails. We all have a treasure trove of retailers or nsletters cluttering our inboxes. Unsubscribe to the ones you no longer need. 

File for email bankruptcy. This is when you delete all your emails knowing that if someone wants to contact you, they’ll send you another message. This is not for the faint of heart, but if you’re feeling overwhelmed or shameful because you can’t keep up with your emails, Branden gives you permission to use this strategy. 

Make Ecosia your default search engine. Ecosia plant trees every time you search online. Put all those curiosities to good use and make it your default search engine!

Sign up for Tab For A Cause. This is a browser extension that raises money for nonprofits every time you open a new tab. For those of us with a trillion tabs open at all times, it’s the most effortless way to help a good cause. 

Try Duolingo instead of the endless social media scroll. Sure, the Duolingo owl on TikTok may have inspired you to learn another language, but you can put the social media app down for an hour now.

Create mood boards on Pinterest. This may be one of the least toxic popular social media platforms out there. Hop on Pinterest and create mood boards for all kinds of fun stuff: positive affirmations, DIY projects, or dream outfit combos. 

Make your life a little bit easier by rearranging the apps on your phone or adding your favorite websites to your browser bookmarks. Consider hiding the apps and sites that hurt more than they help.

Virtually tour a museum anywhere in the world. Need a change of scenery without the price of an international flight? Check out a digital museum tour for any number of museums across the globe.

Download a mood tracker app. Apps like Daylio or WorryWatch help you easily document your mood changes and journal about your feelings daily. 

To read all Richard Longworth’s columns, click here.

Richard Longworth worked as a systems engineer and university professor at Capilano University teaching math, information technology, and system analysis and implementation for 40 years. Longworth has published three books: Reflections on Life Issues, Turning the Self Inside Out, and Harnessing the Internet into a Knowledge Framework – all related to technology and trends in the industry.