This week, Courageous Counseling and Consulting, has been celebrating Screen Free Week thanks to www.screenfree.org. We have also been actively promoting Digital Wellness Day as OFFICIAL AMBASSADORS which takes place on Friday, May 5, 2023. In partnering with the Digital Wellness Institute www.digitalwellnessinstitute.com we are making information regarding digital wellness more accessible to San Antonio. Check out our Instagram @Jes_Be_Courageous for more information regarding learning institutes.
FLOURISHING IN A DIGITAL WORLD WITH BOUNDARIES
During grad school I was able to write a paper on the links between digital media use and depression. At that time, there was very little solid data proving any links since all the studies were in the early stages. Thankfully, we know more now and despite the limited published research at that time, the early findings were pretty consistent with recent discovery. These early findings laid the foundation for what would become a bleak outlook for digital eras affect on overall health. Fast forward years later and I am still interested in these topics and discussions. My curiosity of the URL world and its affect on our IRL world inspired me to become a Digital Wellness Practitioner.
Now, more that ever it is important to share information about How to Flourish in a Digital World. Why? In short, the digital world is here to stay. With that said, in a digital world that has information at our fingertips I wanted to share just one idea that could make a BIG difference in your ability to FLOURISH! Interestingly enough URL isn’t so much different that IRL when we are discussing boundaries. We need to protect ourselves, our time and our peace.
SAFETY BOUNDARIES
How can you protect yourself online? A quick and easy change includes making sure you are not posting specific locations. If you feel you “must” post your location wait until you leave to post location specific pics and reels to your socials. If you are a parent take time to check your children’s profiles and talk to them about guarding their personal information. Discuss the differences between IRL friendships and URL friendships. For more tips visit https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
TIME BOUNDARIES
Protecting your time can be just as easy. Set up a screen time limit for specific apps and/or utilize products like Circle to aid you in your journey. Make sure that you are clear on what your intention is when you are online. A clearly defined intention/task will allow you the opportunity to get the information you need while helping you not to enter into the habit of scrolling. Scrolling is a mindless habit that typically leads to large chunks of time being lost. Lost time increases feelings of guilt or sadness among other less pleasurable emotions due to it leaving us feeling unproductive.
PEACE BOUNDARIES
Remember you have the ability to protect your peace by unfollowing content or figures that ignite less pleasurable feelings within you. Many people lose their peace because of FOMO. Don’t let FOMO define your activities instead allow JOMO (JOY OF MISSING OUT) to aid you in making the best decisions for your life. Healthy digital boundaries matter because if anything cost you your safety, your time or your peace “IT” is too expensive.
Looking to make a Family Media Agreement check out https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/common_sense_family_media_agreement.pdf