Baby steps to mental health
Digitally Lit #192 – 4/6/2019
Hi all, my name is Ian O’Byrne and welcome to Digitally Literate. In this newsletter, I try to synthesize what happened this week so you can be digitally literate as well.
I posted a couple of other things this week:
- The Technopanic Podcast – My podcast with Kristen Turner went live this week. Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, PocketCasts, Stitcher…or the podcast catcher of your choice.
- Do a digital declutter – I just finished reading Cal Newport’s latest book, Digital Minimalism. This post shares tips on rebuilding your technology usage from scratch.
- Initial look at Hangouts Chat for collaboration and communication – A brief review of Hangouts Chat, the new Slack competitor from Google.
How to cope with feeling unfocused or overwhelmed (5:34)
This video from Tim Ferriss shares some actionable advice on paying attention to your body when you feel like you can’t keep up.
How A.S.M.R. became a sensation
A new article from the New York Times Magazine details the decade-long history of ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, tracing the trajectory from a small Facebook group of dedicated tinglers to a massive pop culture phenomenon. We’ve started to see this phenomenon sweep into the mainstream in advertising.
Of particular interest to me are the steps ASMR artists have taken to protect themselves from creeps. Gibi suggests the following:
I’ve learned a lot about cybersecurity. If you ever want to start a YouTube channel, delete everything, and then go back and delete more. Make everything private. Act like you have five million subscribers when you’re starting, because you can’t go back… People are naturally curious. They can look up if it’s raining where I am.
How to Make Your Phone Limit Your Screen Time for You
Eric Ravenscraft in The NY Times on how to use tools built in to your smartphone to help you limit how much you use your devices.
If that doesn’t help, perhaps you’d like to fully convert your phone to minimalism. Thanks to Doug Belshaw for the tip. 🙂
The paranoid person’s guide to online privacy
So you think you want to be mindful and not be tracked online? Here’s the eight steps you’ll need to take. Can you do it?
- Ditch Facebook and anything to do with Facebook;
- If you want to use other social media, like Twitter, make your accounts anonymous and private;
- Use a burner phone for two-factor authentication;
- Say goodbye to Google;
- Use a secure browser, preferably Tor;
- Use a VPN;
- Say goodbye to smart home products and android devices;
- Use a secure messaging app.
Screentime has little effect on teenagers’ wellbeing, says study
Alex Hern in The Guardian on a recent study, published in the journal Psychological Science. It is an important data point in the growing debate about whether excessive screen time can damage the mental health of young people.
The research, based on analysis of the screen use of more than 17,000 teenagers across Ireland, the US and the UK, found use of screens before bedtime was completely unrelated to psychological wellbeing, and screen time more generally had a “minuscule” effect on wellbeing in teenagers when compared with other activities in an adolescent’s life.
This teacher’s viral ‘check-in’ board is a beautiful example of mental health support
A photo shared by Tara Holman details a check in on students to support their mental health.
Let Tiny Habits change your life
BJ Fogg, Director of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University teaches you the three things you need to do to change your behavior over the longterm.
- Have an epiphany;
- Change your environment;
- Take baby steps.
You can join in on his five day method at the link above to learn the skills you’ll need to fully benefit.
Instead of trying to build a brick wall, lay a brick everyday. Eventually you’ll look up and you’ll have a brick wall.
Nipsey Hussle
Digitally Literate is a summary of all the great stuff from the Internet this week in technology, education, & literacy. Follow along here.
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