Step away from the tech

Just recently I read a number of articles that included lists. I'm a list person. I like seeing everything in front of me in a form that's easy to read. Ok ! So the interesting bits. One article published in Time discussed morning regimes that would lead to a more productive day. The other article was from a psychology journal. It was a list of things to do, or not do, to improve a bad mood. Interestingly enough, #2 on both lists concerned technology & social media, respectively. 

Avoid your phone first thing in the morning as a way to improve daily productivity makes sense, at least for me. I'm guilty of hardly having two eyes open before grabbing my phone to check my social media's newsfeed for news & check email. How often is the news or "news" we read focusing on something negative? By exposing ourselves to negativity first thing in the morning how can we expect to have good start to the day? 

Are you guilty of this?

Facebook has been linked with causing bad moods. How could it not? It's like that age old saying "out of sight, out of mind." The example in the article was someone posts pictures of a vacation and no one "Likes" it. Essentially, Facebook is a great cause of rejection.People tend to feel rejected when not acknowledged. I can understand how Facebok can elicit those feeling in people,especially those who depend on FB for validation. But like the article suggests, just reach out. 

As great as the internet and technology are, sometimes it's just too much. Only a few nights ago I was chatting with a friend and we both said we wished today was like it was back when we were teenagers in the 90s. Things were simpler. I'm not gonna lie. I'm the one that's in the lineup at the grocery store doing my online banking or replying to an email. But we were all just fine before technology prompted these expectations. 

If you're interested in further reading about the negative impacts of social media/networking & Facebook... How Facebook Makes Us Unhappy