Eyes shut, ears open… How can we avoid feeling ‘wired but tired’?

Hello to you…

and to the new week! ✨

Maybe some of us woke up this morning with slightly square-ish eyes as a result of excessive, yet entertaining binge-watching this weekend (I surely did!).👁️

Medically speaking, too much time staring at a screen (a behaviour pattern that shares thin boundaries with actual tech addiction) not only can harm our eyesight, but keeps our sympathetic nerve system (the one that is responsible for our fight-or-flight-response) wired up, which then, as a direct consequence of constant stimulation, keeps our adrenal glands working in overdrive. The emotional and physical effect: Wired but tired. 😬😬😬

So why not use the opportunity and start today with the intention to mindfully reduce screen time over the next couple of days, and nurture our remaining senses with some well-deserved excitement instead? 🥰 Here are three easy ways to mindfully observe, and then rewire our behaviour - and do something fun at the same time.💥🤸‍♀️🌴

1. Create your personal SCREENOME. We all know what a genome is (the full blueprint of one’s genetic inheritance), thus, a 'screenome' is similarly unique and personalised. Instead of our genes, however, it states our digital fingerprint based on answers to questions such as - On which platforms do we spent how much time?
- Are we just observing (scrolling, watching), engaging (commenting, playing games), or do we use screen time to learn something new (online courses, reading longer articles) or being social (video-calling friends and family)?
- How often do we pick up the phone without even noticing it, and oops! we are on Instagram again? 😳

Today is a great day to profile your own screen behaviour and become more aware of it. When I did the exercise, I carried a small notebook around, and for every time I picked up the phone without even thinking about it, made a little note. The result was rather shocking: more than 150 (!!!) times a day! 🤦‍♀️ I really had no clue. Once I was more aware, it was easy to significantly reduce the 'mindless pick-ups' - a habit that I try to keep going.

2. Instead of watching, close your eyes, and listen. I am a huge fan of audio stories - if the production quality is up to the mark -, especially while I am painting, crocheting, or just hanging around horizontally. In the future, I will share more lovely audio stories and books here, but to start with, Roald Dahl's "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" is one of my absolute favourites. ☘️ It is loosely based on the true character of Kuda Bux, a Kashmiri-born 'magician' who toured the world with his skill of being able to see with everything but his eyes (a trait that would be amazing for reducing our visual screen time, too! 😅). Even though it is a longer story (2hour 16 minutes), it is so worth the listen. 👂 So get comfy and enjoy! 💖

3. Create something. Practise Esperanto or how to plant a herbal harden with your sibling or your kid, clean out your closet or your shoe shelf (and give the ones you don't want to keep to someone who really needs it), go and feed strays near your house, cook food for the ones who don't have enough, or get on your mats with your mum or roommate, and release all tensions in your bodies - choose anything that does not involve a device - and that in the best case does something good for more than just yourself. 🌺 And if you run out of ideas, check out this Huffington Post list with 100 screen-less things to do (best is number 72 😁).

I am sure you will enjoy it! 🤗 Let me know how your screenome test went, what you think about the audio book, and what activity off the screen you chose to do - would love to hear your inputs. Have a great start into the week!

With love from Goa,
Isabelle 🌿