The Digital Narcotic

Quote of the Week: "Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." - Oprah Winfrey Tanner's Thoughts of the Week: Let's talk about social media. You know, that addictive app that makes you scroll and scroll and scroll and then all of the sudden you snap out of it and ask yourself, "where did the last 30 minutes go?" Most of us have a nagging feeling that we should reduce our social media usage. Unfortunately, for most of us, it stays a nagging feeling because we are up against some of the largest and most powerful companies in the world, who also happen to be investing hundreds of millions of dollars to keep you in the app. While social media has an incredible promise (e.g., stay connected with friends, quick access to information), it has taken on a more sinister promise. Social media has turned into a drug designed to capture our attention, make us wish we were somewhere else, with someone else, doing something else. My suggestion is that we treat social media like the drug it is.

We can start by taking a step back and critically asking, "what do I want my relationship with social media to be?" Once that's defined, we can go to work on putting in the appropriate controls to reduce, adjust, or even eliminate.

Challenge of the Week: Throughout next week, don't look at your phone for the first 30 minutes of waking up. At the 30 minute mark, jot down if you notice any differences (good or bad) in your mood. Send me an email with what you find!

Photo of the Week: Last weekend my mom came home!! Having her in the house again is an absolute blessing. My favorite part about her being home is that each morning from 6-7am we are able to sit down, just the two of us, and enjoy our coffee. Till next week, be kind, be curious and work hard. Tanner