The Digital Diet

In this episode, I talk about:

• The methods social media platforms use to capture as much of your time and attention as possible
• Behavioural psychology and how we learn behaviours through classical conditioning because of interactions with our external environment
• How social media companies exploit behaviourism by using persuasive design features in their platforms to deliberately influence and change your behaviour
• The power of social media algorithms and how they use your individual behaviour to adapt and optimise themselves, so that social media becomes more addictive to you
• 6 persuasive design features and how they work together to keep you coming back to social media for increasingly long periods of time
• The 7 day "no notifications" challenge

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/014

Get your free #TechTimeout Challenge 30 Day Digital Detox Guide

Keep in touch with me:

• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
• Join the digital wellness community at The Digital Diet Lounge
• Subscribe to my newsletter, Unplugged
• Email me at [email protected]
• Connect with me on Instagram @thedigitaldietcoach or LinkedIn

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Music by FASSounds

In this episode, I talk about:

• The birth of social media and how social media platforms are exponentially evolving
• Why social media platforms are a popular startup idea, despite huge competition
• The reason social media platforms are all launching similar features
• The attention economy aka the economy of distraction aka surveillance capitalism aka how social media platforms make their money
• The value of your time, attention, and behavioural data to social media platforms and the companies that advertise with them
• The reason social media users are products and not customers
• Why social media companies prioritise features that make you use their platforms for long periods of time, even if this is against your best interests
• The rise in social media subscription options and why this operating model might be preferable for both social media companies and users

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/013

Get your free #TechTimeout Challenge 30 Day Digital Detox Guide

Keep in touch with me:

• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
• Join the digital wellness community at The Digital Diet Lounge
• Subscribe to my newsletter, Unplugged
• Email me at [email protected]
• Connect with me on Instagram @thedigitaldietcoach or LinkedIn

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Music by FASSounds

In this episode, I talk about:

• The role of social media in the rise and fall of KSI, a popular British YouTuber, rapper, boxer, and entrepreneur
• How influencers, brands, and media outlets make money through content creation as part of the attention economy
• Why clickbait headlines and controversial posts drive high views and engagement on social media
• How social media algorithms change our behaviour and amplify negative human traits to capture our attention
• Toxic comments, cancel culture, and how they affect our mental health
• Why we’re comfortable behaving more abusively online than we ever would in person
• Losing our capacity for empathy and compassion because of online interactions and echo chambers that reinforce our existing views
• How emotional states spread through social networks without the need for direct contact between users
• Conscious use of social media for a more positive experience

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/012

Get your free #TechTimeout Challenge 30 Day Digital Detox Guide

Keep in touch with me:

• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
• Join the digital wellness community at The Digital Diet Lounge
• Subscribe to my newsletter, Unplugged
• Email me at [email protected]
• Connect with me on Instagram @thedigitaldietcoach or LinkedIn

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Music by FASSounds

In this episode, I talk about:

• Maximising opportunities to take a break from technology when you have time off work
• How remote working has increased your screen time and may be affecting your physical health more than you realise
• Our tendencies to ignore physical aches, pains, and strains until they become severe and to treat physical symptoms instead of preventing the root cause of our discomfort
• Why you should listen to what your body is telling you instead of relying on digital devices or health apps to tell you when something is wrong
• Technology-induced eye strain, Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS), and your employer’s legal obligations when it comes to eye tests and corrective eyewear
• How loud your headphones should be to prevent damage to your ears
• How to correctly set up your workspace to reduce the risk of debilitating back and neck pain
• The importance of making time for movement in your working day to avoid conditions associated with a sedentary lifestyle, including obesity, poor circulation, heart disease and diabetes
• The physical body scan and action challenge
• The Digital Diet Lounge – a new virtual community for digital wellness and the best place to discuss podcast episodes and take part in weekly challenges

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/011

Get your free #TechTimeout Challenge 30 Day Digital Detox Guide

Keep in touch with me:

• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
• Join the digital wellness community at The Digital Diet Lounge
• Subscribe to my newsletter, Unplugged
• Email me at [email protected]
• Connect with me on Instagram @thedigitaldietcoach or LinkedIn

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Music by FASSounds

In this episode, I talk about:

• The difference 1 hour can make when it comes to practising digital wellbeing
• Why digital detox “escapes” may not be the solution to your digital device obsession
• The remarkable Indian village of Vadgaon, where a daily digital detox law has been introduced and enforced since August 2022
• Whether Western countries could or should introduce their own daily digital detox laws
• The benefits of a daily digital detox for adults, children, and families
• The 1 hour daily digital detox challenge
• The Digital Diet Lounge – a new virtual community for digital wellness and the best place to discuss podcast episodes and take part in weekly challenges

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/010

Get your free #TechTimeout Challenge 30 Day Digital Detox Guide

Keep in touch with me:

• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
• Join the digital wellness community at The Digital Diet Lounge
• Subscribe to my newsletter, Unplugged
• Email me at [email protected]
• Connect with me on Instagram @thedigitaldietcoach or LinkedIn

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Music by FASSounds

In this episode, I talk about:

• What mindfulness is and what it isn’t (clue: it’s not the same as meditation!)
• How mindfulness can build up your executive attention by promoting changes in the overall structure and function of your brain
• Scientific studies into the benefits of mindfulness for everyone from adults to children
• How the effects of mindfulness are linked to the duration and frequency of your mindfulness practice
• Setting realistic expectations and goals when starting a mindfulness practice
• 7 practical ways to practise mindfulness, plus two bonus methods
• The 7 day mindfulness challenge
• The Digital Diet Lounge – a new virtual community for digital wellness and the best place to discuss podcast episodes and take part in weekly challenges

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/009

Get your free #TechTimeout Challenge 30 Day Digital Detox Guide

Keep in touch with me:

• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
• Join the digital wellness community at The Digital Diet Lounge
• Subscribe to my newsletter, Unplugged
• Email me at [email protected]
• Connect with me on Instagram @thedigitaldietcoach or LinkedIn

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Music by FASSounds

In this episode, I talk about:

• How digital distractions have turned even the most avid readers into casual readers
• What deep reading is and how it can boost your executive attention by training your brain to concentrate for long periods of time
• The paradox of requiring focus to engage in deep reading, in order to improve your overall capacity for focus
• The benefits of deep reading for other cognitive functions and its role in the development of key intellectual and emotional skills
• Why what you read is less important than how you’re reading it
• How the offline reading experience is different to the online reading experience, and why skim reading is causing you to develop cognitive impatience
• The possible impact on your personal and/or professional life from failing to maintain an ability to read longer, denser, or more difficult texts
• Whether you can engage in deep reading using e-readers such as the Kindle, and the effect of such devices on your ability to comprehend and retain what you read
• Practical steps you can take to cultivate a deep reading habit and restore your attention

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/008

Get your free #TechTimeout Challenge 30 Day Digital Detox Guide

Keep in touch with me:

• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
• Join the digital wellness community at The Digital Diet Lounge
• Subscribe to my newsletter, Unplugged
• Email me at [email protected]
• Connect with me on Instagram @thedigitaldietcoach or LinkedIn

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Music by FASSounds

In this episode, I talk about:

• How constant multitasking and digital distractions have depleted your executive attention, making it difficult for you to concentrate for long periods of time
• The importance of working to actively build up your capacity for executive attention outside of specific focused tasks
• Why exposing yourself to nature can help restore your executive attention and the three theories that explain how this happens
• How long you need to be exposed to nature for, in order to experience improvements in your executive attention
• The types of nature that can be restorative for your executive attention and how to access them when stepping outside might be difficult or impractical

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/007

Get your free #TechTimeout Challenge 30 Day Digital Detox Guide

Keep in touch with me:

• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
• Join the digital wellness community at The Digital Diet Lounge
• Subscribe to my newsletter, Unplugged
• Email me at [email protected]
• Connect with me on Instagram @thedigitaldietcoach or LinkedIn

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Music by FASSounds

In this episode, I talk about:

• The 3 types of human attention – alerting attention, orienting attention, and executive attention – and how they are impacted by your digital devices
• The role of executive attention in helping you to maintain focus, concentrate on tasks, and achieve your goals
• Why the mere presence of your smartphone is enough to distract your focus
• How often you switch tasks and the surprising number of times that you interrupt yourself
• The myth of multitasking and why it shouldn’t be considered a positive “skill”
• The negative impact of multitasking on your performance, work-life balance, mental health, memory, and emotional wellbeing
• Global attempts to tackle the rise in “distracted walking” as more people walk the streets while focusing on their phones
• 6 steps to managing your devices and optimising your digital workspace for maximum focus

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/006

Get your free #TechTimeout Challenge 30 Day Digital Detox Guide

Keep in touch with me:

• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
• Join the digital wellness community at The Digital Diet Lounge
• Subscribe to my newsletter, Unplugged
• Email me at [email protected]
• Connect with me on Instagram @thedigitaldietcoach or LinkedIn

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Music by FASSounds

In this episode, I talk about:

• What artificial intelligence (AI) is and the everyday products and services that it’s already a part of
• Why there has been a surge in conversations about AI and newer applications of the technology
• The reasons why you’re worried about AI, from losing control to losing your job
• The ethical issues associated with integrating AI into every part of society
• 3 ways to make the growth in AI work for you, rather than against you

View show notes including links to all the resources and tools mentioned: https://thedigitaldietcoach.com/005

Get your free #TechTimeout Challenge 30 Day Digital Detox Guide

Keep in touch with me:

• Visit my website at thedigitaldietcoach.com
• Join the digital wellness community at The Digital Diet Lounge
• Subscribe to my newsletter, Unplugged
• Email me at [email protected]
• Connect with me on Instagram @thedigitaldietcoach or LinkedIn

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Music by FASSounds