Digital Health: Home

Digital devices activate the brain's "Reward Center," releasing the neurochemical dopamine, which is a feel-good chemical. With regular and prolonged use, the brain builds up a tolerance and seeks more stimulation to feel the same "high," producing cravings for more activation of the Reward Center and leading to feelings of withdrawal when the Reward Center isn't activated (Quaglio & Millar, 2020, p. 4). Essentially, the brain gets used to being rewarded by digital devices, builds up a tolerance when it's rewarded too much, and tricks you into giving it more stimulation. So when you try to concentrate on something tedious (like schoolwork you don't want to do), the brain sends out urges to play video games, browse social media, or do other fun things online, making it difficult for you to concentrate on things that don't feel good. Similarly, when you're not on a digital device, the brain constantly sends you urges to pick up your phone, pick up your phone, pick up your phone. We've all been there.

You have to remember that digital devices have only been around for microseconds in the grand scheme, that the human brain isn't necessarily built to handle this much stimulation. The brain is used to learning in a linear way, allowing us to retrieve memories of things learned that are interconnected and linked to other memories, bringing forth complex and nuanced understanding based on past experience. The internet is an entirely different form of learning that is non-linear, with information retrieval coming from infinitely many sources that aren't connected to each other (Quaglio & Millar, 2020, p. 8). Instead of learning by reading a textbook, where one chapter builds upon the last, internet learning is like tearing 300 pages out of 300 different books and placing them in a lottery ball tumbler. Whatever pages the tumbler spits out will have no particular order, leaving it to your brain to piece it all together in a way that makes sense. This is a lot of work for a brain that's not built to process information in that way!

This leads to information overload, which can result in the following (Quaglio & Millar, 2020 p. 12):

• Omission (selecting easy to understand information and passing over hard to understand information)
• Loss of control and feeling overwhelmed (techno-stress)
• Continuous partial attention and reduced ability to focus on a single task
• Diminished decision-making ability
• Diminished job satisfaction

This digital reality isn't slowing down, so what can you do about it?

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2020/641540/EPRS_IDA(2020)641540_EN.pdf

In spite of the negative aspects about the increase of screen time and digital devices, it's not all bad. Think of it like knowing two languages, If you live in a place where you need to be bilingual, it does you no good to neglect one language in favor of the other. In the same way, think of internet-based learning like knowing a second language, and that you should be able to learn in the traditional, linear way and in the internet-based, non-linear way. So how can you strike this balance amid pressures to spend more and more time on digital devices?

Strategies to reduce screen time

1. Build a schedule of when to be online and offline
2. Create electronic-free zones, such as during meals, in bed, or when you're outside
3. Don't use technology before bed, since digital devices disrupt sleep rhythms and melatonin production
4. Set limits on how much time you spend on certain devices or on certain apps
5. Engage in digital detoxes by substituting digital activities with non-digital activities
6. Stay active/get away from the screens and move around (this activates your body systems, too, which can help with wakefulness and concentration)

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/reducing-screen-time

10 steps to combat information overload

1. Do a brain dump
   • Get things out of your head by writing them down, so that you can see a list and not have to juggle it all in your head
2. Follow the two-minute rule
   • Designate time to plow through tasks that take two-minutes or less, so that they aren't taking up mental space
3. Clump together similar tasks
   • Pay bills, or run errands, or do work for one class all at once
4. Don't multitask
   • If you try to do too many things at once, you won't do any one thing well, so try to focus on one task
5. Limit distractions
   • Having email or phone notifications constantly going off makes it hard to get anything done (one study found that knowing you have an unread email lowers your effective IQ by 10 points!)
6. "Eat the frog" first thing in the morning
   • Make difficult decisions first so that you don't use up your day's energy on small decisions, making it more likely that you delay the difficult decisions, leading to stress from not accomplishing those tasks. So work on essays before you post to discussion boards.
7. Spend only as much time on decisions, tasks, and activities as they are worth
   • Don't over-plan if doing so isn't necessary and keeps you from beginning a task
8. Take breaks
   • People who take regular 15-minute breaks are more productive than those who don't (a 15-minute nap can increase your effective IQ by 10 points!)
9. Let yourself daydream
   • Sometimes it's good to let a homework assignment go from your conscious mind to your unconscious mind, where the answer may come to you in an "ah-ha!" moment
10. Push down authority
    • This is more advice for work than for school, but in general, trust people around you, because you can't do it all yourself - especially when you're in school

https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/11/14/10-steps-to-conquering-information-overload/?sh=27a401aa7b08