We are social beings. Friendship and relationships make us happier, healthier and able to deal with life’s setbacks more effectively.
Research shows we are designed to thrive in groups. Early humans wouldn’t survive without the protection of others and the ability to gather food and create communities.
Although times have changed, we as humans still require relationships to thrive. As the influence of the digital world increases, our happiness decreases. We are social beings. Friendship and relationships make us happier, healthier and able to deal with life’s setbacks more effectively.
So, we must ask ourselves:
What can we do to strengthen our relationships and lessen the negative effects of this digital era on our sense of wellbeing?
Before we get to the possible solutions, let’s take a look at stats:
Studies show that 1 out of 2 Americans report being lonely, and in the UK 9 million people reported being lonely always or most of the time.
Sad right?
Loneliness is a problem and friendship can be one of the answers.
Depression can cause a whole slew of problems, some include rising levels of stress hormones, anxiety, and sleep problems, which can lead to a compromised immune system, heart disease, stroke and more.
Ok…that in itself is depressing but there are many solutions to help. Let’s jump to the bright side!
Creating a digital plan and strong friendships not only makes you happier but studies show you’ll live longer!
WHOOP WHOOP
Here’s a few tips:
Create an MVP friend and family list
Who makes you happy and is a positive force in your life?
Make plans to connect with your friends every week
Phone call, coffee, Facetime, meals, fun
Are you asking where will I get the time for all this connection? Keep reading…
Look at your phone and computer screen time
Analyze the time spent equal to the joy outcome
Make some serious cuts
Try looking at your days in three quadrants
8 hours of sleep
8 hours of work (try not to multitask, stay focused and 8 hours is plenty of time for work!)
8 hours FREE TIME
Make a free time schedule of things that bring joy to your life and remove as much of the time waster as
possible
Make a digital detox plan (there are many wonderful things about our digital world but finding balance is
important)
Digital sunset (the sun goes down and digital is off)
Read a book, take a bath, play cards or just chill and watch the sunset
Digital free day
Putting your phone on airplane mode and in put it away where you can’t see it when with friends and
loved ones
I would love to hear your tips for increasing the friend time and decreasing the digital! Tag me Coach Nikki
Warren in your posts or email me at nikki@kaiafit.com. You can also watch my YouTube video diving deeper into
this topic HERE: https://youtu.be/EFlIYAS6DRY
Also, be sure to watch the Social Dilemma on Netflix.