Creating a sustainable lifestyle change
According to Arianna Huffington, Founder of The Huffington Post and Founder and CEO of Thrive Global, productivity, engagement, retention and healthcare costs are all factors that leaders need to take into consideration. Read this article to discover society’s relationship with technology and how to create a sustainable lifestyle change. Arianna Huffington will join the first edition of WOBI Management Week (June 28 – July 1, 2021), a 4-day digital event with world class business thought leaders that will address the latest trends and ideas in today’s most relevant management topics.
Society’s Relationship with Technology
Arianna Huffington explained multitasking is a modern myth, its task switching and robs us of the ability to experience life and be present. When she first came to the realization she needed to detox from technology, Arianna remarked that walking down the streets in New York without being on your smartphone felt like – “If you have the time to just walk you must be a very insignificant member of the human race.”
Arianna referenced her research into society’s toxic relationship with technology.
- Children are becoming so addicted to their phones that mental health rates are skyrocketing
- Teenage girls are showing a 33% increase in depression linked to social media
- Kids end up snapping and aren’t sleeping through the night, are being misdiagnosed with ADD when all they are is sleep deprived and these are all cultural kilometers we need to address
“The way that technology has grown has accelerated beyond our capacity to cope. We take better care of our smartphones than we do of ourselves.”
Creating a sustainable lifestyle change for increased productivity
Scientists are all in agreement that the way to create sustainable behavior change is through small incremental daily changes, known as “Microsteps.”
“Our motto is too small to fail,” Arianna says of microsteps. For example, if you hate exercise, you don’t decide to run a marathon. You can decide to take the small change of taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
Arianna’s favorite microstep towards reducing stress and boosting productivity is setting an arbitrary end to the day by turning off your phone.
“I bet everyone who is here can never come to a point in the day where they have done everything they have wanted to have done,” Arianna said.
“We need an arbitrary end to the day – at some point you declare an end to your working day, how do you mark the end of the day. Turn off your phone and gently escort it out of your bedroom.”
When you wake up in the morning, the science says your day will be better if you take one minute before you go to your phone to set your intention for that day 72% of people reach for their phone before they are out of bed. Your phone is a repository of everything the world wants from you/demands from you, why can’t you set your own agenda for the world?
From the micro to the macro, Arianna communicated the urgency in which we need to change the way we work and live. “It’s an amazing moment to come together and support each other in these changes – REAL urgency for ourselves and the new generation to bring more joy happiness and fulfillment in our lives.”
If you want to learn more, don’t miss Arianna Huffington in WOBI Management Week, who explains how to redefine success in a fast-paced world.