Purposeful Tech: Practicing Digital Wellness During a Pandemic
We are zoom-ed out. Over emailed. Pulled into endless chat apps. Scrolling through social media in our sleep. Notifications blasting the latest news update or group text. Oh yeah, and it’s a pandemic.
Even before COVID-19 many of us felt anxious, stressed, lost and even behind in life as we look at everyone else’s highlight reels.
So what’s the solution while we problem solve in the midst of this crisis? It’s time to get purposeful with tech.
In this experiential session, we’ll identify what about social media and technology is causing stress, and actively develop the skills and tactics we need to cope with our constant connection, on purpose.
This session is great for educators, supervisors, and even students. The facilitator primarily serves and supports colleges and universities, so a higher education lens of digital wellness will be applied.
Purposeful tech won’t be easy, but it is needed to sustain and ground you going forward.
Highlighted Content
Links to what was mentioned during the Purposeful Tech webinar.
Tech tools you may find helpful
- Newsfeed Eradicator for Facebook Chrome Extension
- Organize your news with Feedly
- F.lux blue light filter application for Apple computers
- Take a Break Reminder Chrome Extension
- Boomerang for Gmail to pause emails
- Unroll.me to unsubscribe from unwanted email lists
Digital Wellness and Self-Care Resources from Higher Ed
- NYU – Self-Care for Challenging Times site
- University of Washington – Digital Wellness 101
- The Well at VCU on Instagram
- UC Berkley Wellness Center – Grounding Video on Instagram
Digital Wellness Resources from Around the Web
- Digital Wellbeing Site from Google
- Digital Wellness is More Than Just Managing Screentime from The Good Trade
- Note to Self podcast challenge to decrease information overload “Infomagical”
- A Side-effect of COVID-19 Reading Got a Lot Harder from The Chronicle
- Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting* on Medium
- Global Digital Wellness Day – May 1, 2020
Content from Josie on Digital Wellness
- Digital Wellness Toolkit for College Students
- Cultivating Digital Wellness Skills in College Students blog post
- Creating Curriculum on Digital Student Leadership blog post
- Empowered to Unplug blog post
- Josie & The Podcast: Don’t Spook Your Students: Social Media Education that Works
Accounts to follow to brighten your social media timelines
If you need a little extra support
- Instagram Isn’t Therapy: A Reminder of What Therapists are Actually Doing on Instagram on Medium
- If you’re looking for helpful or inspirational messages from great mental health professionals, check out Dr. Nicole LePera and Nedra Glover Tawwab
- Setting boundaries while working from home from Fast Company
- “3 essential self-care tactics to get through the coronavirus pandemic” from Forbes
- “Our Screens are Making Us Disassociate” on Medium
- Yoga with Adriene: Yoga for Uncertain Times Playlist
- Free activity pages from artist Adam J. Kurtz for and offline activity
About Josie
Dr. Josie Ahlquist is a digital engagement and leadership researcher, speaker, and consultant. She teaches teens, young adults, education professionals, and campus executives how to humanize technology tools and prioritize building online community.
She also serves as a research associate and instructor at Florida State University, creating curriculum to build digital literacy and leadership skills for undergraduates up to doctorate level students. She is extensively published and maintains an active blog and podcast (Josie & The Podcast), which have received accolades from EdTech Magazine, Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Her book, Digital Leadership in Higher Education: Purposeful Social Media in a Connected World, comes out in July 2020.
Josie received her doctorate from California Lutheran University in Higher Education Leadership, Masters in Education from Northern Arizona University. She majored in sociology and human development at South Dakota State University.
