Top tips from a leading UK psychotherapist on improving your digital health
Figures for the North West reveal an astonishing reaction to remote working - with a quarter working longer days than pre-COVID times and finding it difficult to find time for themselves to wind down or destress.
The move from the office to a work from home basis has not been without its problems.
From failing WiFi signal, to interrupted zoom calls, to the dog barking in the background, the adjustment has been fraught with pesky difficulties.
For the most part, we’ve managed to navigate them without any serious consequences. But what’s worrying experts is the role home working has played in our nation’s ‘digital health’: how we use technological devices and what patterns of use we follow.
New research from Microsoft Windows has revealed that lockdown has contributed to declining digital health in 2020.
Figures for the North West reveal an astonishing reaction to remote working – with a quarter working longer days than pre-COVID times and finding it difficult to find time for themselves to wind down or destress.
Again, one in four of those surveyed reported that they continued to check their devices throughout the night with 8.2% not taking any breaks from their screens during the working day.
Over half of the North West admitted to spending more time online than last year, with one in five British men confessing to greeting colleagues and friends online before their partner in the morning.
With lack of defined lunch and coffee breaks, and the absence of social interactions for a quick office catch up, a decline in digital health seems almost inevitable. But with unclear plans on returning to the office, remote working is something we will have to become accustomed to.
Leading UK psychotherapist Zoe Ashton, author of Your Mental Health First Aid Kit said: “Just like the crucial role of diet, exercise, sleep and relationships to our overall health, digital health is the fifth pillar we have to consider in our journey to improve our overall mental and physical wellbeing.
“Our world has changed more in the past 12-months than it has in the past five years and for many of us, our new reality has left us feeling overwhelmed and off balance.”
Microsoft Windows has partnered with Zoe to help people assess and address their digital health, offering some top tips to help people improve their digital well-being:
Make technology work for you
Just like a balanced diet, your digital use also needs to be varied. Score yourself daily from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) on how energised, productive, connected and relaxed you feel. If you are at the low end of the scale, use your technology in ways that create energy and make you focused. This may be silencing notifications, and regaining balance. Treat your digital health as a sliding scale and use your technology to help you achieve harmony.
Set yourself digital boundaries
Place limits on how late you respond to work emails, or the amount of time you spend on social media per day. Separate your work life from your home life. This can be done by creating two different desktops for work and personal use.
Notice your patterns
Do you have lunch in front of your laptop or wake-up reaching for your phone? What digital patterns do you notice throughout the day? How do they make you feel and what would you like to change? Begin to note down these unhelpful behaviours and consider how you might be able to change them. Think about reaching for a warming tea first thing, rather than your phone. Create reminders to scrap these bad habits.
Move your body
Consider your physical and digital wellbeing as one and the same. Move your body regularly allowing it to refresh, as you would your browser. You could take advantage of some of the online classes Microsoft 365 have to offer.
Unlock your imagination
Mindfulness is a simple practice of choosing where your energy is directed. If you are scoring on the high end of the aforementioned scale, use your energy and channel it into something creative. This might be digital doodling. Use the night light settings on your phone to do an evening sketch, transitioning you from an invigorated work mode into a relaxed state of mind.
With over 20% of Brits unsure what good digital health boundaries look or feel like, this checklist should assist in identifying and acting on bad digital health patterns.
“We need to take a deeper look at our overall relationship with tech so that we can feel fulfilled by it consistently – truly making it work for us,” Zoe added.
Visit Zoe’sInstagramchannel here to access the Digital Health Diary and Checklist.
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Pep Guardiola aims not-so-subtle dig at ‘destructive’ FIFA Club World Cup
Danny Jones
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is the latest to voice his concerns surrounding the ongoing 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, delivering a not-so-subtle dig at the competition.
Ahead of Man City‘s round of 16 match against Al Hilal in this year’s Club World Cup, of which they won all their group stage games, the Catalan head coach has once again come out to criticise the increasingly congested fixture calendar.
His comments come after former Liverpool manager and now Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull, Jürgen Klopp, labelled the current off-season summer run of matches “the worst idea ever.”
Somewhat echoing his statement – or at the very least aligning with it (albeit indirectly) – Pep Guardiola gave his two cents also, claiming that the now extended, 32-team tournament could “destroy” his squad and their fortunes in the next campaign.
Clearly, Pep is far from the biggest of fan of the recently refreshed format, even despite having won the thing on four occasions in the past – the most recent being with Manchester City back in 2023.
Reflecting on what impact he fears the Club World Cup may have on his team next season, Guardiola said: “I try not to think about it, otherwise I will be so anxious. We will rest [for as much time as] the Premier League allows us to.
“And game by game, month by month, we will see. And maybe in November, December, January, ask me, Pep. I may say: ‘So listen, we are a disaster. We are exhausted. The World Cup destroyed us.’ I don’t know, but it’s the first time in our [lives] that that’s happened [a 32-team CWC]. So we will see…”
Unpredictable weather in the United States, where the action is being hosted, has also been the subject of outrage in some cases, with Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca stating, “It’s a joke! It’s not football”, after a major storm delay mid-game pushed meant that one of their games took five hours to finish.
The 54-year-old also insisted that those who were against the tweaked concept “fought a lot” here in England, in UEFA meetings and so on, as was the case with the revision of the new layout of the Champions League, but to no avail.
Jurgen Klopp: "NBA player earns a lot of money & has 4 months of rest per year. Van Dijk didn't even have that in his entire career. Tournaments such as the Club World Cup cannot take place at the expense of players" [Die Welt]
Regarding Klopp, who set this latest chain of criticism, he claims that whoever wins the 2025 Club World Cup is ultimately “pointless” and will be “the worst winner of all time because they’ll have played all summer and then gone straight back into the league.”
In his eyes, the decisions are being made by people who have “never been involved” with the pressure of day-to-day life in professional football and the physical toll of multiple competitions, in particular.
As for who might win the 2025 CWC, it could very well be Man City for a second time, as the Blues are the only team remaining that has a 100% win ratio this year, having most recently thrashed Juventus 5-2 in their last game.
Nevertheless, it seems that the stance of Klopp, Guardiola, Maresca and more is pretty plain: this particular tournament will go down in the record books for the wrong reasons, and they won’t be happy until the format is revisited.
Do you agree with Pep and co. on the Club World Cup controversy?
Featured Images — Man City (screenshot via YouTube)
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Burger King is giving away FREE vegan burgers to meat lovers to prove how ‘tasty’ they are
Emily Sergeant
Reckon you could swap out meat for a vegan alternative?
Now we know there’ll be droves of meat-lovers who read that question with their noses turned up, immediately dismissing the possibility that it would ever be something they’d consider… but what if we told you it was free?
That’s right – Burger King has announced that for the next week or so, it’ll be delivering its delicious Vegan Royale burgers to meat-loving customers for free, all with the aim of giving them a chance to experience just how tasty and satisfying plant-based foods can be, and prove that they won’t miss out by giving it a go.
The Vegan Royale is Burger King’s take on its legendary Chicken Royale burger, and sees a crispy vegan patty – that’s meant to be an alternative to chicken – topped with iceberg lettuce, vegan mayo, and crowned with a toasted sesame seed bun.
Burger King is giving away free vegan burgers to meat lovers to prove how ‘tasty’ they are / Credit: Burger King UK
The fast food chain‘s campaign is in partnership with The Vegetarian Butcher, and comes as shocking new research has revealed that more than 40% of meat eaters admit to having never tasted a plant-based burger.
On the other hand, that same research also found that the UK appears to eb embracing plant-based foods more than ever, as nearly 60% of the population say that are open to trying it.
67% of those who once thought plant-based food wasn’t for them say a great meat alternative burger was what changed their mind – so maybe this is what the Vegan Royale can be for you, if you’re willing to give it a chance.
So, to give hungry customers a taste of what the fuss is all about, Burger King will be offering anyone who orders on UberEats or Just Eat, with a minimum spend of £20, a Vegan Royale burger for free of charge along with the rest of their order.
The Manc -
14th December 2020 
