Take a look at our June newsletter!
A Digital Detox That Changed My Brain (and My Life) Logging Off to Tune In
If you eat a lot of sugar and fast food, it’s going to impact your body negatively. The same goes for what you feed your brain. In today’s often sensational, pessimistic, and constant news and social media cycles, all that messaging could be a heart attack of negative information in our minds. Many people give up their vices, bad habits, or unhealthy behaviors every year during Lent, and I decided to forgo two big ones: news and social media. Though my official doomscroll fast is over, it’s changed me for the long haul.
It’s a negativity funnel that strikes a primal part of your brain, locking you into a perpetual state of stress. Lately, it feels like traditional media has taken a page from that book, focusing on what’s sensational or conflict-driven. Combine that with the fact that many of us consume news from apps or social platforms whose algorithm then keeps pumping more bleak content into our feeds. Social platforms like Facebook also generate desire, driving us to compare ourselves to others. Someone’s life looks amazing online, and when you look at your own, you start to feel bad. I don’t want to live in other people’s conflicts. They say you’re the average of the five people you hang out with most, and if your company is Instagram, it’s no surprise it will rub off on you. For Lent this year, I wanted to find something that would challenge me but was still doable. Plenty of people share posts about their social media fasts, so I had the evidence it could be done. At the start of this year, political theater dialed up, and it was more dense and prevalent than I’ve ever seen in my life. There wasn’t just one new, crazy thing happening every day; it was two or three right in your pocket. I decided that minute-to-minute updates wouldn’t make the world or my life better, or make me a better lawyer. So, I decided to remove both for 40 days. I didn’t fully realize how much of my time was taken up by social media and the news. Just like other addictive substances like drugs and alcohol, it impacts your dopamine levels, and you feel a bit of a withdrawal when you aren’t scrolling through the day. I got bored, anxious, and had an unshakable feeling that something was missing. After a week or so, it went away. I became more productive and happier, and spent more time with my family. It turned into a manageable baseline of contentment and the realization that life’s pretty good. That’s the best we can really hope
Wrongful Death Serious Injury Trucking Accidents Auto/Motorcycle Accidents Drunk Driving Accidents Pedestrian Accidents Giving your pain a voice.
Social media is kind of like a casino; it’s meant to keep you hooked and keep you logged in, fracturing your attention from what really matters.
Boating Accidents Injury on Property Negligent Security Slip-and-Falls Premises Liability
JUNE 2025
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SMART SCHEDULING FOR BETTER HEALTH Family Flexibility
Stress-Smart Strategies Naturally, hectic schedules often lead to stress — not just for adults. In addition to providing children with all-important personal time with their parents and siblings, regular family activities can help parents better determine whether their kids feel undue pressure in any area of their lives. Although positive stress can help a young person rise to challenges — for example, studying for a big test or meeting the deadline for an important assignment — too much stress can hinder a child’s coping skills and lead to anxiety and depression or physical symptoms such as headaches and stomach pains. Setting consistent daily routines — the same bedtime each night, for example, or regularly scheduling family time everyone looks forward to — will go a long way in helping them feel more in control of their days and encourage better communication with other family members. Life is more than checking off items on our schedules. Any family can create a system that helps everyone feel happier and healthier in even the busiest times with only minor adjustments.
Fulfilling life’s many demands should never come at the expense of your family’s health. If your household’s daily grind consists of juggling multiple schedules and commitments with little room for relaxation, you’re not alone. Here are two ideas to help your family slow things down and better ensure everyone’s physical and mental well-being stays positive as the hours fly by. A Schedule Overhaul When work commitments, paying bills, coordinating transportation for your children’s extracurricular activities, and other daily obligations lead to hurried and scattered interactions among family members, the American Heart Association recommends creating a new way forward. First, look closely at everyone’s daily schedules over a week to see where gaps may exist and which activities could be scaled back to allow for more time spent together. You can start by choosing two 30-minute slots during the week and two hour-long slots on weekends to get everyone in one place. The goal is to have distraction-free time with your loved ones, so put away your computers and cell phones during these special moments.
Wrecked on the Water? WHAT TO DO AFTER A BOAT CRASH
Negligence on the Water Boat accidents can happen for many reasons, from hitting a wave or rock to colliding with another vessel. To receive compensation, you must prove someone else’s negligence was responsible for the damage. Often in collisions between motorboats, both operators may be at least partly at fault. Anyone on the water is responsible for exercising safe practices, so your lawyer may be able to determine that one boater wasn’t following the rules. An experienced lawyer can keep you afloat after you’ve been hurt in a boating accident. Contact Barry Trial Practice & Resolution today to schedule a consultation.
It doesn’t take much for a relaxing day out on the water to take a dangerous turn. Boating accidents are common and can often be disorienting and chaotic in the moment. With limited access to emergency services, a high potential for drowning, and the unique conditions of an aquatic setting in itself, it’s crucial to take safety steps immediately and understand what comes next if you’re injured. Get ready to dive in because this month, we’re sharing some of the first things you should do if you get hurt in a boating crash. Initial Safety Steps Like in any accident, the main priority after a boating incident is ensuring you and everyone aboard are safe and accounted for. Stay as calm as possible and do a headcount to make sure no one has fallen overboard. If anyone
has immediate wounds like cuts or has fallen, provide them basic first-aid if you can do so safely. No matter how minor the crash may seem at first glance, it’s crucial to contact local law enforcement and possibly the U.S. Coast Guard so they can assist and create an official report of what transpired. Collect Evidence For a successful personal injury claim, you must collect as much evidence at the crash site as possible to prove your case. Gather the contact information and boat registration number for the other boater involved in the accident, as well as the names and numbers of any witnesses. Take photos or videos of any damage to the boats, passenger injuries, or any conditions that may have contributed to the accident, like weather conditions or posted signs.
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SILENCE SOCIAL MEDIA AND TUNE IN TO REAL LIFE Doomscroll Detox
Shift Into Discovery Mode You may find yourself bored or feeling like you’re missing out (FOMO!) when you take a step back from social media. Invest in your passions by exploring new hobbies in your downtime, whether that’s learning a new language or taking an art class. An enriching activity or a growth-minded hobby can help you feel less pull toward your favorite platforms. This is also a chance to boost your productivity in the workplace. Create a clear plan and goals for what you hope to achieve from reducing your
They call it “doom scrolling” for a reason. Social media dominates so much of our lives, and it can have a negative impact on our mental health, productivity, and feelings of self-worth if we don’t make an effort to limit our usage. Even those of us who use these online platforms in our careers, like marketers or business owners, can find balance and minimize the time spent clicking through social networks. Here are some ways to limit the likes and stay present. Nix the Noise The fewer reminders you have of social media, the less likely you
social media usage. Start creating new workflows and schedules for your day now that you’re free from constant checks on comments. Limiting your scrolling habit can lead to real-life rewards, such as deeper relationships, increased productivity, and reduced stress. Whether you’re doing a complete fast or just minimizing your usage at the office every day, pausing notifications and stepping back from social media will help you reclaim your focus and give space to what matters most.
are to spend valuable time looking at your apps. Turn off your notifications to eliminate the constant buzz on your phone calling you to stop what you’re doing and start scrolling. This easy setting allows you to be more in control of when you are using social platforms. You can also create time limits for yourself, setting aside
blocks where you can check your notifications. If you’re ready for a big change, uninstall all or some of your social media apps. This will keep your accounts open but only make them available on another device, like your laptop.
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for in life: to appreciate the good and invite challenges where we can grow. During my fast, I had to learn what to do with my time. I put a little more into exercise, sleep, and relationship-building. If you take a break from social media and the news, be prepared for boredom and nerves to hit, but understand that things will become clearer. When you step back, you realize that none of the time you spent on your apps was actionable. It doesn’t help you meet your goals or better the world. In reality, it’s about keeping you consuming and clicking. There’s a lot of research out there about the negative impacts of social media, and not much supporting it as a healthy part of life. After 40 days of going media-free, I logged on for the first time and was promptly reminded why it was a good idea to get away from it. When you feel that urge to scroll, remember that happiness isn’t waiting for you in the feed; it’s in being present in the life right in front of you.
TAKE A BREAK
Charlie Barry
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INSIDE
1 Why I Stopped Feeding My Brain Junk 2 A Streamlined Focus on Family Flow Boat Day Gone Bad? 3 Break Free From the Social Spiral Take a Break 4 How Burnout Can Signal Depression CANARY IN THE COAL MINE? THE HIDDEN HEALTH RISKS OF BURNOUT
Does your job or housework leave you feeling burnt out? If so, you aren’t alone.
However, the World Health Organization recognizes it as a factor in people’s health. Some doctors use the Maslach Burnout Inventory, a scale measuring a person’s level of exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy, to diagnose burnout. Items include, “I feel emotionally drained by my work.” The symptoms of burnout can serve as the canary in the coal mine — an early warning that overload, overwork, or stress may be on the verge of harming your health. Consider an extended break from work to ease the strain.
Burnout is a common affliction in our technological age. An estimated 48% of employees and 53% of managers claim they’re burned out, according to a 2022 Microsoft survey of 20,000 workers, and stress levels have worsened since then. Career-driven people, overworked employees, and working people from all walks of life can experience alienation, extreme exhaustion, loss of meaning, and reduced performance, all hallmarks of burnout.
If your ennui deepens into low self-esteem, guilt, hopelessness, or thoughts of suicide, a vacation or long weekend isn’t likely to help. Clinical depression or anxiety requires different treatment by a therapist or mental health professional.
The term was coined in the 1970s to denote the exhaustion often
experienced by people in the helping professions. Burnout is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for
The bottom line: If you’re feeling burned out, it’s time to put on the brakes, check out for a while, and tune in more closely to your overall well-being!
Mental Disorders, the professionals’ guide to diagnostic standards.
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