Technology and Well-Being: Cause, Cure, or Control?

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. But mental health and wellness should be a lifelong focus, especially for lawyers and judges. Numerous studies over the years have found that lawyers, due to the demands of the profession, are more prone to burnout, stress, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse than individuals in many other professions. The use and dependency on technology for personal pastimes and professional endeavors have exponentially increased. Finding a balance to help decrease stress, gain efficiency, and reduce dependency on technology starts with awareness of tools that can help or hurt your mental health. You can take some easy steps like reducing constant and stressful notifications on your smartphone and computer, getting more fresh air, and taking some downtime.

Disconnect

Constant engagement with technology contributes to feelings of stress and anxiety. Real time communications and notifications, the fear of missing out (FOMO) and the need to be “always on” all may make you feel like you are under attack. So, how to turn it off and take a break? Or, better yet, permanently alter your behavior to more effectively deal with the pressures?

First, give yourself permission to relax and disconnect. Then find ways to reinforce this behavior by reducing the distractions and triggers that keep you in a constant fight or flight state. Your computer and smartphone contribute to the noise and distraction. There are ways to reduce or eliminate this source of stress.

Notifications

Whether on the computer or the smartphone, notifications trigger a Pavlovian response. With a bombardment of alerts, you may feel the need to react and respond, which distracts you from prioritizing and concentrating on tasks at hand. There are time management methodologies, such as the Pomodoro Technique, designed to help you be more productive. To start, you will need to reduce notifications. You can turn off auditory and visual notifications for email, social media and chat tools while getting work done. Even small steps like these may help, but for a while, you may feel a sense of panic when you discover all the messages you’ve “ignored.” The best advice is to schedule a time to check messages. By always responding immediately, you are creating unrealistic expectations.

Take advantage of email auto-responses. You can use the Automatic Replies in MS Outlook or the Vacation Responder in Gmail to alert people you aren’t available and give them some options to get immediate assistance, whether that is booking a consultation through an automated system like Calendly or Bookings or directing them to an assistant. Automatic Replies are much more sophisticated now, with options to automatically start and stop the responses on certain dates and times and choose different messages for inside and outside the firm. Voicemail can also be used to direct callers to alternative communication methods or better times to call.

You can also set up “Do Not Disturb” in Slack, Teams, and other communication channels by adjusting your settings, or even set up Quiet Hours so you do not receive notifications during certain hours. To silence notifications for social media accounts, you can adjust the settings for each app.

If you don’t want to have to go into each app on your phone, plus turn off text notifications and calls, the iPhone has a “do not disturb” feature that also lets you apply the setting on a schedule and choose to receive calls from certain people. Android phones have a similar feature, as do Windows 10 with Focus Assist and the macOS.

Settings

In addition to controlling email and push notifications and setting automatic responses, the bright screens on mobile devices themselves cause digital eye strain and negatively affect our circadian rhythms. It is much harder to concentrate and be productive without adequate sleep and blurry, irritated eyes. In response to these potential health issues most devices now let you turn off the blue light, including Windows 10, MacOS, iPhone and Android. Additionally, many applications and operating systems now let you enable “dark mode.” Dark mode reverses the color scheme so that you have a dark background with white text, which is supposed to help reduce eye strain. An added benefit is that dark mode also helps your smartphone’s battery last longer. Whether or not you apply these settings you should start reducing screen time at least an hour before bedtime and resist the urge to take your phone into the bedroom if you want to get a good night’s sleep. Yes, they still make alarm clocks.

Apps

While many apps add to your stress there are now many on the market that are designed to help you reduce distractions, participate in guided meditation and much more.

Calmsound – stream albums of looping ocean sounds, nature sounds, rain sounds and more via iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Amazon. Pick your favorites by going to the website and previewing the albums. If you need to relax your eyes or get help with meditation, they also have lovely videos to go along with the sounds.

QualityTime – track just how much you use your phone and then set limits for specific apps. There is a “Take a Break” feature that lets you enforce a digital detox. The app integrated with the automation tool IFTTT that will connect QualityTime with other apps to create accountability, like blinking your Philips Hue smart lightbulb when you have been using your phone beyond the usage you set up. Android only.

Forest – Available for iOS and Android (plus a Chrome Extension), Forest encourages you to plant a virtual tree when you need to focus. Set a timer in Forest and plant your tree. Once you leave the app the tree dies. There is an exceptions list you can add to Forest so use of certain apps won’t kill your tree.

Calm – an app that acts as a coach to help with meditation and sleep. The app provides guided meditations, video lessons on mindful movement and stretching, music and even soothing bedtime stories. There is a 7-day trial, and the annual cost is $60. Available on Android and iOS.

Get Moving

Make time to keep up with exercise, which will help guard against weight gain and help boost your serotonin levels. Need motivation? Your mobile device likely has a pedometer built in to help you keep track of your steps and stay on goal.

If you have not gotten a FitBit because of the cost or because it seems intrusive, you may be surprised that you more than likely have a pedometer already built into your phone. In iPhone, you can go into Health app – Health Data and tap “Activity” to find that it is tracking your steps if you have your phone (or Apple Watch) with you. Users of Samsung-manufactured devices can use the built-in pedometer called S-Health, though you will need to turn it on. Android users can get the Google Fit app. These apps will track the number of steps you take and urge you on toward set goals, and help you track other activities like sleep duration, heart rate, weight and more. If having an app “follow you” is unnerving, make sure GPS is turned off and the app settings are refined to only track your steps, not map your path. If you do not like the built-in apps, there are a myriad of free options available for Androids and iPhones. Just remember to be mindful when downloading any app that you get through the official app store for your device and understand the repercussions of the permissions it may request.

Just getting out and taking a walk has many benefits for your mind, body and soul. Set a goal, track your activity, and stay happy and healthy!

Take a Break

Be intentional about scheduling downtime. The pandemic contributed to a lot of long hours and “staycations.” There has been an uptick in travel, so planning is essential. There are some technology tips to prepare for your travel. Once you reach your destination, commit to turning off your smartphone and be in the moment.

Summer is just around the corner. Whether you are planning a vacation or business travel, there are a lot of apps and websites that can help you get the best prices, stay in the know, get organized and reduce stress from travel surprises.

Flights and Accommodations

There are lots of websites to compare flights, but two especially stand out. One is Kayak, which will compare prices on airlines, rental cars, hotels, and cruises. They have forecasting to let you know the best time to buy for the best price, and you can set up price alerts for your favorite destinations. Unlike sites like Travelocity and Expedia, Kayak takes you directly to the airline or hotel websites to book travel, reducing the chance that a problem occurs with a reservation because you booked with a third party. The Kayak app (iOS and Android) will also act as a trip planner with at-a-glance information like your hotel confirmation number or gate number in real time.

Once you’ve found a flight that meets your needs for time and price, check SeatGuru before you select your seat. On SeatGuru input either the carrier and flight number or the type of aircraft to discover the best and worst seats on the plane before you make a choice. You can also find out which seats have power outlets, if there will be a TV screen, WiFi availability, and other information necessary to help prepare to have a productive (or restful) flight.

Booking and comparison-shopping sites like Kayak, Hipmunk, Hopper, Hotels.com and many others let you drill down and compare rates at hotels. If, however, you’ve waited till the last minute, or you find yourself in need of a hotel room unexpectedly, try HotelTonight.  HotelTonight offers heavily discounted room rates by selling unbooked rooms at the last minute.

Stay Organized

Tripit from Concur is an app that lets you forward all your confirmation emails from flights, hotels, car rentals, shuttles, etc. and it compiles an itinerary that can be easily viewed on the app while providing important information like confirmation numbers, hotel phone numbers and more. You can also share your trip details with others. The app provides gate information, and many other details. Pro accounts are $50 a year and add features like seat tracker to alert you to a better seat, fare tracker for price dips, check in reminders, flight status, security wait times, alternate flights and much more. Tripit will send real time alerts about flight delays, plus gate changes and cancellations (often even before the airline makes the information available).

PackPoint is a smart packing list app. It checks the weather at your destination and, based on your intended activities, helps you build a custom packing list. You can share the packing list with your fellow travelers. You can connect PackPoint Premium ($3.00) to Tripit to auto-create your packing lists.

You May Experience Some Turbulence

Inevitably, especially during the summer months when thunderstorms and weather systems crop up, delays and cancellations happen. Tools like TripIt and the airline apps are useful for giving you notice if something changes and helps you to rebook. However, disruptions can also occur because of weather affecting the inbound flight or security line issues. To be prepared, before you leave for the airport to check on security wait lines, check the MyTSA app, which has crowdsourced wait times in real time and historic wait times. If you don’t have your airline’s app you can still see information about inbound aircraft at FlightStats, as well as current weather conditions, airport delays, and much more.

Getting Around

Most everyone knows about and uses Google Maps, which is an excellent map and direction application. Others like Waze for the crowdsourced information including accidents, speed traps and other useful driving tips. While Waze is mostly for cars, Google Maps also provides directions for walking, driving, biking and public transportation. Google Maps also includes business data including nearby restaurants.

However, don’t forget about the granddaddy of online mapping tools, MapQuest. MapQuest directions often include useful hints like “if you’ve gone past the Mobile Gas station you’ve gone too far.” They also let you search for food, hotels, shopping, gas and more within the app. You can also use the Route Planner to create a stop-by-stop plan, which includes estimated fuel cost and IRS reimbursement rates!

Good Eats

Both the TripAdvisor and Yelp apps have a nifty feature that lets you use your current location to find restaurants around you. If you are in an unfamiliar city and just need a quick bite to eat these tools show you restaurants within a quick walk from your current location. Of course, both apps have reviews of the restaurants as well.

If you are in an airport and want to know your dining options, GateGuru has now shut down, but Grab is filling the void. Not only can you preview your food options, in some cases, you can order in advance to pick up your food. This is especially useful when your time is limited.

If the thought of getting this many apps for travel seems like a bit much, Google has Google Trips. It combines aspects of TripIt, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google Maps in one place.

Conclusion

There are many ways to adopt, adapt, and reject technology in pursuit of well-being. However, if you feel anxious, depressed, or need to talk to someone there are resources you can take advantage of right away.

  • The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is the new, national number to dial if you or someone you know needs immediate assistance. They provide 24/7 free and confidential support for people in distress.
  • NC LAP, the NC Lawyers Assistance Program, is a program of the NC State Bar that helps with grief and loss, burnout, substance abuse, depression, compassion fatigue and more. You can contact them, go to meetings, and sign up for their newsletter.
  • BarCARES provides confidential, short-term intervention at no cost to members of participating judicial district bars, voluntary bar associations and law schools, as well as their families. They have 24/7 confidential hotline available at 800-640-0735.
  • There are many other resources listed on the Lawyers Depression Project website for lawyers, judges and law students.

Catherine Sanders Reach serves as director of the NCBA Center for Practice Management.