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Liana Pavane

About Liana Pavane

Liana Pavane is a digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection. Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness. As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic. Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Posts by Liana Pavane:

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Why Quarantine is the Best Time to Learn a New Habit

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Have you ever wanted to learn Italian? Wake up in the morning and meditate? Put your phone away an hour before bed? We’ve all been there — daydreaming about a new habit we know would make our lives fuller.

Implementing new routines into our hectic lives is already hard enough, let alone making them stick. Yet, 2020 has truly forced us to rethink how we live, work, and play — so why not also rethink your dream habits and finally turn them into new routines?

When we’re running around trying to juggle our job, personal life, keeping up with the news, etc. it can feel overwhelming to add anything else to our list. Now that most of us are still working from home, the lack of commuting frees up a lot of time in our days. Rather than using that time to mindlessly scroll through Instagram, we can leverage this time to work toward a larger goal we’ve had, such as setting a new habit.

And a new habit can be anything! It can be a new hobby you want to pick up, learning a new skill, or simply prepping your meals in advance. Maybe your new habit is something that will increase your productivity or it’s something you can do as a pastime to unwind from the day. A habit shouldn’t be intimidating because it’s something that you WANT to do, not something you have to do or feel like you should do. 

Starting something new may feel daunting in the beginning; we’ve all been there. You often think you’ll, “wait until the moment feels right.” Then, suddenly, days, weeks, and months go by. So what if I were to tell you the moment is, in fact, now? Here are a few tips to motivate your new habits and routines.

Let’s Understand The Science

First, let’s take a step back and look at how habits work. James Clear describes what is known as the four stages of habit: cue, craving, response, and reward. We are always looking for more dopamine, i.e., rewards. “Your mind is continuously analyzing your internal and external environment for hints of where rewards are located,” Clear points out. “Because the cue is the first indication that we’re close to a reward, it naturally leads to a craving.”

If any of the four stages isn’t balanced, it won’t become a habit. “In summary, the cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, that satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue.” This process works on a loop that will ultimately work its way into an automatic habit. Some important things to think about when working a new habit into your life are making it: obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying. Like the satisfaction we receive from our phone buzzing or the likes we receive on Instagram, we want to feel this “reward” each time we’re working on our new habit.

It’s All About Time

Rather than immediately implementing a new habit every day for the rest of your life, start with a time limit. They say it takes 21 days to implement a new habit, but there’s no harm in starting small! If you’re unsure about which habit you want to stick with, pick one habit, and stick to it for seven days. If you like it, keep going for three to four weeks until it becomes automatic. 

LifeHack mentions how vital sticking to your habit every day is. “Consistency is critical if you want to make a habit stick.” By doing so, your habit will start to become second nature. When you only participate in an activity a few times a week, it’s trickier to lock in as a new habit.

If your habit includes a time limit: i.e., you want to study for two hours every day, try starting with half an hour and working your way up. This way, you won’t overwhelm yourself right away and risk wanting to give up. Lastly, try implementing your habit into your routine at the same time each day. This will help your mind and body make a connection so that, eventually, you’ll start your habit automatically without even thinking.

Imperfect is the New Perfect

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was your new habit. You’re not going to wake up one day and suddenly know how to play the guitar, and no one expects you to! Sometimes we have to implement new habits multiple times throughout our lifetime before they stick. 

In today’s society, comparison culture is a huge issue when it comes to self-esteem and trying new things. We scroll through social media, thinking, “I wish I had legs like that,” or, “I wish I could do push-ups like them.” When we compare ourselves, we begin to have a negative outlook. Our mind changes from, “I can” to “I can’t.” A trick suggested by LifeHack is to replace ‘can’t’ with ‘but.’ For example, “I’m not good at this, but I will be better if I work at it.” A simple mindset shift could be all you need to stop yourself from falling into the rabbit-hole of comparison culture. Use your mindset shift to motivate you rather than dissuade you. Good things take time, and we need to remember that social media usually only includes people’s end results.

To Sum It Up

All we really need to embrace new habits is to cut ourselves some slack. With habits like social media, we often feel a pull to do things (or post things) for other people — whether it’s showcasing a new outfit or a travel destination. However, habits are the complete opposite. Habits are for you and you alone. 

At the end of the day, your habits are how you spend your free time. And now that we have an abundance of free time, it’s the perfect opportunity to consider how you choose to fill it. Plus, by instilling habits into your daily routine during quarantine, you’ll be that much more likely to walk into the new normal with a neat new trick up your sleeve to show all your friends IRL!

 

Content courtesy of Liana Pavane, digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection.

 

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, LIANA PAVANE

Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness.

As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic.

Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Connect with Liana on Instagram and follow her journey here.

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Why Laughter is The Cure for Everything

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You know when you’re feeling lousy or low, and your best friend knows just the joke to crack to get you to laugh? Or when you hear another person laugh loudly in a restaurant and can’t help yourself but smile?

Laughter is guaranteed to make you feel better no matter your mood or state of being. Laughter has magical healing abilities, and it’s actually proven by science! By decreasing your stress hormones, your immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies are increased, which makes you more resistant to disease. And that’s only the beginning.

Laughter has both long-term and short-term effects on one’s overall health and well-being. Short-term benefits include increasing your endorphins, relieving stress, soothing tension, and so much more. As an advocate for positive endorphins and all things mental health, you can already see why I’m a huge advocate of getting in a belly-laugh workout every day. 

In addition to relieving pain in the short-term, laughter can also improve your immune system in the long-term.

Negative thoughts will increase stress levels in one’s system, which can lead to a weakened immune system over time. Alternatively, positive thoughts or laughter release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially hinder more severe illnesses. Laughing more can help you live longer by preventing the escalation of stress hormones and increasing your mood at the same time!

Clearly, laughter affects not only physical health but the mental health of a person as well. “Laughter can also make it easier to cope with difficult situations. It also helps you connect with other people,” according to the Mayo Clinic. It’s no wonder there’s the popular saying, “laughter is the best medicine.” Apparently, there’s more truth in that quote than we originally thought!

On top of that, another age-old story is true: laughter is contagious. Similar to a yawn, when we see someone laughing, our brains react and begin prepping our muscles for laughter. A study from the University College London found that laughter may have even been our first language. When you think about it, it rings true that laughter is universal — much like crying or smiling. Any of our guttural reactions are often the same around the world. In addition, the same study found that laughter has the ability to bring people together.

“It [laughter] could play an important role in building strong bonds between individuals in a group.”

When making a new group of friends, one of the first things you often do to gain acceptance is make a joke. If they laugh, you know that you’re like-minded because your humor aligns (and you instantly get a sense of belongingness too). As you build memories with these friends, you’ll start to develop inside jokes, which will only strengthen your bond even more.

Even if you get in a fight with friends or loved ones, you are more likely to remember the good memories you have together in times of turmoil. These memories often include a funny or embarrassing story that makes you laugh even if it happened years ago. According to a BBC study, our unpleasant memories fade faster due to a “pan-cultural phenomenon [that] helps individuals to process negativity and adapt to changes in their environment whilst retaining a positive outlook on life.” This means that we’re innately optimistic creatures who choose not to dwell on the negative memories in our lives. 

By focusing on the positive memories, we are setting ourselves up for success and a healthy mental state. Sure, it’s easier said than done… That’s why there’s laughter to swing us back to the positive state even when we’re in doubt! You might be reading this and think, “okay, great, but how can I laugh when the world feels like it’s falling apart?” Well, maybe this is the time that we need unifying laughter the most. 

As the world continues to adjust to a new normal, we must remind ourselves to find the positives in abnormal situations — even in the abnormality of what will be remembered as 2020. We must focus on making happy memories and making sure we get in a good laugh when we can. Because once quarantine or the year is over (whichever comes first), we won’t want to dwell on the hours spent staring at the ceiling or watching the news. We will want to look back on the times we found pockets of joy and slivers of laughter. We will want to remember that no matter how weird our world gets, there’s always a weirder reason to laugh. 

 

Content courtesy of Liana Pavane, digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection.

 

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, LIANA PAVANE

Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness.

As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic.

Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Connect with Liana on Instagram and follow her journey here.

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3 Ways to Stop Endlessly Scrolling Through Your Life

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If you’re anything like me, you’ve found yourself overwhelmed by social media — and quarantine has only amplified the feeling.

I often find myself opening Instagram to find a couple of posts to share to my account… and then I wind up getting sucked down numerous rabbit holes. Even as a digital wellness coach, I have my moments of weakness.

As quarantine days continue to fly by, it’s as if all the rules and structures once in place have disappeared. Now, your wake-up time is likely somewhere between rolling out of bed five minutes before your Zoom conference call and the blissful hour dedicated to your side hustle before the workday begins. Chances are, no matter what time you wake up, scrolling through your Instagram, texts, or Gmail is likely one of the first things you do.

The days blend together now even more than they did before. It’s one meme, group chat, and email with “hope all is well!” after another. All we do is scroll and scroll some more. 

Most of the time, we don’t even realize we’re doing it. So I have to ask myself, are we scrolling, or are we living? Quarantine or not, it’s about time we regained control over our lives and stop endlessly scrolling them away. Here’s how to get started.

Set Boundaries With Yourself & Others

The first thing you need to do before hitting pause on your thumb control is set boundaries with yourself, your space, and those you’re living with. When it comes to our technology use, there are no tangible boundaries, so we must create them ourselves. 

For yourself, invest in an alarm clock and try spending at least 30 minutes before your workday on something that brings you joy, such as exercise, journaling, or meditation. This will increase your productivity, and, rather than starting your day off with a mindless scroll, you’ll begin your day focusing on yourself in a meaningful way.

For your space, set up your work environment for comfort and with minimal distractions. Turn on the “Do Not Disturb” feature on your computer so that you don’t receive email notifications and place your phone either upside down or out of sight. For optimal productivity, balance the day by taking mindful breaks away from your space and away from your phone.

For others, make sure you communicate your boundaries with whoever you spend your time with. When you’re connecting with someone in real life, try leaving your phone in a basket or try this Bagby mindful phone holder when participating in a shared activity. This way, no one will be tempted to scroll.

Get An Accountability Buddy

Who said anything about doing this alone? Staying offline is easier said than done, and it’s much easier when you have someone who’s doing it with you. Find someone who doesn’t live with you to go on this journey with. Set goals with your screen time together and do daily or weekly check-ins. 

Everyone is different, so by no means do you both have to set the same goals. Maybe one of you is focusing on staying off of Instagram while the other wants to set overall limits for their screen time. Write down what those individual goals are and how often you agree to check in with one another. 

In addition, make sure you’re both on the same page in terms of check-ins. Are you going to set punishments or rewards? Are you going to send each other screenshots of your phone use? Whatever it is, make sure you’re aligned to increase your likelihood to follow through.

Schedule Your Phone Time

Perhaps you’re super organized or like to schedule your days out precisely. If that’s the case, you may also want to try blocking off your phone time. By putting dedicated time to check your phone on your calendar, you can hold yourself accountable. This could look like scheduling 12pm to 12:30pm to check-in on social media or your group chats. 

Plus, when you see this time blocked on your schedule every day, your mind will eventually start to understand that you need to hold off checking your social media until that time of day. If you check it before or after, you may start to feel guilty once the habit is instilled. 

You can do the same thing with your phone calls or Zoom calls. Schedule your catch-ups with friends in advance so you can avoid getting burned out from endless FaceTimes. And make sure to give yourself days off in between so you’re not endlessly attached to a screen. 

Limiting the scroll isn’t easy, but it’s possible. As you slowly realize how much extra time you get back, the work you did to get there will be worth it. Just remember to fill that spare time wisely with meaningful activities. 

Finally, what happens when you catch yourself in the act of scrolling? Get in the habit of asking yourself the following: 

  1. What am I gaining out of this experience? 
  2. Am I scrolling to seek validation or to increase my engagement? 
  3. What else can I spend my time doing? 

At the end of the day, all you need to do to pick up your life again is to put down your phone.

 

Content courtesy of Liana Pavane, digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection.

 

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, LIANA PAVANE

Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness.

As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic.

Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Connect with Liana on Instagram and follow her journey here.

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6 Ways to Take Back Your Weekends During Quarantine

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What was once two blissful days full of shopping, museums, and hangovers have now become two more days into a never-ending cycle.

Our weekend as we know it is gone and as summer nears, we have more and more FOMO for our past weekend lives. Many of us would likely take a blustery November day to go outside to the Holiday Markets full of strangers over being cooped up inside in 80-degree weather. So how can we put on our c’est la vie attitudes as we near the warmer months and the inevitable indoors that come with it?

For starters, making your weekend look like a weekend is a good place to start (hangovers and all.) 
Make Consistency a Priority

Just as you stick to your Monday-Friday work schedule while working from home, it’s a good idea to stop working at the same time on Fridays as you usually would. Or maybe even a little earlier if your work is done! Whenever you consider it to be the end of your workday, close your computer, turn off your phone, and do an activity that takes up the same time as your old commute home. It’s important that we physically and mentally trigger the feeling of “leaving” for a weekend, even if we’re staying home. Regardless of when you end the day or what activity you choose, consistency is the most important thing. Perhaps you pour yourself a glass of wine or make yourself a cocktail and pump up the tunes. It’s important to still celebrate the feeling of making it through another work week because, let’s face it, a corona week often feels like a month.

Splurge on Sleep(ing In)

When it comes to a schedule on Saturdays and Sundays, there isn’t one. Maybe you recall your teenage self staying up until all hours of the night on AIM or watching TV. Now is the time to time travel and experience that lifestyle again!  If your body isn’t already exhausted, stay up late for the hell of it and enjoy the delicious feeling of sleeping in. I don’t know about you, but there’s nothing like waking up with no alarm, looking at the clock, and falling back asleep without guilt or running out of bed.

Ball Out In The Kitchen

Another way to enjoy your weekend? Eat decadent meals! As many of us have seen, the amount of banana bread everyone’s making has skyrocketed. (And the amount of sourdough bread along with it.) If you’re looking for a creative—and time-consuming—project, there’s nothing like making bread or pasta from scratch. Your weekend is the time to really ball out in the kitchen and try a new recipe that may take hours to make, but the payoff will be worthwhile. Caution: you may come out of this quarantine as a pseudo-Italian chef. 

Relax By Invigorating Your Hobbies & Self-Care Activities

For your afternoons, spend time on your hobbies and self-care. Dedicate a few hours to taking a bath or a nice long hot shower, putting on a face mask, and doing your nails. Take naps if you need them and get creative. Maybe you break out a coloring book, a new puzzle, or start with a blank sheet of paper. If you’re not really into any of that, try a DIY Etsy kit! And, if you’ve been falling behind on your bookshelf, now is a great time to catch up. My suggestion? Put your phone away, put on an awesome playlist, and have at it for hours and hours!

Create a New Nightlife Adventure

Perhaps the time when we get the most lonely is at night when we would be going out with friends, going on dates, or going to one of the thousands of events we used to plan ahead for. Weekend evenings nowadays are spent binging both our food pantry and our Netflix watch list, but they don’t have to be. Instead, why not recreate your weekend the way it was meant to happen? For example, have a dance party! Pick your favorite decade or artist and pretend you’re at a nightclub or concert. Get dressed up as if you were going to go out, pour yourself a drink, and dance around your apartment like an idiot. If you’re alone, have a virtual dance party with friends over Zoom. Plus, it’ll be good exercise toward your banana bread intake 😉

Explore New Ways To Use Zoom

Speaking of Zoom… now is the time to catch up with your friends. Have hour-long conversations, play virtual games like Pictionary or a digital scavenger hunt, ask questions like, “find your favorite clothing item,” or even buy the same ingredients to make a meal together.  Although the in-person connection is lost, the possibilities are endless when it comes to what our virtual world can achieve. 

Most importantly, take the time to listen to your body. If you need to lie in bed all day, do it. If you need to blow off steam and be active, partake in all of your favorite online workouts. To truly make it feel like a weekend, you should spend it taking care of you.

 

Content courtesy of Liana Pavane, digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection.

 

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, LIANA PAVANE

Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness.

As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic.

Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Connect with Liana on Instagram and follow her journey here.

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Why Imagination is Critical For Entrepreneurs

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Remember when you were a kid, and all you did was spend your extra time coming up with elaborate stories for your Barbie dolls, creating games of ‘house’ with your friends at recess, and coloring outside the lines of your coloring book? Those were really the days, weren’t they?

As a child, our imaginations are free to run wild. Our families and teachers encourage us to spend our time expanding our imagination to teach us that our imagination is a powerful tool that, if tapped into, can cultivate and build our desired lifestyles. 

The truth is, our imaginations don’t go away (and neither does our access to it).

We may not call it imagining now, but adults tend to use this skill when they don’t want to deal with depressing news or jobs they don’t love. When we fall asleep at night, our imagination can start to run wild as we imagine what our lives could be like. The difference between adult imagination and child imagination is that adults are not given the time to utilize this skill or the direction on how to best activate it as we grow older.

One of the reasons we are taught to make use of the skill of imagination as children is so that we have a creative outlet.

In an article from HuffPost, life coach Lamisha Serf-Walls says, “Scientists and creative artists have an amazing gift for thinking outside the box and allowing their imaginations the freedom to grow and evolve their thoughts, many of which have created products that have changed the way we live entirely.” That means, by actively practicing the skill of creativity and imagination, we are actually teaching our brains to alter the way we think. In doing so, we can find new methods, explore new boundaries and grow in more expansive ways (and as  human beings).

What happens when we give our brains the space it needs to be creative? A-ha moments.

You know the ironic saying, “you have your most profound thoughts in the shower?” That’s because it’s kind of true. By allowing our brains to take breaks from our analytical tasks and indulging in a spurt of creativity throughout our day, it gives us the chance to go back to our task at hand with a newfound clarity. It could be anything from tackling the task in a new way or simply looking at the task with a fresh set of eyes. 

So why is it so important to be creative when you’re an entrepreneur?

Well, for starters, an entrepreneur is all about looking at the world in a new way and seeing what’s missing in it. To become an entrepreneur, you need to be in touch with your imagination in a way that not many people are. And to be an entrepreneur, you can’t be afraid of taking risks. After all, if no one took risks on their ideas, well, we would have a lot less startups, companies, and innovations out there today.

“Imagination and innovation are always linked together,” says fellow entrepreneur, Mary Stallone.

“The mind of an entrepreneur typically has to revolve around brand new ideas and brand new opportunities to move the business in a forward direction,” Stallone goes on to say. The beginning of starting a business can be the most exciting part for many entrepreneurs. It’s a time when their minds can wander without boundaries or restrictions. It’s a time full of conversations with colleagues, family, and friends about what could work and what’s unrealistic, but super fun to explore anyway. 

It’s all about thinking outside the box.

As the funnel of ideas narrow to what the business will actually become, that’s when things start to get a little more mundane. Many entrepreneurs are known as serial entrepreneurs for that exact reason. After getting the business up and running, many entrepreneurs sell their company and have someone else run it so that they can move onto the next big idea and, of course, start imagining again. 

How do you expand your imagination? Ask your imagination!

But if that’s too difficult, consider naturally creative activities such as reading a fictional novel, doodling, journaling, playing games, and having meaningful conversations. You could also explore practicing a creative visualization to really elevate your vision! And, of course, daydreaming out of a window has never gone out of style.

So if you feel stuck as an entrepreneur and find yourself looking for answers in self-help books written by other entrepreneurs, the answer might be as simple as taking out a blank sheet of paper and a colored pencil. Starting from scratch on something new. It’s guaranteed to help reignite that spark you had when you first started your journey. Give yourself permission to spend hours upon hours exploring your creativity again because, let’s face it, you make the rules now. 

 

Content courtesy of Liana Pavane, digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection.

 

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, LIANA PAVANE

Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness.

As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic.

Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Connect with Liana on Instagram and follow her journey here.

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Self-Care Practices for When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed with Technology

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Has tech got you down? Do you find yourself staring at screens for the majority of your day without taking a break? Are your eyes constantly tired and dry? You may be experiencing tech fatigue.

What is tech fatigue? Tech fatigue is what is currently happening to many people throughout our society due to our new dependence on technology to stay connected. Although many discuss work/life balance, the idea of tech/life balance is a relatively new one, (and I think it is just as important.

For example,

having our phones on hand can mean that the moment our mind wanders from the task in front of us, rather than re-focussing, we instead indulge our distractedness,” an article from the International Workplace Group stated last August.

Having our phones at arm’s length 24/7 means we are constantly telling our brains there are other things to focus on. We are never fully living in the moment because we are living in a world of constant distraction—just waiting for the next notification.

Many are so addicted to technology that they jump at every buzz, beep, and ring that emits from their cellphones. The truth is, we often don’t allow ourselves a break from our phones because it has become socially acceptable to have them constantly on hand. Research says that 66% of Americans sleep with their phones next to them and the average American checks their smartphone 160x a day or every nine minutes according to TechRepublic. Now that human connection isn’t an option, Americans are beginning to notice how toxic technology can become.

Before COVID-19, alone time often meant scrolling through one’s phone or watching Netflix. We were never truly left to our own devices (pun intended). Even though our devices are our way into the outside world, we’re collectively getting fed up with how much time we spend on them. So what can you do when you’re overwhelmed with tech but still want to stay connected?

Sleep Without Your Phone

Many of us sleep with our phone because we fear we are going to miss out on something, we use it as our alarm clock, or we are anxiously waiting for that emergency call. Although these are all valid reasons, blue light emitted from our phones is also causing us to have less than adequate sleep, according to Very Well Health. It may sound simple, but investing in an analog alarm clock and leaving your phone outside the bedroom—or out of arm’s reach—is an easy fix. In addition, you can put your emergency contacts into the emergency section of your phone, and they will ring through even on ‘do not disturb.’ Although you may find yourself having FOMO for a bit, the better sleep you will have will more than make up for it.

Analog Morning Routine

When we have our phone on our pillow or bedside table when we sleep, the first thing we usually do in the morning is reach for it and scroll aimlessly—quickly losing track of time. With your phone out of sight, you can spend the first half-hour to an hour of your morning without screens. Allow your eyes to adjust to the world around you by getting active, reading a book, or practicing gratitude journaling. Pick an activity to do for as long as your commute usually takes you so that you’re not immediately going from your bed to your computer. Give yourself space and time to adjust to each new day—this will help you make better choices by allowing you to actively participate in life rather than just react to it.

Take Breaks Often

Working from home has far less rules. Unless you have to be on a conference call or virtual meeting, you can make a case for taking breaks where you see fit. Stay on task with a to-do list next to your computer so you can check things off as you go. After 2-3 hours of work, give yourself permission to take a break! Go for a walk, stretch, color, work on a puzzle, or read a few pages of a book. It doesn’t have to be a long break, even five minutes will allow you to reset energetically. Plus, it’s important to give your eyes a break from the screen, and your brain will thank you for it as well. 

Set Boundaries

Just as you did overnight with your phone, it’s important to set boundaries with your devices throughout the day. By setting tech boundaries, not only will your productivity increase, but you will also begin to wean yourself off of that FOMO feeling. Start small by setting timers on your social media or by putting your phone on airplane mode, do not disturb, or Brick mode while working on important tasks. 

When it comes to socializing during quarantine, it’s okay to say no to that FaceTime call.

Socializing with tech can get exhausting, especially after catching up with dozens of friends and family every week. Set aside certain times or days when you’re available to check-in with the people in your life. In addition, you can always turn down a FaceTime and suggest a regular phone call. This works particularly well when you’re on a walk or taking a break outside where you can put on headphones, put your phone in your pocket and enjoy your surroundings.

Take any of all of these ideas to help you have more productive and mindful days during quarantine. Although this time is tough for a lot of us, and our emotions tend to ebb and flow every day, we can still try and make the most of our time. Remember to take it easy, don’t overwhelm yourself, and do however much you can. You are doing great.  

And if you really want to dive into your relationship with technology? Download this free worksheet to explore your tech habits.

 

Content courtesy of Liana Pavane, digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection.

 

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, LIANA PAVANE

Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness.

As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic.

Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Connect with Liana on Instagram and follow her journey here.

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What I Hope Our “New Normal” Will Look Like

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It’s ironic to admit that during this time of social isolation, I’ve been more social than ever.

I now have time more on my hands, and I’ve leveraged it to deepen relationships. I’ve been able to reach out to old friends I haven’t spoken to in years through phone calls, FaceTime, and Zoom. Every time I have a new conversation with a friend, the answer to what they miss the most is always the same: human connection.

During this time, we’ve formed a community, a new society of sorts. Over these past few weeks, FOMO has been canceled. In fact, the opposite is true—we are having JOMO from not having to commute to our jobs, sitting at our desks all day, and overwhelming ourselves with the 10,000 things on our to-do list in the span of a single afternoon. We are embracing spending time with our own company while also craving the company of others. Many of us are in the same boat, and because of that, we are all navigating a new normal at the same time.

There is a considerable need for human connection across the board.

And even though digital tools are helping keep us connected and even Instagram is being filled with inspiration vs. avocado toasts, I’ve also noticed that people are starting to feel overwhelmed by technology.

When we run around all day, we don’t give our brains the time to evaluate and process our daily habits. Now that we have more time, we are coming to realize what we like about our routines and what isn’t serving us. We are face to face with our daily habits with, literally, nowhere to go.

While technology isn’t going away, I believe that this pandemic is teaching us how to use it mindfully. As we collectively begin to experience tech exhaustion, we are forced to observe our habits with our devices in a way we never have before. The reality of staring at a computer screen for at least eight hours a day seems almost impossible in the comfort of our homes. So why are we forcing ourselves to do so daily?

When we all come out of this, I hope we implement new, better habits—not just in our homes, but in our lives.

I hope that businesses will truly begin to alter the way their employees are valued, that boundaries will be implemented, and individuals will be able to work from home if needed. It’s now obvious that many jobs can be done remotely (and will be even easier when we can go to our local coffee shop). I hope that companies will add more vacation days because we collectively see how we can no longer take life for granted. But my number one hope for businesses is that rules will be put in place (like in other countries) that no one is to answer emails after the workday.

My hope for society is that our appreciation for human connection will be so profound that it will wake people up so much that we won’t hide our faces in our tiny screens on the subway anymore.

We will fill our leisure time with events or going to friends’ houses to play games (while our phones are on airplane mode). We will always give our friends hugs and stay awake until the early mornings having meaningful conversations over pizza because we can.

I hope that spaces such as concert halls and event venues will wake up to this realization as well. I hope that they incorporate mindful practices and prioritize the people inside rather than sharing on their devices. I hope that a mandatory phone check will become the new normal at these locations to promote the connection we’d been missing for far longer than the pandemic. Community spaces will exist not to be documented, but to experience real connections with each other. 

I hope that all younger generations will learn how to look everyone in the eye and maybe even smile at strangers.

And that instead of reverting to their old ways of TikTok and Twitter, they will be at the forefront of creating a generation that is more interconnected than ever before. 

I hope that the habits we have instilled in our bodies during this time will not go to waste. I hope that self-care will become a priority, and burnout will not be an option. I hope that we will not only turn away from our screens when we are overwhelmed, but that we will also look inside to ask ourselves what we need at that moment.

The after-effects of this pandemic are going to be profound. But as someone who firmly believes in the power of human connection, I know that our new normal can be better than our old normal. Because I hope that, in our new normal, we bring values back to our culture, and we come together as a community like we have been doing. I hope that we take more moments to look up at the sky and look up at our possibilities. Most importantly, I hope we look up at each other and embrace one another. Until then, consider this a big digital hug for our society.

 

 

Content courtesy of Liana Pavane, digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection.

 

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, LIANA PAVANE

Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness.

As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic.

Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Connect with Liana on Instagram and follow her journey here.

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How to Balance Your Time & Create A New Normal

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I think we can all agree that balancing our time before the quarantine was overwhelming.

Between work, the gym, a social life, and personal time, it was almost impossible to fit in everything you needed to accomplish daily (let alone find time to sleep a solid eight hours Monday through Friday). During the quarantine, time seems to be just a construct (as they say). But instead of hopelessly and aimlessly searching for ways to fill our schedule, let’s use this extra time by filling our days with mindful and nostalgic activities. It’s time we shifted our balance and created a new schedule for ourselves.

Much of the world is locked in their homes, limited by their time outside, and (unless they have an essential job function) have updated their commute to the walk between their bedroom and the kitchen table. There’s no manual on how to live out your days outside of your normal routine when the world has seemingly stopped functioning. And, for many of us, working remotely is a completely new territory.  So, with all of this extra “time” what should you do?

In this article from Psychology Today, Dr. Scheff provides examples of what happens when we escape our routines. He describes a vacation he took with his wife, where they ended up driving six hours home rather than flying, and he finds himself angry on the first day. Dr. Scheff quickly realizes that he’s outside of his comfort zone since there is no routine. There was no small talk to be had about work, household chores, or what new TV they want to watch. All they had were each other and the open road.

Our bodies and minds become so accustomed to certain habits that it becomes difficult to separate ourselves from what we once knew. Before we jump into a new schedule, it’s critical that you take a moment to allow yourself to adapt to this new normal. Below are some tips on how to adjust, find balance, and re-incorporate healthy habits into your daily routine.

Take time to reconnect with yourself

It’s probably been a while since you simply allowed yourself to be a human being. Think about it. When was the last time you had all this extra time to actually cook your meals or clean your closet? Take time to enjoy the simplicity of your life, however foreign it may feel. In today’s digital world, we are often overstimulated and overworked. Now, we have a reason (and the space) to truly pause and reconnect with ourselves. And you may even find yourself having enough time to sleep eight hours every night (or more!) which is a blessing that anyone who can should be taking advantage of. 

I recommend having a morning and an evening activity that will allow you to reconnect with yourself. And actually block off this time on your calendar for consistency! Seriously, put “me-time” on your schedule—unapologetically. Not sure how to get started? I suggest you try practicing yoga, meditating, or journaling to get you started. 

Evaluate your habits and create new, analog ones

Example of an old habit: Working every day straight through lunch and only taking breaks to message friends or check Instagram for a couple of minutes of distraction.

Example of a new habit: Completing one task at a time and taking a 10-20 minute break to work on a puzzle or another mindful activity to reset your mind.

From home, you have the advantage of using a multitude of analog activities in between tasks. Whereas, in the office, breaks are most often taken on your phone or your computer. For me, having the ability to focus on analog activities that I’ve been missing, like coloring or doodling, has been amazing for my creativity and my state of mind.

Now, it’s your turn. Take stock of the activities you have in your apartment or house. Any dusty board games in the closet? Arts and crafts? Friendship bracelet string? I also hear paint by numbers is a hit these days. Make it a point of working on your activity of choice a couple of times a day. I recommend setting aside time in the morning and in the afternoon. Once the weekend hits, you have as much time as you want to play! Plus, did you know that having hobbies has been proven to help people be happier and experience lower levels of anxiety? Let’s make playtime the newest wellness trend.  

Make the most of the space you have

I’m currently quarantining with four other people. We quickly got accustomed to our new lifestyle, and we have the added benefit of keeping each other accountable. Every weekend, we organize our meals for the week and make a shopping list together. Every evening, we either play board games or watch the occasional movie or show. We all also have our designated work stations as well, which helps us keep work and play separate in the house. 

I recommend finding an area of the house that you can focus on your work or projects that is separate from your area of leisure. If you’re in a tiny apartment, even choosing the kitchen table vs. the couch can make a huge difference. For a further example, studies have even shown that it’s not productive to work from bed and it decreases sleep quality. Your brain will begin to equate those areas as the designated stations you’ve chosen them for—making it easy to switch into certain activities. Plus, make sure you also have a sacred space you can turn to in your home for when you feel anxious or just need to chill out.

As we begin to adjust to our new normal, it may feel strange to not work on something and just lounge around the house with nowhere to go. But know that you’re not in this alone and that FOMO is effectively canceled. So, be kind to yourself. Evaluate what you need every day and know that it’s okay to still have those days of binge-watching TV, but it should be seen as a treat rather than a part of your daily routine. Remember also to nourish your body, mind, and soul–and perhaps explore new ways of doing so that you didn’t have time to before. And, during all of this, don’t forget to leave time to connect with loved ones and, most importantly, with yourself.

 

Content courtesy of Liana Pavane, digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection.

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, LIANA PAVANE

Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness.

As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic.

Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Connect with Liana on Instagram and follow her journey here.

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2 Mindset Tools That Helped Me Launch My Business

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I was empowered and confident when I first came up with the idea for my business, TTYL. With that said, I learned very quickly when I officially launched in 2018 that I had a lot to learn about building a successful events company.

In the beginning, I wasn’t even charging people to attend events and was using a Word doc to build out my newsletter. Seriously!

So I turned to researching success stories—what worked and what didn’t—and I consumed everything I could about successful founders. During this time, I also became obsessed with podcasts like How I Built This and other business-led content. And I started reading up on wellness trends to ensure that I built my business mindfully. Ironically, because I was juggling a full-time job, a social life, and a side hustle, I burned out fast at the onset of starting my business.

I decided to take a step back and analyze my own wellness before stepping further into launching my business. I knew I needed something to help me get clarity and bridge the overwhelm. Something that had really been calling to me at this time was spirituality. The thing was, I wasn’t exactly the quintessential spiritual candidate. I disliked meditation (and still can’t get into it even though many keep encouraging me), and I didn’t keep a windowsill full of crystals that emitted good energy (although I’ve always thought they looked pretty). What I did know was that the answers I needed were inside me, and I just needed something to help me uncover them.

My spiritual tools of choice? Introspection and connection. 

Ironically one of the places I found connection was Facebook. In 2018, I joined a few recommended Facebook Groups, and it was there that I quickly gained an incredible online support system. In one of them, a woman posted that she was getting her coaching certification and was looking for clients to practice on for free. I had heard about life coaching from my sister (who took the certification), but I had never been coached myself. Seeing as how I was on a downward spiral of overwhelm, I decided I had nothing to lose by volunteering. 

It only took one session to realize my biggest issue. I spent all this time preaching to everyone about how they should take time to unwind and reflect throughout their week, but I wasn’t taking my own advice. My issue? I wasn’t spending enough time on myself. So, over the next few months, my coach and I developed something we called “solo experiences.” I started to take myself out on dates—without my phone—and journaled about my experiences afterward. I went to everything from comedy shows to concerts and even to dinners where I allowed myself to sit across from my thoughts. I treated myself to my own company. 

At the time, I had been suffering from dissociation to the point where the days blurred together, and I felt like someone else was pushing an “on” button every time I woke up.

After six months of this reflective journey, I felt an unexplainable transformation. I was more centered, more focused, and my creative energy was at an all-time high. The craziest part was that I started to manifest connections I didn’t even know I needed through my positive energy. I ended up finding so much clarity that it led me to take a big leap of faith. I left my corporate job, and I kicked my business into high gear. To make this financially possible, I moved back home. I now had time on my side, and the last thing I wanted to do was waste it. 

I knew routines were critical for entrepreneurs, so I started to piece mine together. I was up by 6:30am and at the coffee shop working by 9:30am every day, but not before dedicating time to connect. Every morning, I worked out to connect physically; I limited my phone use to connect mentally and spent time with my parents over breakfast to connect emotionally. I saw my burnout and overwhelm disappearing the more I committed to this routine. 

And when I wasn’t working on my business or partaking in solo activities, I was out connecting with old friends or making new connections with like-minded people at workshops and events. These gatherings were not only great for research, but the connections I was making fed my soul. I began feeling like I was part of something larger than myself—a community of people bound together by the same purpose: human connection. 

This realization is what helped me take my company from 50 to 100. I knew that my business had the potential to foster this same level of connection. All the time I spent at these events made me see that I didn’t have to do it all alone. And all the time I spent being introspective helped me differentiate what I was good at when it came to business and where I needed help. Together, these two discoveries helped me align enough to take my next big leap: make my first hire. I turned to the place that helped me kick off this spiritual journey: Facebook Groups. 

I was blown away by the response I received once I put my search into the universe. After interviewing about fifteen people, I narrowed it down to three. And when it came down to making a decision, I followed my intuition—something I had finally reconnected with. I chose someone who was grounded, spiritual, and connected with my company’s mission. Months later, I know my intuition helped me make the right choice for my company. 

While it wasn’t Reiki or sage that helped me start my business, the spiritual tools I chose worked like magic. By slowing down, connecting with others, and re-connecting with myself, I turned into the entrepreneur I knew I could be. Sure, I may not have it all figured out, but I have come to accept that no business owner does. The difference is that I now know how to make the right choices for me and my business. When I get overwhelmed, I choose mental breaks over mental anguish. When things take too long, I choose to trust the universe instead of frustration. What I really did throughout all of this was be brave enough to ask for help and to give myself time. And it was time that helped me get clear on what steps I needed to take, and who I needed to bring with me, to manifest the business of my dreams. 

Time is of the essence; what will you do with yours? 

 

Content courtesy of Liana Pavane, digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection.

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, LIANA PAVANE

Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness.

As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic.

Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Connect with Liana on Instagram and follow her journey here.

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How to Set Boundaries As A Business Owner

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When you think of a business, you typically envision a well-oiled machine. Multiple departments are there to make sure it runs smoothly, efficiently and with minimal hiccups. There’s the marketing department, HR, account, operations, and the list goes on and on depending on the type of company it is. Imagine now that none of those individual departments existed. Instead, there’s only a single person, otherwise known as an entrepreneur. 

As an entrepreneur myself, I’m constantly switching my mindset between being a social media manager to an event planner and from being a community builder to the CEO.

More often than not, I’ll be in the middle of a task, and my mind will switch to the ten emails I need to write or that task on my to-do list that I’ve been putting off for weeks. The biggest problem I’ve faced on my entrepreneurial journey is stopping the work and turning off the thoughts in my brain because, for me, I also have a full-time job as many entrepreneurs do.

At the end of last year, a friend of mine took out Post-its at our meeting and said, “write down each bucket of your life onto an individual Post-it. Then write down the number of hours you focus on that thing every week.”

I had eight Post-its in total, four on the social side, and four on the work side. I included my full-time job, my business, my new project, and coaching on the work side. On the social side I had alone time, family/friends, working out, and my personal brand. Since doing this exercise, I’ve also added a new relationship onto my social side. When I viewed my life through the lens of these colorful bubbles, I was able to translate those Post-its into different sections of my brain. After visualizing my responsibilities in this way, I knew I had to create boundaries to effectively give the right amount of energy to each element of my life. Including myself.

In my work, I’ve learned that the two most important things for creating boundaries as a business owner are organization and presence.

When it comes to organization, your schedule is your best friend, and so is a place to put a running to-do list. My recommendation? Make sure the calendar on your phone syncs with meetings that come in through your email. Additionally, have an open note on your desktop for all of your to-dos, or use an app that helps you organize it further. If I don’t have my computer with me, and remember something for my list, I will put a meeting reminder in my phone for a specific time when I know I will be back at my desk and then I go back to being present. Another organizational tip? Make Google Drive your best friend. 

When it comes to presence, you have to understand that you will NEVER get to the bottom of your to-do list. Read that again.

It makes you cringe a little, doesn’t it? If you haven’t guessed it or experienced it already, work never stops. Even if you don’t own a business, your life to-do list often never ends either. The best thing we can do for ourselves is be present during each moment of our lives with limited distractions. By focusing on each task at hand or the person across from you, you can stay in the present moment. And authentically showing up is a great boundary to have with yourself.

Another essential tool when it comes to setting boundaries is to work in spurts without interruptions and to only focus on one task at a time. For example, I have allotted myself one hour to write this article. My phone is turned upside down next to me, and I am only allowing myself to pull up the web for the thesaurus if necessary. This strategy helps me be present in my writing and maximizing my time while doing so. As for organization? I would label this article as my personal brand, although it also dips a bit into my business. 

As someone whose business focuses on digital wellness, it’s ironic that I have to spend as much time as I do on social media, my computer, and my phone. Although technology has made things a lot easier for entrepreneurs to start businesses, it is also how many of us choose to relax after we have completed our workday. From Netflix to news and Instagram to music, the amount of media there is to consume is overwhelming. For me, I have decided to limit my consumption of music, news, television, and podcasts, and I choose to read instead. This is an example of a boundary I put in place for my personal life.

Now, whenever I have downtime, or when I’m commuting in the city, I always bring a book with me. I’ve found that by returning to an analog way of life, my ability to focus for extended periods of time has increased.

Boundaries don’t have to come naturally; they take practice. Although my mind rarely shuts off, healthy boundaries help dull the noise. Reading, spending time with loved ones, and working out also allows me to reconnect to my mind, body, and soul. No matter how busy you may be, finding time for yourself  will fuel you through the long days that are an inevitable reality for every business owner. To me, the healthiest boundary you could ever set is to always prioritize YOU.

 

Content courtesy of Liana Pavane, digital wellness expert and founder of TTYL—a tech-free community dedicated to human connection.

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, LIANA PAVANE

Liana founded TTYL in 2018 to help people have a healthier relationship with technology and social media. Since launching, she has been featured on NY1, Bedford + Bowery, The Joy List, the SHIPS podcast, and more for her work in digital wellness.

As a professional community builder, Liana believes in the power of unplugging and living in the present moment. Her tech-free events have been hosted at prominent spaces such as Athleta, Showfields, The Assemblage, The Phluid Project, and Tijuana Picnic.

Liana is also a born and raised New Yorker who studied theatre at Ithaca College. When she’s not growing her business or hosting an event, you can find Liana networking with like-minded people or finding joy away from her phone.

Connect with Liana on Instagram and follow her journey here.

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How to Set Boundaries As A Business Owner

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How to Set Boundaries As A Business Owner