That is it! I'm going on a mind diet.

I have a confession to make…2020 got me.

Binge watching new tv shows, baking (and eating!) new and varied recipes and even trying my hand at crochet. These are the pandemic trends I got right into.

I live in Victoria, Australia. If our little part of the world made it into your headlines last year it is because we had some of the strictest lockdown restrictions in the world. For months we were limited to a 5km radius from our homes and only allowed outside for one hour of masked and socially distant exercise (hello awkward head nods and eyebrow raises to the joggers passing by). So entertaining ourselves indoors became somewhat of an art.

While being in the midst of a global pandemic warranted a certain level of anxiety, I noticed in myself a growing anxiety and restlessness that was rooted in more than just the concerns facing every global citizen trying to avoid COVID-19.

Have you ever seen those ads on tv that talk about toxic fat and its effect on your health and lifespan? Well I realised that I was gaining this toxic fat. Not on my body, but in my mind.

Turns out I was bingeing more than just Grey’s Anatomy in 2020. I was bingeing on the digital world. Trapped in a cycle of scroll and refresh, I found my contentment and peace plummeting and my anxiety and restlessness sky rocketing. I found myself more than ever comparing myself to social media influencers, entrepreneurs and even the highlight reels of my friends. I found myself growing confused and frustrated at the plethora of opinions and fiery keyboard wars on relevant issues. I found myself feeling despairing over the current state of the world, while the current state of my mind was expanding with toxic fat. I’d traded nutritious brain food for the digital equivalent of fast food junk, and my well being was suffering because of it. Do you resonate with that?

If you do, why don’t you join me in my 2021 fresh start, a diet for the mind so to speak.

If you’ve ever made a new year’s resolution to lose weight, you’ve likely made a plan on how you intend to do it and what goals you have. Well here is my plan to shed the pandemic pounds of digital waste and it’s hold on me.

CUT THE CARBS

Ok, I would never advocate for cutting carbs altogether. What is life without cake? But in order to see change, you have to start with cutting out that which doesn’t serve the mind well. So I’m going to Marie Kondo my online life and get rid of that which doesn’t spark joy.

Social media influencer adopting a cute, sunkissed filter and sporting a bikini with no visible cellulite with the caption #blessed? I have a new hashtag for that…#unfollow.

Social media platforms all have some method of being able to mute or unfollow people you no longer want to hear from or see. Take some time to go through these lists and ask yourself “Does this account inspire me or discourage me?, Does it make me want to be a better version of myself or feel crappy about who I am?”. Cut the carbs.

REPLACE EMPTY NUTRIENTS WITH LIFE GIVING MIND FOOD

This is a quick point. If you’re cutting things out, you will likely go hungry and may be tempted to feed your mind with unhealthy things again. So instead, replace some of the joy-void digital content with digital sources that inspire, motivate and encourage you. Read good news stories, blogs and learn new things online. This is the kind of intentional action that will not only make you lose the toxic digital weight of anxiety but add tone and vitality to your mind muscle!

CHECK THE INGREDIENTS

Okay, this is so important guys. Imagine the following with me if you will:

Jed sits at his computer, fire in his belly as he presses send on the 8 paragraph long rant he has spent an hour formulating. He feels a sense of accomplishment in informing all the 900 fools in the post’s thread of how they are all wrong. Feeling smug and self assured, he interlocks his hands and stretches his palms outwards. Ding. New notification. Jed reads the single line, “You do realise this was a satirical article?”. Doh.

It is getting harder and harder to discern all the information thrust upon us in the digital space. People can be so convincing, and voices can be so loud. You’d be living under a rock if you didn’t feel the tensions online about important issues such as how dangerous COVID-19 actually is, or the Black Lives Matter movement and more recently about the US election. Armchair critics and professionals alike, stepping to the plate to offer their guidance, and an audience confused as to who is actually who. And don’t get me started on fake news.

It’s so easy to feel disheartened, enraged or defensive after reading pretty much any opinion on social media. So how can we interact with these opinions and ideas in a healthy way while still staying up to date with current events? I call this checking the ingredients.

Remember when “fat free” became a thing? A sugary, carb-rich product promoted that it was ‘fat free” on it’s label and we all fell for it and patted ourselves on the back for making a healthy choice? We now know better of course, that fat isn’t all bad and that fat free doesn’t mean you won’t put on fat after eating the product. We’re now suspicious of products claiming to be fat free. Well digital news and opinion needs the same healthy suspicion.

Here’s how we do this with digital information: We need to not just take things at face value, we need to turn the product around and look at the ingredients list. This looks like weighing up the source of information when reading an article, post or news report, acknowledging the biases and agendas that may be behind it and consulting multiple sources from either side of the argument to form an educated and more balanced view of the issue. No one loses weight while being lazy. The same can be said for our mind diet. We have to do a bit of work to get back on track and we have to be mindful of what it is we are consuming.

TAKE A HEALTHY DOSE OF VITAMIN S DAILY

For a healthy mind, take one to two capsules of Vitamin S (silence) per day.

Just to be clear, I don’t mean donning a robe and taking a vow of silence each day (though whatever floats your boat). I mean, taking time daily to put the phone and device down and enjoy some digital silence. This can be as simple as reading a book, talking with friends, getting out and about (if COVID-19 restrictions allow), exercising or taking up a new hobby. The opportunities are endless. Giving yourself a break from the digital space not only helps limit what unhelpful things are taking space in your mind but also curbs your dependence on being online. There are actual physiological mechanisms at play when we re-train the reward circuits of our brain. No longer do we crave the fast food of the digital world, but we begin to crave the things that uplift, inspire and better us. And that makes us more valuable digital citizens.

Making a few of these simple changes can help you and I say goodbye to the paunchy psyches of 2020 and hello to a fresh start and healthy mind in 2021.

Godspeed brain friend.