6 Simple Science-Backed Hacks That Will Make Your Life Better

Adam Alter delves into how contact with nature, such as through proximity to water or forests, can significantly replenish mental energy and enhance overall well-being.

Spending time in nature, such as near bodies of water or forests, has a profound restorative effect on mental energy and well-being.

Alter discusses the profound restorative effects of being in natural environments, explaining that engaging with nature replenishes energy depleted by focused attention in modern life. This engagement comes through soft fascinations, like the sound of birds or sight of trees, which demand less attention but are uniquely restorative.

Natural environments provide a less demanding, "less focused" form of attention that allows the brain to replenish after periods of intense concentration and mental fatigue.

Natural environments enable the brain to take a break from the relentless stimuli of modern existence. Alter mentions moving to a town in Connecticut close to beaches and forests which aids his mental restoration. He highlights Attention Restoration Therapy, which posits that natural environments are effective in replenishing diminished cognitive resources.

Studies show people recovering from surgery need less medication and recover faster when their hospital rooms overlook natural views compared to built environments.

Highlighting tangible benefits, Alter references a study that found patients with views of nature in their hospital rooms required less medication and had quicker recoveries.

Purposefully taking breaks to spend time in nature, even just 5-10 minutes, can act as an antidote to the constant mental drain of modern life.

Alte ...

Adam Alter, influenced by his own colorblindness, explores how different colors can affect our mood, behavior, and even physical strength.

Colors can have significant impacts on how we think, feel, and perform, often subconsciously.

Mel Robbins cites Alter's research to suggest a consistent impact of color on human emotion, activity, decision-making, and strength. Alter examines how environmental cues like color influence our mental processes, emotions, actions, and overall well-being.

Certain colors like red are associated with dominance and strength, and can influence athletic performance and interpersonal perceptions.

Alter explains that colors like red are associated with dominance, potentially influencing not only physical performance but also how an individual is perceived by others in terms of strength and dominance. This effect may originate from natural indicators in the animal kingdom, where red often signifies an alpha status.

Studies, such as those in the context of the Olympics, show that athletes dressed in red are more likely to win, especially in evenly matched combat sports. Furthermore, red attire has been found to increase perceived attractiveness, with people wearing red in dating profile pictures receiving more attention.

Even subtle exposure to red, such as a red border around a picture, can have a significant impact on perceptions and behaviors.

Calming colors like blues and greens evoke natural associations and have a soothing, restorative effect.

In contrast to red, blues ...

Mel Robbins introduces Dr. Adam Alter's research, which shows a state of habitual distraction caused by constant digital stimulation. Research suggests that this is having profound negative impacts on attention, focus, and overall well-being.

Ubiquitous screen time and digital device usage has profound negative impacts on attention, focus, and overall well-being.

Adam Alter explains that there's a significant gap between teenagers' perceived necessity of using screens and the actual enjoyment or benefits derived from them. Teenagers want to reduce screen time but fear social isolation. Parents recognize the need to limit exposure but feel unable to act alone.

Steve Jobs didn't allow iPads at home to protect his children from screens, exemplifying concerns by those within the tech industry itself. Similarly, a school attended by Silicon Valley executives' children restricts screen use until about ninth grade.

The brain becomes habituated to constant digital stimulation, making it difficult to engage in deeper, more sustained mental work.

Adam Alter describes screen addiction as a tendency to return to screens despite acknowledging their negative effects on social well-being. Excessive screen time is associated with relationship deterioration, increased sedentariness, and negative psychological consequences like anxiety and loneliness.

Screen time displaces time spent on more restorative, meaningful activities like exercise, in-person interactions, and immersion in nature.

Screens lead to overspending and a hollow feeling after spending much time scrolling, which Alter suggests is like being robbed of self-control and agency. He implies that going to natural environments signifies moving away from screens, pointing to their omnipresence as harmful.

Alter reports that students spend six to eight hours and adults three to five hours on screens daily. This time spent comes at the sacrifice of more restorative activities. ...

Adam Alter and Mel Robbins delve into strategies to combat the increasingly prevalent issue of excessive screen time, emphasizing the need for collective action and mindful participation in digital spaces.

Creating "stopping cues" and dedicated screen-free periods in daily routines can help break addictive digital habits.

Adam Alter discusses the lack of "stopping cues" in digital environments, such as binge-watching series that move automatically to the next episode, leading to addictive behavior. He suggests cultivating habits where parts of the day are deliberately screen-free. As an example, he recommends placing phones in a cookie jar with a timer during meals to enforce screen breaks. Similarly, by removing items that distract, like disabling automatic notifications, disabling endless scrolling, and storing devices away, one decreases their digital distractions, leading to reduced screen time.

Mel Robbins advocates for the removal of phones from schools with the "heads up" policy at Deerfield Academy, where using phones on campus is limited to designated areas, thus creating a distraction-free environment. Strategies that focus on reducing screen availability often can be more successful than relying on willpower alone.

Replacing screen time with alternative activities, even if they involve other forms of technology, can provide more meaningful mental engagement.

Alter recommends choosing screen-based activities mindfully; this can even include watching a show or reading an e-book on a screen, as long as the content is enriching and leaves the user feeling fulfilled. Alter’s and Robbins's conversation touches on the significance of acknowledging the time wasted on screens as a starting point for valuing time and seeking enriching alternative activities.

Collective changes at the classroom, school, or community level are often more effective than individual willpower alone in reducing problematic screen use.

Adam Alter is exploring solutions that involve collective action to address screen time ...