We hear a lot about the dark side of screens and electronics; how they’re contributing to social isolation, childhood obesity, cyberbullying, or just sucking the joy out of family time. And it’s true, managing electronics is tricky. But in Episode 19 of Edit Your Life, Asha and I discuss the upside of electronics. Electronics are increasingly a part of our kids’ lives: school, homework, entertainment, communication, and social lives. Given that they are here to stay, we wanted to lend some balance to the doom-and-gloom around screens.We hear a lot about the dark side of screens and electronics; how they’re contributing to social isolation, childhood obesity, cyberbullying, or just sucking the joy out of family time. And it’s true, managing electronics is tricky. But in Episode 19 of Edit Your Life, Asha and I discuss the upside of electronics. Electronics are increasingly a part of our kids’ lives: school, homework, entertainment, communication, and social lives. Given that they are here to stay, we wanted to lend some balance to the doom-and-gloom around screens.
A conversation with a friend reminded me that it's time for another round of Podcasts I'm Digging (see part 1 for the first batch of 5 recommendations). As I've mentioned, podcasts are so great for listening on the go or around the house and today's picks have accompanied me during many running miles. I hope you'll check them out and also tune into Asha and my weekly Edit Your Life podcast! Enjoy, and feel free to share your recommendations via the comments!
Ah, e-mail. I still remember the excitement around discovering e-mail in college (and printing out e-mails on the dot matrix printer...what?!). E-mail is so convenient in many ways and yet so overwhelming in others (these two things are most certainly related). In Episode 12 of Edit Your Life, Asha and I share 10 tips to get a handle on your inbox, become more efficient at managing your e-mail, and free yourself of digital and emotional clutter.
Though I've known about podcasts for a long time, I didn't start listening regularly until the spring -- partially because it became a boredom busting solution for me during playground outings where Vi would just want me to endlessly push her in the swing, and partially because of my excitement about the Edit Your Life podcast. And now, well, I'm obsessed! Podcasts are so great to listen to while commuting, puttering around the house, exercising, etc.
We all know that screen addiction can be a problem for kids (and, well, adults too). But how do you handle things when one kid has a device (and invariably goes face down in it) and the other doesn’t? In Episode 5 of Edit Your Life, Asha and I address how to handle the device divide. And if you haven't done so yet, listen to our episodes on simplifying back to school, conquering procrastination, why it's awesome to edit your life, and school lunch solutions! We'd love to keep you company while you commute, do laundry, etc.!
My dear friend Heather and I were talking about devices recently and Heather shared the brilliant idea of a phone “contract” for kids, including the one she customized for her daughter. Below is my edited version; I trimmed, added some elements, and reorganized. I hope this is helpful to you if you’re thinking about a device for your kid, or as a chance to set some ground rules on existing usage. Feel free to copy and tweak for your own use!
Last month when I was in Seattle at the Office Champions Summit, I learned about the Microsoft Band. And at the risk of sounding like a complete weirdo, the Band has become my new BFF. Easy to set up (just pop it out of the box, sync to your phone, and download the Microsoft Health app), the Band spans both wellness and productivity (more on that in a second) and syncs with Windows Phone, Android, and iPhone. (And if you're using it with a Windows Phone, you can take notes and set reminders by voice using Cortana. WHAT?!)
In my roles as parent of grade schooler and blogger (and also with my education-related clients in my periphery), it was truly fascinating to speak on the Microsoft/Parade tech and education panel last week. We covered a lot of topics, but there were four conversational threads related to tech/education challenges and opportunities that I wanted to share, particularly as we gear up for (or already have started) a new school year: