The first principle of my life is Creating Ecosystems of Success and two key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Health/Wellness. Some people feel stuck in where they are, but there are changes that we can all make to improve our lives right now. The following contributed post is entitled, Make Changes to Improve Your Life Right Now.
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It is so important to make the most of things that can make changes in your life. You have to understand what it takes to make the right decisions in life and to try to make positive changes as much as you can. As much as you can do to take your life in a positive direction, you need to try to do now, and there are a lot of factors that play a part in helping with this.
Life can often not go the way you want it to, and this is why it is essential to make sure you plan and prepare for this. Try to do as much as possible to help you make the right improvements in your life, and there are a lot of things that can play a role in this. Here are some of the key changes that you can make to improve your life right now.
You have to make sure you do as much as possible to get as healthy as possible, and this is something you need to keep in mind as much as you can. Getting a healthier body and mind is one of the best approaches you can take in your life. This is something you need to make sure you focus on as much as possible, and there are a lot of ideas you can use to achieve this. Healthy eating and exercise are the order of the day, and they can go a long way toward helping you with this.
Protect Yourself
It is essential that you do as much as you can to protect yourself in your life right now. There are a lot of things you can do to achieve this, such as staying fit and healthy and buying health insurance. However, there might also be times when you need to make sure you take steps to look after yourself in other ways, such as hiring a misdemeanour lawyer to defend you if you need to be protected.
Take Charge of Your Money
Taking charge of your money is something that you need to make the most of right now, and this is something that plays a massive part in the process of making your life better. You’ve got a lot to think about here, and getting a handle on your cash is something that you need to work toward right now. Budgeting your money is something you are going to need to focus on as much as you possibly can, and this is so important moving forward as well. Keeping yourself financially comfortable is something that you need to work on right now.
Make sure you do as much as you can to improve your life and make the best changes you possibly can. Try to think about some of the best ways you can go about making the right changes to take your life forward as much as possible. Taking steps to try to look after yourself and take your life forward in a more positive way is so essential right now.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Career Discussions, Health/Wellness and Organizational and Management Discussions. When you’re in management, you want to support the overall health of your staff. Doing so will both maximize their productivity and foster their loyalty. The following contributed post is entitled, Supporting Mental Health In The Workplace.
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Supporting mental health in the workplace is essential; people deserve to be able to open up about how they’re thinking and feeling, and to feel encouraged to do so even in a professional setting. We’re human beings, after all, and we can’t just turn our brains off when we’re at work!
So, if you’re someone who’s out to support mental health in the workplace, but you’re just not sure where to start, we’ve collected a few ideas together for you to look into. Mental health matters a lot more than people tend to think, and as a small business leader, it’s time to advocate for healthy management.
Your employees deserve to have one on one time with you or with a supervisor they’re under the care of. Give them the chance to have private and/or personal meetings, where they can air their struggles or concerns. Because when you make time for meetings like these, you show your employees that their thoughts and feelings matter; you show them that the workplace doesn’t have to be just another problem on their plate.
Try Out a Workshop
A workshop or a training program is essential for supporting mental health in the workplace. With a strategy like this, you create an environment of education about mental health, and you place some positive emphasis on creating an open workplace that people can be productive in.
Indeed, a mental health workshop can be beneficial for all kinds of reasons. It can lead to more sensitivity in the workplace, it can lead to further treatment options to be explored, and it can even just mean a healthy, honest, and open dialogue about mental health at work is being had. Give a keynote speaker the platform, and give your employees the chance to take some time and put their needs at work first.
Provide Options
And finally, be sure to provide as much information on the options for mental health that are available to your employees. Let them know there’s help out there, and that the company can help them get it. Of course, plenty of businesses work closely with mental health charities and private organisations to ensure there’s always a counsellor on hand for an employee to see if need be.
But if your company hasn’t taken a step like this yet, it might be time to do so. Look into your own options for providing mental health care to those in your workplace; companies such as Meridian Psychiatric Partners are out there, and could become part of the healthcare package you provide. Even just storing helpful leaflets or official pamphlets on the front desk allows a person to pick up the information they need when they need it.
Supporting mental health in the workplace is essential to working well. Make sure you’re leading by example and providing the right resources for your employees. For a modern workforce, mental health and wellbeing should be a top priority.
Three of the focuses of my blog are Career Discussions, Current Events and Health/Wellness. The Coronavirus/Covid-19 Crisis/Pandemic has caused many workers to work at home which hasn’t been a simple adjustment for everyone. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Simple Ways to Combat Stress While Working From Home.
Coronavirus has drastically affected business both large and small around the world. And because of the global pandemic, many have had to work from home instead of the usual office setting that they are used to. This change has affected the ability to work for those not familiar with a remote routine, leading to countless feelings of stress and as though they are on edge.
But to be as successful as possible within your role, it’s important to identify methods that will help to relax you – so that you’re feeling as productive and motivated each day.
Although it’s undeniable that you might not be as engaged as you would in your work setting when you’re among your colleagues, it’s still important to seek techniques that guarantee you get your work completed on time. But if you’re unsure as to where to start, then it might be a bit daunting. To help guide you, here are 5 approaches you could take:
1. Create a Dedicated Workplace
When working from home, it’s important to create a dedicated workplace – and to not sit in your living room on the couch or in another busy environment. By opting to sit and work in a loud part of your home, you’ll only feel stressed and as though you can’t complete tasks to the best of your abilities.
So to prevent this from happening, consider creating a home office that you can comfortably work in. This won’t only help your concentration levels, but will also be more ergonomic – especially if you have an adjustable office chair.
2. Keep in Contact with Colleagues and Loved Ones
During this time, it’s only natural to feel isolated when you’re at home all the time. And even though life is gradually getting back to normal, many people are still working from home either full time or part of the time. If you’re feeling isolated and stressed, then it’s essential that you try and stay in contact both with your colleagues and with loved ones.
Human interaction is vital throughout your working day and it’s something that shouldn’t be ignored. Giving you a little pick me up, these virtual video calls will make all the difference to how you’re feeling.
3. Take Breaks Throughout The Day
Although this might seem like an obvious one, it’s still worth a mention – especially during the coronavirus outbreak when you may feel limited as to what you can do. Taking breaks throughout the day is critical to recharging your brain and giving yourself that much-needed breather.
Without doing this, it’s clear that your mental health will start to suffer. So make sure you take time out away from your screen and manage any feelings of stress. Even just 10 minutes or so away from the desk will help you to refresh.
You could spend these breaks going on a walk nearby, baking something delicious or doing anything activity that doesn’t revolve around a screen. Just make sure that when you’re doing this you’re following the social distancing guidelines!
When work is finished, you can then have a cooling down period in which you unwind. Some people might take this time to understand the importance of grow cabinets if they use cannabis to relax, or another activity they enjoy doing.
4. Establish a Working Routine (And Try to Stick to it)
Without a schedule in place, you might feel as though you’re struggling to find a balance between your work time and your personal time. These blurred lines could start to make you feel stressed and as though you never have time to unwind.
It’s therefore a good idea to create a daily schedule. Within this time, you could list exactly when you’re going to work (which will usually align with your core working hours) and when you will stop work for the day.
Although this is a simple trick, it can prove to be invaluable not only in this time but in the future if you have to work from home again.
5. Switch Off
As part of your downtime, it’s also worth putting your phone and any other technology away at least two hours before you sleep. At the moment, the news and social media are incredibly negative, so instead of focusing on this before you go to bed, consider opting for reading a book or another activity.
When working from home, you want to ensure that your sleeping pattern is as good as possible with no disruptions. This is therefore a beneficial practice to do each night, to allow you to fall asleep more naturally.
Final Thoughts
So, there you go! Those are 5 simple methods that you can use to help you to relax and combat sleep while working from home.
The methods that you use, of course, is up to you. But whatever proactive steps you take towards ensuring that you manage your levels of stress, while remaining engaged the more successful you will be.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Health/Wellness. A key problem many people have is not respecting their own time. Unfortunately time management is not something that is taught across the board. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Tips for Being More Respectful of Your Time.
In life, there are all sorts of resources of various types that you might have plenty of – or very little of – depending on a broad variety of circumstances.
One thing that everyone has equal access to, however, is the time available in a given day. No matter whether you are the most quick-witted and enterprising business guru in the land, or someone much more ordinary, you will never have more than 24 hours in a day to spend attending to your chores, chasing your dreams, and all the rest.
Very often, we end up convincing ourselves that the reason why we don’t do the sorts of things we would ideally want to do in life, is because we just “don’t have enough time.”
While time constraints are obviously real, it’s also true that we frequently sabotage ourselves and develop a distorted sense of what is and isn’t possible, due to the fact that we aren’t as respectful and thoughtful of our time as we should be.
In her book “168 Hours,” the writer Laura Vanderkam details many examples of successful people in a variety of fields who have nonetheless managed to juggle their hobbies and personal lives alongside fruitful careers. The secret? They always found a way to squeeze in a bit of time on a regular basis for the things they were really passionate about, even in spite of all the odds.
Vanderkam shares one particularly telling anecdote in the book, where she describes having read a publication where various members of the public waxed lyrical about the brilliant things they would do if they only had an extra 20 minutes or so a day to spend. Predictably, there were a lot of people who were apparently going to live out their dreams and pursue their hobbies if only that extra sliver of time would materialise.
Considering the fact, however, that the average person spends several hours a day watching television – this can’t help but ring a bit hollow.
Here are a few tips for being more respectful of your time in general, so that you can live your life in line with your true values, hopes, and principles.
Consider auditing your time for a while to see just where it’s actually going
In “168 Hours,” Vanderkam proposes a great exercise for raising time-awareness – that is, keeping daily “timesheets,” detailing how you spend all your time for at least a week or two at a stretch.
This isn’t necessarily meant to be a permanently ongoing exercise. The key point is that it will shine a light on just what’s actually happening with your time, so that you are no longer likely to be so inclined to feel as though the minutes and hours have just swept by in a blur.
After doing this exercise for a few days, you might be shocked to find just how much of your “working hours” were actually spent on browsing the web. Or how many of your evening leisure and relaxation hours were not actually spent on entertainment, time with friends and family, or relaxation, but were rather dedicated to checking work emails after hours.
There is a famous old saying that “what gets measured, gets improved.” By the same token, if you never actually track how you’re spending your time, you will inevitably have a very limited scope for mastering it and treating it with more respect.
Realise that outsourcing certain things is often a great way of freeing up more time
Generally speaking, it’s quite common for people to be reluctant to spend money outsourcing things that they could – if pushed – do by themselves.
Of course, it’s good to be self-reliant and not to spend money gratuitously, but both in your working life and your personal life, it will often be the case that “outsourcing” various tasks, projects, and chores, is one of the best and most reliable ways of freeing up more time that you can then spend more fruitfully.
If you are an entrepreneur, for example, there is quite a good chance that you will naturally be predisposed to try to micromanage your business as much as possible. But everyone has limited time, a limited range of skill sets, and a limited amount of energy to spend on a given day.
Bringing a third party network management company on board, for example, might therefore not only mean that this dimension of your business gets handled more effectively, but that you also suddenly find you have far more time and energy available in your day to spend on other things.
Use the power of your environment to keep you focused and on point
There is a popular idea in productivity-focused circles that suggests that willpower is the end-all-be-all when it comes to things like proper time management.
While willpower is certainly important, however, it is not a resource you can draw on endlessly in order to try and structure and arrange every aspect of your daily existence. According to the psychologist Kelly McGonigal, author of “The Willpower Instinct,” research suggests that willpower is actually a finite and expendable resource. If you try to rely on it too heavily for too many things, you’re setting yourself up for burnout and failure.
In order to be more respectful of your own time, and to manage your time more effectively, one of the most powerful things you could do would be to use the power of your environment to keep you focused and on point.
What exactly does this mean?
Well, essentially it means that as human beings we are all inclined to follow the path of least resistance, by default. The way you structure your environment can therefore serve to nudge you down more or less fruitful and intentional paths, requiring varying degrees of willpower.
When it comes to being more respectful of your time, a good environmental shift might be something like installing a web blocker on your computer to keep distracting sites at bay during certain hours. Or, surrounding yourself with people who will keep an eye on you and keep you accountable if you’re supposed to be meeting a certain deadline by a certain time.
Two focuses of my blog are Health/Wellness and Technology. A major aspect of our personal health relaxing outdoors. One challenge to doing so is too much sunlight. Creating the optimal amount of shade can contribute to the optimal outdoor experience. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Ways To Add Shade To Your Backyard.
In the summer, many of us are eager to spend time in our backyard. However, as much as we may occasionally enjoy catching a tan, there are times when it can be nice to have a bit of shade to cool off in. If your backyard is a suntrap and you want to add some shade, here are just a few different options to consider.
Use patio umbrellas
Patio umbrellas can be placed in the centre of tables offering shade to dining/seating areas. You can also buy freestanding patio umbrellas. They’re the cheapest and easiest source of shade and they’re also portable, allowing you to move them around your backyard. However, they’re not a suitable option if you’re looking to provide shade to a large area.
Consider a pop-up gazebo
A pop-up gazebo can be put up when you need some shade and taken down when you want to enjoy the sun. It could be the perfect option for providing temporary shelter to an outdoor living area. Gazebos come in all sizes, shapes and forms. Some come with heavy-duty waterproof fabric that can protect you from the rain and wind too.
Build a fixed canopy
A fixed canopy could provide shade to a specific area without the fuss of putting it up and taking it down. This could be a fixed wooden gazebo, a fabric awning or a metal freestanding canopy. You could even make it retractable (this could be operated by a pulley or operated electronically). The options are limitless – by hiring contractors you can build a canopy designed to your specs. You could even build it yourself – there are many places online where you can find materials for metal canopies and timber for wooden gazebos.
Plant trees
Trees can provide a natural source of shade. You’ll help to invite wildlife into your backyard and the air will feel cleaner. There are companies that you can buy trees from – some of these companies can help plant the tree for you. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to buy a fully-grown tree unless you’re buying a relatively small tree, so there may be some patience required while the tree grows to full height. Planting a tree could have an impact on your neighbours, so make sure to check the decision with them first.
Raise fences and hedges
You may also be able to raise fences and hedges to provide some extra shade and possibly some extra privacy. This could prevent the need for overhead structures. You should definitely check your neighbours are happy with the decision to raise the fence/hedges before going ahead.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Career Discussions and Health/Wellness. Regardless of which career you are in, stress can be detrimental to anyone’s health. In some instances it’s the career that’s causing one stress. The following contributed post is entitled, Are You Struggling With Stress At Work? Here’s What To Do.
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You might find that you are experiencing stress in the workplace. Job satisfaction is at a low point right now so this isn’t particularly uncommon. The main thing is that you act on it and make the right changes and there are numerous steps that you can take here. Remember, if you do nothing then stress will begin to impact various aspects of your health. It can hurt you mentally and physically. So, what steps should you take?
If you are feeling stressed at work, then it might be worth speaking to your employer or your boss. Remember, they do have a level of responsibility here. Part of their role in ensuring that they are supporting you both mentally and physically. Of course, if you are struggling with the workload or you feel like you are under too much pressure, you should speak up. Many will avoid doing this because they are often worried that it will put their job at risk. However, ideally, your employer should provide you with a solution that will help you cope with your role more effectively while maintaining your position.
Find A Different Position
Of course, it is possible that what you need to do here is find a different position or even explore a new industry. This could be the case if you are struggling constantly and you feel as though your current position is no longer the right choice for you. It can be difficult and even frightening to start again in your career, but sometimes it can be worth taking this step. At the very least, you might want to consider working for a different company. This could be worth doing if you find that you get no support from your employer when you bring this issue forward.
Seek Professional Support
If you are struggling with your mental health, then you might also want to seek professional support. The benefit of doing this is that you will be able to get to the root of the issue. It’s possible that you don’t fully understand why you feel stressed. If that’s the case then a telehealth service can help here. You can work with an expert to dig deep into what you are feeling and how it is impacting you.
Try Exercise
It’s a simple option but you might find that exercise does benefit you if you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed at work. The reason for this is that exercise provides you with a way to work off the tension and get better. It offers a possibility of how you can relax through the day because you will be working on yourself. It is possible to workout in your office with certain exercises or simply go for a run in your lunch break. Either of these options could be highly beneficial to you in the long run.
We hope this helps you understand some of the best ways to tackle stress in the workplace and ensure that you do improve your physical and mental wellbeing at the same time.
Two focuses of my blog are Health/Wellness and Technology. Many illnesses and conditions that made life unbearable a century ago are now treatable and curable due to technology. What’s also true is that our new medical technologies are driving down the costs of healthcare. The following contributed post is entitled, Technology Is Finally Pushing Down Healthcare Costs. Thank Goodness.
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Experts evaluating the costs of healthcare tell us that it is nothing but up, up, up from here on out. The prices of advanced technology combined with an aging population mean that we have no choice but to bite the financial bullet. As the health of the nation deteriorates, the cost of medicine will go up. There’s no way around it.
But is this the whole truth? Is there really nothing we can do to push down the cost of healthcare?
It turns out that technology may hold the answer to the problem. While it is still early days, there are indications the tech – as applied to the medical industry – will likely have the same effect as it does everywhere else: namely, bringing costs down.
Telehealth Brings Down Costs Tremendously
Imagine if you could connect with a doctor and talk to them via the internet, no matter where you were in the world. A technology like that could dramatically bring down the costs of medicine.
Think about it. When doctors operate using telehealth systems, they no longer have to be tethered to an expensive clinic. Instead, they can work from wherever they like, eliminating transport and overhead costs. There’s no longer a need to charge fees to pay rent or anything like that. It is just a direct transfer of services via the world wide web.
Furthermore, Delaware County telehealth research indicates that there is no substantive difference between in-person and online appointments. Patients get the same quality of care, regardless. So could this be a technology of the future? Almost certainly.
Anti-Aging Medications Could Prevent Disease
Experts believe healthcare costs will spiral out of control in the coming years because of the aging population. As millennials retire, they will get all the same expensive health conditions as boomers, and the nation’s finances will deteriorate.
But that logic assumes that aging is an inexorable force we can do nothing about. It is not. In fact, there are already techniques that you can use to improve the chance that you will live considerably longer than otherwise.
Basics such as diet and exercise are one option. But researchers at Harvard and The University of California are making headway in their quest to find chemicals that tap into anti-aging pathways. You can already buy a bunch of supplements based on the technology through Amazon, and many of them stand a good chance of working. It is the closest thing we have right now to a fountain of youth.
Cheaper Diagnostics Improves Efficiency
Diagnosing patients is costly. Doctors have to take samples and then ship them to expensive labs where paid technicians carry out the tests. The whole process is long and time-consuming.
The emergence of cheap diagnostic devices, however, could change all that. Instead of requiring an entire lab, technology miniaturized it down to the size of a large office printer, thus reducing the cost. Physicians can then take samples, feed them into the machine, and get an output they can interpret for diagnosis.
A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. There are some things that we will all experience if we live long enough. Even if you’re one of the lucky ones to have the majority of your health later in life, there are health problems associated with aging. The following contributed post is entitled, The Health Problems Most Associated with Aging.
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As we get older, there are things that we all experience and go through. If you’re supporting an elderly relative and you want to make sure that they stay as healthy as they can be now and going forward, or you’re thinking about your own health, there are some things to understand. We’re going to talk about the health problems most associated with the aging process, so read on now to find out more.
Visual Impairment
Visual impairment is a health problem that old people often experience. Our senses all reduce as we get older and that’s just a part of how our health changes over time. So making sure that elderly people get their eyes tested and checked regularly is important in order to ensure the right treatments are provided. As we get older, we’re more and more likely to need to use glasses, even if we haven’t needed them earlier in life.
Oral Health Issues
Seeing a dentist also becomes more important when you get older. There are lots of oral health and dental health problems that have the potential to develop in later life and it’s something that you’ll want to stay on top of, either for yourself or an elderly relative you’re seeking to look after better. Make sure that you or the relative you’re concerned about attend dental checkups two times per year.
Another sense that will start to decline over time is hearing. We all hear less as we get older and getting the right treatments for that is very important. Hearing aids can offer the solutions that you’re looking for and understanding hearing aid troubleshooting issues will help as well. Our hearing changes over time and it can decline further, so adjustments might need to be made to your hearing aid over time.
Increased Risk of Physical Injury
As we get older, we also become more likely to experience physical injury as a result of problems like falls. When you’re at risk of falling, it can knock your confidence a lot as well. This is something that can be combated in a variety of ways. For example, you might want to install grab rails in the home and ensure that any additional risks and threats are removed.
Cognitive Health
Cognitive decline is something that’s relatively common in later life. Making sure that the hearing problems we discussed above are dealt with appropriately is one of the most important things to do if you want to combat the threat of cognitive decline. Remaining mentally active and looking after all the other aspects of your health will also help to prevent further cognitive decline too.
All of these problems are commonly associated with aging and it’s up to you to make sure that you’re aware of their signs and symptoms, especially if you’re caring for an elderly relative. There’s help out there for all of these things and getting the right treatments as early on as possible definitely will make a difference.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Creating Ecosystems of Success and Health/Wellness. A little known secret of life is that accountability is critical. Accountability is an important but difficult attribute but it is essential. The following contributed post is entitled, Why Accountability Is So Important.
Whether it is at work or home, being accountable is a vital characteristic. Accountability is the foundation of honesty, compassion, integrity, and it will help you to build deeper and more meaningful relationships.
It’s a simple concept to be truly accountable. All it requires is for you to own everything that you do, and that happens to you. From your attitude and your actions to your communication and mistakes. While it is simple in its concept, it can be hard to apply this to all areas of your life, however without it you will make your life harder, potentially hurt people and, in the long term, you won’t live a full and rounded life.
Accountability in personal relationships is essential. It helps to diffuse arguments and strengthen love. Everyone makes mistakes; however, it is how we deal with these mistakes that matters. If you can hold your hands up, apologies to the person you love and truly understand why and how your actions have affected them, they are more likely to forgive you and move on. Many people will only focus on what matters to them. This is why a lot of marriages fail. Two people are unhappy, and they are trying to communicate what is hurting them, however, if only one person is accountable, then the relationship will become unbalanced. As one person grows, the other stays the same, and it is this which divides marriages and ends love. Put simply, someone who is accountable for their actions will outgrow the relationship if you cannot do the same.
We all make stupid mistakes from time to time. Maybe you went to help a friend who was upset, and you were doing a good deed. He offered you a drink, and you agreed. As the night went on, you had a few more, and without thinking, you drove home. All you could think about was being a good friend and getting back to your family. Unfortunately, if you are stopped, the police won’t be interested in any of that. You will end up with an OUI, and your licence will be taken away. However, if you show accountability, don’t focus on excuses for your actions but admit you should have said no to the first offer of a drink and made better arrangements. If you can prove to a judge that you are accountable for your actions, and you are sorry, then you may be able to obtain a hardship license. This could mean you are able to continue to drive under licence and not lose your job. Even the law respects accountability.
At work, it is vital. We are faced with many situations in our working day that could leave us feeling bitter and resentful. Imagine you went for a promotion, you had been at the company for a long time, and you were confident that you were good enough for the position. However, your boss tells you that he has hired someone else. Instead of losing sleep over it and letting it lower your productivity, you need to speak to your boss and listen to his decisions. Listen to what he tells you, perhaps there are things you do at work that need to be improved. If you don’t find out, then you will never know and you won’t be able to improve yourself or achieve the fantastic things you are capable of. If after listening to his decisions, you still believe your boss is wrong, then accept that it is his choice and the consequences of making the wrong decision lie with him. Let it go.
You may also find a situation where one of your colleagues criticizes you. Perhaps they say that your team doesn’t think you listen and that you always seem to communicate negatively. If you defend your actions, then you will only enforce their thoughts. An accountable person will seek to listen and understand. If we make people feel a certain way, then it’s essential to know why. You should always thank someone who has the guts to talk to you; it’s tough to criticize someone, especially if you have to work with them every day.
Being accountable isn’t just about doing the right thing for other people. It is about understanding who you are and how you are perceived. Having the strength of character to question, listen and accept will make you a popular person to be around. Your life will feel much happier, and you will move forward instead of staying in the same place your whole life.
Two of the key focuses of my blog are Health/Wellness and Technology. Society is facing unprecedented challenges in the area of interpersonal relationships between the sexes. In large part it’s a combination of changed gender norms and the coming of technologies such as dating apps. The following contributed post is entitled, Do Dating Apps Undermine Our Ability.
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On the face of it, dating apps seem like a great idea. Everyone posts a short advert about themselves, along with a few pictures. Then they use it to reach out to like-minded, compatible people.
But when you delve into the psychology of it a little deeper, you soon realize that things aren’t as rosy as they sound.
In the past, people didn’t choose each other a la carte. Instead, romantic encounters were happenstance events. People met in all sorts of weird and unusual situations, and, importantly, it happened in real life.
Dating apps subvert the process of finding a lover. Daters get to compare each other like products in the grocery store, inspecting people and comparing them to each other. Apps have made the process of finding love more akin to shopping, and less like organic and real.
Data suggests that these apps are changing our behaviors. When we liked somebody in the past, we had to muster the courage to fire up a conversation with them. The price of engagement was the fear of rejection. You never knew whether the object of your desire would feel the same or even entertain a conversation with you.
Theoretically, the same is true of dating apps. But there’s a big difference between clicking a button that says “wave” and marching across a room and talking to a stranger. Apps mean that we’re now less invested in love than ever before.
The second problem is how apps turn dating into a marketplace. Sure, we’ve always had beautiful, intelligent, wealthy, and influential people who have their pick of the bunch. But never have we had a situation where you can compare two people so directly, like on a price comparison website, and choose the best deal for you.
Dating apps also have a fundamental business problem that works against their customers: successfully matching people is not in their interest. The moment you find love, you stop searching for a new partner and cancel your subscription. Agencies, therefore, continually send you emails, showing you all the juicy new people with whom you could have a romantic fling. It’s a constant temptation, and it distracts you from the primary object of your affections.
Dating apps are also dangerous. Some criminals have received 15 years in prison as a result of their actions. This risk is also making people more suspicious of other users, making it more challenging to get things off the ground. People are reluctant to meet up.
Perhaps the old way of doing things was better. Research now shows that relationships that start in-person are much more likely to survive than those that don’t. Furthermore, people who use dating apps are more likely to report mental health problems than those who don’t, perhaps because of the emotional brutality of the scene.
Whatever the case, it is unlikely dating apps will be going anywhere, anytime soon. The coronavirus lockdown means that these services are the only way that many people are going to be able to find love. All the usual venues are closed.
