Virtual World Anxiety – Screen Time

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Limiting screen time is indeed a crucial step in mitigating the impact of gaming and social media on mental health. Here are some practical strategies to help reduce screen time effectively:

1. Set Clear Boundaries

Tip: Establish specific times of the day when you will not use screens. Example: Designate the first hour after waking up and the last hour before bed as screen-free times.

2. Use Screen Time Management Tools

Tip: Utilize built-in features on your devices or third-party apps to monitor and limit screen time. Example: Apps like Screen Time (iOS) or Digital Wellbeing (Android) can help you set daily limits for specific apps and track your usage.

3. Schedule Regular Breaks

Tip: Follow the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet away. Example: Set a timer to remind you to take these breaks, which can reduce eye strain and mental fatigue.

4. Engage in Offline Activities

Tip: Find hobbies and activities that don’t involve screens to fill your free time. Example: Reading a book, going for a walk, practicing a sport, or engaging in creative activities like drawing or playing a musical instrument.

5. Create a Screen-Free Environment

Tip: Designate certain areas of your home as screen-free zones. Example: Keep screens out of the dining room to encourage family meals without distractions.

6. Prioritize Face-to-Face Interactions

Tip: Make an effort to spend more time with friends and family in person. Example: Plan regular meet-ups, game nights, or outdoor activities to strengthen your social connections without relying on screens.

7. Reflect on Your Screen Time Usage

Tip: Regularly assess how much time you spend on screens and how it affects your well-being. Example: Keep a journal to note your screen time habits and any changes in your mood or productivity.

Benefits of Limiting Screen Time

  • Improved Mental Health: Reducing screen time can lower anxiety and stress levels, leading to better overall mental health.
  • Better Sleep: Less screen time, especially before bed, can improve sleep quality and duration.
  • Increased Productivity: Spending less time on screens can free up time for more productive and fulfilling activities.
  • Enhanced Relationships: More face-to-face interactions can strengthen personal relationships and social bonds.

By implementing these strategies, you can create a healthier balance between screen time and other aspects of your life, ultimately improving your mental well-being. Have you tried any of these strategies before, or are there any new ones you’re interested in trying?

Virtual World Anxiety – Mindfulness

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Practicing mindfulness and self-awareness can be incredibly effective in managing the emotional rollercoaster that comes with instant rewards and failures in gaming and social media. Here are some practical ways to incorporate these practices into daily life:

Mindfulness Techniques

  • Breathing Exercises: Simple breathing exercises can help calm the mind and reduce anxiety. Try the 4-7-8 technique: inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds.
  • Meditation: Regular meditation can increase self-awareness and emotional regulation. Apps like Headspace or Calm offer guided meditations that are great for beginners.
  • Mindful Observation: Take a few moments each day to observe your surroundings without judgment. This can help ground you in the present moment and reduce stress.

Self-Awareness Practices

  • Journaling: Writing down your thoughts and feelings can help you understand your emotional responses better. Reflect on what triggers your anxiety and how you can manage it.
  • Emotional Check-Ins: Regularly check in with yourself to assess how you’re feeling. Ask yourself questions like, “What am I feeling right now?” and “Why am I feeling this way?”
  • Mindful Breaks: Take short breaks throughout the day to pause and reflect. This can help you stay aware of your emotional state and prevent burnout.

Benefits of Mindfulness and Self-Awareness

  • Reduced Anxiety: By becoming more aware of your emotional responses, you can better manage anxiety and stress.
  • Improved Focus: Mindfulness can help improve concentration and focus, making it easier to work towards long-term goals.
  • Enhanced Emotional Regulation: Self-awareness allows you to understand and regulate your emotions, leading to better decision-making and resilience.

Incorporating these practices into your daily routine can help you navigate the challenges of instant rewards and failures, ultimately leading to a more balanced and fulfilling life. Have you tried any mindfulness techniques before? If so, what has worked best for you?

Virtual world Anxiety

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The instant gratification and unpredictability of rewards in video gaming and social media can indeed contribute to heightened anxiety and insecurity, especially among younger generations. Here are a few key points on how these platforms could impact younger generations:

  1. Instant Rewards and Failures: In both gaming and social media, the outcomes of our actions are immediate and often unpredictable. This can create a cycle of short-term highs and lows, making it difficult to plan and strategize for long-term goals.
  2. External Validation: Success or failure in these virtual worlds is often determined by external factors—game coders or social media followers—rather than our own efforts. This can lead to feelings of helplessness and anxiety.
  3. Impact on Long-Term Planning: The focus on immediate rewards can undermine our ability to plan and work towards long-term goals, as the constant need for instant validation can distract from more meaningful pursuits.
  4. Insecurity and Anxiety: The high exposure to failure and the pressure to succeed in these virtual environments can lead to increased anxiety and insecurity, affecting mental health and well-being.

How bad is this going to affect the younger generation on their path to success?

Hi Tech Con-artist

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Con-artists targeting older individuals to take over their property or wealth as they get old usually happens within family or sometime by a friend.

Below is an incident where it happens using technology by person who you have never met or do not even know.

Two days back I came to know of an individual who was kept almost in a hostage using technology and HiTech Cons where trying to empty the elderly persons hard earned money kept for his old age. It all started as below so please read and be careful about this type of emails.

Fishing – An email (Bait) comes in stating the person is been charged $500 for a service the person never used with Paypal. With the email subject stating it as a payment processed. Content of the email is about the reason for the payment made with a fake number to call Paypal (Fake) customer support to correct it.

As soon as seeing this the individual calls the number in the email and here is where it starts.

Member 1 pretends to be Paypal (Fake) employee and takes the call. Starts the apologizing process how it has happened by mistake and (Fake) Paypal would refund the money immediately and is going to be connecting the call to a person who will takeover this issue serious and will refund the money immediate.

Member 2 who pretend to initiate the process and tells the person he is going to be sending a link to initiate the refund process. As soon the person clicks the link your system (computer) is under their control. Now, they also show a popup and make you type $500 to initiate the refund. When the elderly type the amount they add additional few more “0”s to it to make it look like he or she typed $50,000 instead of $500. Another apology (this time from Member 2) happens and this time they want to help you in refunding the $49,500 which now you owe them. Now Member 2 makes it look like it is a fault happened when the elder person typed and make it look like it is the elderly person’s fault. Now he wants to help the elder fix it so he transfers the call to the Senior Tech Con – Member 3.

Member 3 comes as a savior now and starts talking as if he is there to help you in fixing your mistake and talks very friendly and keeps the elderly engaged in the call. In the meantime since they have already taken control of the system a team in the backend (not sure how many) is studying all your other browser to learn about you and bank accounts if any as they know you have your passwords are saved in it or you have kept the browser open.

They ask the elderly person to login to their own bank as if they are going to help them to transfer the excess money wired by accident from fake Paypal and now they have access to their bank account also.

They make you open a “Notepad” and they type the wire details for a bank in Hong Kong where they want you to send the money to resolve the issue with fake Paypal payment. They ask you to turn on the printer to print wiring details for you and they want you to call the banker to do a telephone wire request. They suggest on what need to be told if the banker asks the reason for the wire transfer request- “I am very sick and this money has to go out as it is for a real-estate deal which is very urgent”

Luckily in the incident I have narrated above someone intervened and stopped the progress.

Family or friend Con-artist usually take few years to lure a elderly person but here they are keeping hostage of the elder person for 4 to 5hrs. The elderly person almost gets into a duress state (Stockholm syndrome) that the elderly want to resolve the issue asap so they could be relieved out of the problem. During the whole conversation the elder person is made sure not to call or talk to any other person at home. They are doing this by repeatedly saying “I am here to Help you as I am a honest person” “If I do not solve this problem I will loss my job”

Con-Artist once happened in person now has started using technology to their advantage and now have become smarter. If you have elders at home please make sure to talk to them about this so they are aware of this sought of criminals who need to be in jail.

  • First step they will put you in a weak spot
  • Pretend to help as soon as they feel you have started to believe them
  • Make you feel you did something wrong
  • Make you feel guilty of a mistake you did not do
  • Showing a way how to help them
  • Lure them and make you do what they want you to do

I am not a professional writer and the above content is done for awareness.

Telemedicine

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I was catching up with a friend of mine earlier in the day who happened to have her very first telemedicine consultation with her primary care physician today.   So out of curiosity, I ask her how was her experience and what was her opinion on telemedicine in comparison to her regular office visit?

She reported that it was more convenient as now there was no huge wait time like while visiting the doctor’s practice and a person didn’t need to be physically present at the office to see the doctor; but when rating the personal connection during the visit, she said office visit was better.

So what went wrong with this new mode of consultation called as Telemedicine?

During the conversation, the doctor was almost all the time occupied with computer entering data into it and failed on the facetime and eye contact that we are used to and so much expect.

Why does this matter?  Patients need this eye contact from their physicians while they are trying to explain their health issues to get assurance that their concerns are being heard. When this personal connection is lost, the patient feels like their issues are not heard and the patient is not confident or content with the treatment plan given to them without making any reassuring eye contact.

Is it a healthy practice? Definitely not. As disconnection would lead to the patient not being able to engage with their providers with confidence which results in loss of comfort and care.

The patient feels the doctor is more involved in filling their EHR documentation than listening to what the patient has to say.

EHR documentation takes a major chunk of a physician’s time in a practice, but what is the point in having the best documentation when patient engagement is lost?

Let us say if the doctor gives the full facetime and does the reporting after the visit or at the end of the day, will the provider be able to recollect the relevant and vital information from the visit to be fed into the EHR?

Vital signs recording and blood work, what happens to this? – Do come to our office to get this done. Next question would be then why need this telemedicine consult?

There are apps available for recording the vitals of a patient, but these come at a price where the question would be whether the patient would have to pay for it or is covered under patient’s medical insurance?

My friend’s virtual visit with her physician lasted 25 minutes and there was a co-pay of $75 charged to her credit card.  So, are people ready to pay this price for a virtual visit???

  • How long is it going to take for Telemedicine to change into an acceptable healthcare practice model?
  • How successful is it going to be in long run?
  • Will adaptation change on what can be expected?

Small Business Family

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This happened a few years back when I had a chance to talk to one of my employees’ son who I happened to meet at one of our company get-togethers.

I noticed this young man to be extremely energetic and smart. 

I was rather surprised to find him this active as his dad was quite the opposite of being the most silent employee who has been with us for almost 14 years now.

So in the conversation with the kid I ask what his grand plans were for the future and he replied saying he would want to be an engineer some day and then I started reasoning with his father as to why his son wants to be an engineer though he is a topper in class. 

On a casual talk previously at the office with the employees, we were discussing about the pros and cons of becoming an engineer and my advice to my employee was “just let him do what he is happy about and he will do it good” and that is where we left.

Years passed and one fine day when I stepped into the office, I see this young enthusiastic son’s Father running towards me with a big smile across his face and he stated he couldn’t be more happier because his son will be joining one of the best colleges in town.  I could see his happiness had no bounds while he conveyed the good news to me.
Watching my employee realizing his son’s dream, I felt this immense Joy as if it was my own personal achievement like I had studied for him to get into a top college or as if it was my accomplishment even though I had no part in it other than the fact that the boy’s father works for me.

I realized this is the happiness which every business owner should be experiencing when something good happens with employees’ and their families.

As years pass, we start looking at employees who have been with us for so long as if they are an extended family.

During this unexpected hardship of economic crisis caused by the Novel COVID-19, it is hard as a business owner to decide on how or whom to hold in this extended family, and  hopefully, we get the wisdom, courage, and strength to survive this sudden slump. 

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Business Boost

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Yesterday I happened to get a testimony from one of my clients and it read as mentioned below. 

“I have been using the transcription service for over 20 years. The MTs are excellent and I dont waste any time in reviewing once the reports are back. It is a 24-hour turn-around-time, very fast and efficient. Our reports are often very complicated, but the transcriptionists are able to keep up without mistakes. I am very happy with the service and hence have continued with them for over 20 years.” – Dr. Sunita J, CA

As a company it feels nice to have a happy client who shares their positive  experience and writes us a few words of appreciation.  I can say it was without a doubt one of the most happiest moments of my life and it is nothing less than a reward on running my business SV Meditrans, Inc., offering medical documentation management solutions (Transcription, Scribing, Data migration and Staffing).

As a small-business, we bear a major part of the repercussions caused by recessions/ disasters / pandemics like the one we are presenting fighting against the COVID-19.  During this downtime, we hear more about Testkit, Treatments, and Vaccination for us humans. Is there anything a business expects other than money to boost?

In my 20 years of business, we have survived 4 major Recessions/ Disasters (2000, 2001, 2008, 2017) along with my own personal tribulation of losing my mother to MI in 2011.

A kind word of support or a note of thanks means a lot for small businesses to bring back the diminishing vigour and boost their strength.

So do try to take a few minutes off your busy time to send a small note, to share your experience in being associated to show your support which can encourage them to tide above the current crisis situation.  Kind words are short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless, so do share your thoughts on the google review section to help boost our morale.

Every business owner needs the support of it’s clients to keep the DNA of the business intact so he/ she can emerge out of this difficult situation and restart where it stopped. 

Dr. Dinesh Moses – COO

SV Meditrans, Inc. – www.svmeditrans.com

Medical Scribing

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EHR documentation had put Medical Doctors into a state of not able to focus on their patients if they do it in the examination room or taking excess hours to work on reports which puts them into unwanted stress of working extra hours after seeing the patients.

Dicta scribe: The doctor could dictate what he wants to be typed into the EHR and an assistant could complete it latter on, final reviewed by the doctor once report done and signed off . This could be either in a live process or done as a recorded dictation.

Data Scribe: Data send to the scribe in a hard copy as filled by the doctors while seeing the patients and this could be final sent to a scribe to put in the details to the relevant fields in the EMR which could be latter final reviewed by the doctor and closed.

Live Scribe: No dictation nor data transferred but a live scribe will be listening to the “Doctor/ Patient” conversation and will do the reports. This would require certain comprehensive capability for the scribe to understand the session between the Doctor/ patient to pick exactly what would be required for the EHR.

Conclusion: Scribing could take the typing burden out of the hands of the doctors. It does requires the doctors to do final review of the reports done before they final sign it for it to be considered as a meaningful use.

Manoa Hiking- What I learned

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Location: Honolulu, HI
Length: 1.5 miles
Difficulty: Easy-Moderate
Duration: 1.5 hours
Elevation Gain: 554 ft

Covered with huge trees, the Trail Hike looked adventurous. It rained on the day of hiking. Hence I was informed that the trail was going to be slippery and I have to be careful. As it was drizzling, I decided to buy a cap and had my left knee braces in place to hold my weak knee.  The guide provided us a walking stick and a poncho as a rain coat. I began my walk. This time my wife decided to stay back which left me with no choice but to do it all alone from the beginning to the end.

Walking amidst green forest, that too in drizzling was fabulous. But the pathway was not flat nor it had the side metal rail to hold on. Walking in such a scenario seemed the major challenge for my hiking this time. I wasn’t also aware of the distance and inclination I might have to face during the walk. I did take it as a challenge. As usual, the walk was fine at starting but things started changing once the climbing was onset.  It was impossible to segment my path due to huge trees and plants on the way. I had no clue about when to stop but decided to run a mind clock to have a halt at every 5 minutes whenever I could find a place to stop in the narrow path.

Bored of walking alone, this time I decided to do a small study to find out how people would answer to a person (Totally a stranger) like me when I ask them questions like, “Am I almost there?” “Do you think I could make it?” I picked 4 different race to get the answers at a different interval who where all returning back.  I am not going to reveal which answer belongs to which race but chances are there you might guess right. This has nothing to put any race down or one better than the other but just to see how the cultural behavior pattern varies from different culture while responding to a stranger.

Below are the responses i got from 4 different individuals from 4 different race.

  1. First Person – With a big smile – “You are almost there, worth the hike to see the fall…keep going…”
  2. Second Person – This person felt I was about to ask a question so decided to see somewhere else and walked off, I was standing there with no answer.
  3. Third Person – With no friendly smile, “You are more than half way, then there will be a steep walk and then you will get close to the falls”
  4. Fourth Person – Gave a harsh look and asked “What?” When I repeated my question the answer was “You still have 75% more to go.”

Single trail, four different persons and four different responses

  1. Encouraging, Friendly
  2. Leave me alone attitude
  3. Accurate, detail focused but did not express it in a friendly way
  4. Harsh, I am a celebrity leave me alone attitude

Fun part of my hike was finishing the trail by seeing the beautiful water falls. I think, if I missed any of the following points, who knows, how tough my hike would have been!

  • Organizers Suggestion to take a walking stick for support and a poncho for being safe in rain – Expert opinion
  • My preparation with knee braces and a cap to avoid the rain – Preparation
  • Even though it was a mixed type of responses, an approximation on how close I am to my destination did help the progress – Random opinion on progress

Diamond Head Hiking- what I learned

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Location: Honolulu, HI
Length: 1.6 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Easy-Moderate
Duration: 2 hours
Elevation Gain: 990 ft

The trail started around 5:30 am. After parking the car, my wife and I decided to do the trail together and take it slow as our sons decided to walk fast.

One knee in pain, with knee braces and with no exposure to hiking I started the walk. At one point of the trail, I was able to see the Title whole path and it was so steep when looked from the bottom. The first thing struck my mind was “I am in no way going to make it, should I quit it now or after a while”? Since I needed my walk for the day, I decided not to quit and started my walk with my wife.

“You can’t make it” screamed my mind. I walked, and the destination extended far and far the more I walked. My concerned wife asked me if we should go back and added flavor to my decision of “quit and go back”. The first part I decided was to remove the flavor, so I told my wife why don’t you walk fast and join our sons, when I could do it slow and in worst case I will halt. She too felt that’s a good idea and started her walk.

I sat in a spot and glanced at the destination which was like a Himalayan peak now. Now the question was, how can I do this with a painful knee? A great idea came in mind, how about using a milestone process in place and see! Here it is distance to be covered and not time. I decided to split the track into 4 segments. As I Finish each segment, I will go for a small halt to relax. I also decided to use the metal trail to hold and move so I could use my hand as well for my walk.

All these played a role in me being able to complete this task

  • Making sure I had my knees held on place firm with my knee brace. – PREPARATION
  • Allowing my wife to move forward so I don’t get into the comfort zone – AVOID COMFORT ZONE
  • Splitting the trail into segments – STRATEGIC PLAN
  • Utilizing the metal trail bar to move with my hands –MAX UTILIZATION OF TOOLS

Well, the journey was slow and delayed, but I am proud I was able to do it. The result was I wanted to do more, and I had gone for the next one in two days.