Mental Health & Tech

🏰 Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries

Eliminate the low-level, continuous stress and anxiety caused by the constant availability and anticipation of work-related notifications.

Temporarily delete high-anxiety work apps (Gmail, Google Calendar, district portals) from your personal devices. This requires a conscious, multi-step effort to check work, preventing accidental or habitual opening. These are all cloud-based, so you're not deleting it forever!

Can't bring yourself to delete them?

Pause those notifications during your personal time. I absolutely adore Focus Mode on my iPhone, and Android has Digital Wellbeing to keep them at bay.

🌲 Recharge Outdoors

It won't be in the negatives the whole time (hopefully)!

Sometimes the best way to reset your brain is to get outside, even if it’s just for a quick walk. Fresh air, a change of scenery, and a few quiet minutes away from screens can do wonders for your mood and energy.

One way that I discover new places to hike and walk is AllTrails, a free app and website that helps you discover walking, hiking, and biking trails near you. You can filter by distance, difficulty, kid‑friendly, dog‑friendly, and more, then see reviews and photos from other users.

📆 Schedule "No Tech" Times

Intentionally block out chunks of time on your personal calendar with absolutely no technology. Avoid filling it with binge-watching Hallmark movies, doomscrolling TikTok, or the egregious, grading assignments. This is time for spontaneity, daydreaming, or simply being still.

Add it to your calendar and label it something like “Tech‑Free Reset” or “Offline Quiet Time.”

Treat it as non‑negotiable.

Pair it with something grounding: a short walk, sitting by a window with a coffee or tea, reading a physical book (what?!?), journaling, or just breathing and doing nothing.

👯‍♂️ Intentionally Reconnect

Call or text that friend or family member.

Enjoy time together.

That's all.

🏆 Take Note of Your Wins

Celebrate the small wins you make daily towards being the best version of you, not the big ideas we never get to. Focus on tiny, consistent steps and systems instead of big, lofty goals.

(Not Boring) Habits is a habit-building app for iPhone and iPad that focuses on helping you actually change your behavior, not just check off a to‑do list. Instead of streaks and guilt, it uses behavioral science, playful design, and game-like progression to make forming (or breaking) habits feel like a fun, visual journey. Oh yeah, it's free. I don't like paying for apps.

Discovery Education Immersive Learning is an online educational experience portal designed to bring deeper, hands-on engagement into classrooms through immersive digital tools. It’s part of Discovery Education’s suite of learning resources.

The idea is to deepen student focus and connection to subject matter by creating engaging, multi-sensory learning moments that go beyond traditional lecture and textbook methods. Educators use these tools to bring abstract concepts to life, whether in STEM, history, language arts, or other subjects.

Although their Sandbox AR interactive lessons require an app download on iPad or Google Play, there are still plenty of ways for learning through play with TimePod Adventures, interactives, and games with a learning purpose.

Check 'em out!

In two places at one time!

View two tabs side by side—without all the dragging and resizing!

Split View lets you open two sites or apps in the same tab, so you can, for example, keep your curricular materials visible while you use the AI chatbot of your choice as your assistant.

Right‑click on the tab at the top of your screen and give it a try!