Mindful Tech Coach

Today I'm reviewing an app for Android and Apple devices called Forest, which is a great example of the growing range of apps that try to change your tech habits and give you more mindfulness and less screentime. On a related note, I was at the checkout line at the pharmacy the other day and I picked up this Time Magazine special edition about Mindfulness, and it has two good articles about digital distraction and mindfulness. The first one called "Devices Mess with Your Brain," by Markham Heid, quotes MIT neuroscience professor Earl Miller on what's called the "switch cost" to your brain of of changing your focus. And the second article, called "...So give yourself an I-Break" by Ellen Seidman, actually has a lot to do with our app review today. One of Seidman's recommendations is what she calls getting a "digital babysitter," and that's one way to describe what apps like Forest can do for you. As we talked about in my previous podcast episode, on unplugging from Facebook, unplugging from your your usual s