Welcome to Gail’s Monthly Three; a short monthly list of my three favorite links from around the web.  Enjoy!

The Gottman Method is my preferred method for couples counseling because it's incredibility effective.  A really good book to read written by John Gottman is: Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work

Check out the Values Statement from The National Registry of Marriage Friendly Therapists.  I love this because it supports healthy marriage and not toxic ones!  Check out the National Registry of Marriage Friendly Therapist web site. While you’re there you can review my profile. 

As a Licensed Practitioner for Motivational Maps, I can’t say enough about this amazing tool.  A short, science-backed survey helps folks understand what's motivating them and how motivated they are. It makes the invisible visible!  

Happy Friday!  

Have you ever found yourself browsing your Facebook newsfeed before your feet have hit the floor in the morning?  I don’t know about you, but with my alarm clock on my phone and my charger next to my bed, it sure is easy to burn the first thirty minutes of my day scrolling through statuses and responding to comments!

One of the biggest challenges I face (and I have a hunch you might too) is the magnetic pull of social media first thing in the morning.  

As a therapist, I find myself talking a lot about healthy balance.  With the advent of social media and mobile devices, it’s easy to find ourselves inundated with information…and those pesky little red notifications.  When we’re not careful, the scales of balance start to tip towards our social media news feeds.   Before we know it,  we’ve surrendered our hot shower and healthy breakfast to Instagram or Facebook.  

Social media is part of the fabric of our lives, so it’s probably not practical to completely banish all social media use first thing in the morning.  At the same time, there are things we can do to start our day with social media in a balanced way.  

Here are my five tips on how to balance starting your day with social media:

1.)  Opt out of mobile notifications.  Those red notification badges that show up on our mobile apps can heighten our curiosity and create a false sense of urgency.  All mobile social media apps have settings in which you can opt out of those badges!  Use them!

2.)  Remove mobile apps.  If you want to take this one step further, you can remove social media apps on your mobile devices and save social media time for the computer only.  The barrier of sitting down to my laptop and logging in the old-fashioned way helps me control my impulse to constantly check my newsfeed.  I also find that I actually enjoy my social media time more when I’m sitting down with a cup of coffee at my desk during a special set-aside time.  
3.)  Set a timer.  If neither of the first two options are realistic for you, simply try setting a timer for ten or fifteen minutes on your phone and browse away under those warm covers!  When the timer goes off, it’s time to move! And by move, I mean get up and get out bed.  Don’t just move to another comfortable position in the bed. I know no one’s been guilty of this, just saying...ha!


4.)  Use it as a reward.  One method I’ve had a lot of success with is using my morning social media time as a reward.  I set a goal to be twenty minutes early to wherever I need to be.  Once I’ve finished my morning routine and arrived at my destination, I use those extra twenty minutes to relax and browse.  

5.)  Don’t use the nightstand to charge your phone.    A simple, yet effective way to find balance in the morning with social media is to simply get away from having your phone at your nightstand.   Set up your phone to charge at a different outlet in your room…or better yet, dust off your old digital alarm clock and charge your phone in another room altogether!  This is even better.  

Do you have any tips for balancing starting your morning with social media?  I would love to hear them!