Feeling Overwhelmed? Try this simple technique to Turn Down the Noise.

Feeling overwhelmed lately? If you are, you are not alone. Being overwhelmed is a prevalent feeling this Mental Health Awareness Month in both the workplace and at home. Digital Wellness Author and Human Connection Expert Mark Ostach has been overwhelmed with requests by employers to provide mental health programs for their employees in the hybrid workplace. 

According to a March 2022 survey by the American Psychological Association, 87% of Americans feel like there is a constant stream of crises over the past two years of the pandemic.  American adults reported feeling emotionally overwhelmed and fatigued, with 87% agreeing that it “feels like there has been a constant stream of crises without a break over the last two years.” 

“Whether it be with work, family, health, or just life in general, we all can feel overwhelmed at some point,” shares Ostach. “It is important to recognize that a hybrid workplace, COVID-19 pandemic and inflation have made things complicated and it can be difficult to handle all of our responsibilities at the same time.”

HALT Method

When we are feeling overwhelmed,  Ostach encourages us to take a moment to HALT to take care of your overall mental and physical health. HALT is German word that means, Stop. It’s also an acronym that reminds you to stop and ask yourself, “Am I Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired? If you say yes to one or more of these items it’s probably a great time to stop and take a break. The mindfulness method comes from the recovery community but it can be applied beyond addiction. 

“When one of these areas is out of balance,  we need to take an internal inventory,“ said Ostach. “If you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired, you need to take a step back and take the steps necessary to address your need to protect yourself.” 


If Hungry, don’t just skip lunch and work right through it. Take a break and try to get a well balanced meal. If you don’t have time to make a meal, try making something simple like a smoothie. Just make sure you don’t load up on carbohydrates and sugar as this can have a counter effect.

If Angry, stop and breathe. Then ask yourself, “What am I holding onto in my mind that’s not serving me? What do I need to release?” This will help you anchor yourself in the current reality, not the thoughts making you angry that are probably rooted in the past or the future.

If Lonely, pick up the phone and call a friend or family member. Sometimes just talking to someone else is all we need to help when we are feeling lonely. And if you have the time, set up a cup of coffee or walk at the park. 

If Tired, take a 10 minute break and shut your eyes! All of the sensory overload from our devices and the media can make us feel more tired than we actually are. If shutting your eyes won’t work, go take a walk around the block and let the fresh air recharge your batteries. 

Turn Down Technique

According to Ostach, another tip to turn down the noise in our minds that’s making us overwhelmed is called a Turn Down Technique. H3 first heard about this technique in Jon Acuff’s book Soundtracks (a must read!).

Mark goes on to share that the Turn Down Technique don’t require an Amazon Prime account or a gym membership.   They are 5-25 minutes long and are typically physical in nature, flexible, fun and free such as going outside for a run.

“If you are having a hard time relaxing and quieting your mind, moving your body and using your hands are great ways to get out of your head. The Turn Down Technique is great to integrate into your daily routine.”

Turn Down Technique examples include:

  • Running
  • Jumping rope
  • Playing music
  • Prayer
  • Getting coffee with a friend
  • Taking a drive around the block
  • Making lists
  • Accomplishing minor tasks like doing the dishes
  • And many other things that are physical, flexible, fun, and free!

“Managing our mental health is critical and needs to be a priority. It is linked to physical, mental and emotional well-being. While we will be overwhelmed at certain times, the last couple years during the pandemic has put mental health in the spotlight. Do yourself a favor and establish a Turn Down Technique that works for you and the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, just HALT and take a break!”

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Five Ways to Make Sure Productivity is Visible in the Hybrid Workplace

How to Cultivate Hustle In 

a Hybrid Workplace

Five Ways to Make Sure Productivity is Visible

How can you ensure hustle is cultivated in your hybrid workplace? CEOs have raised concerns about remote workers embracing a hustle mentality but Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach said there are ways managers and their remote employees can work to create an arrangement that encompasses hustle in a hybrid office.

Companies are taking different approaches in moving to a hybrid workplace. Some employees divide their work week between the office and home. Ostach, author of  Courage to Connect™, works with business leadership to create a culture of connection in a hybrid workplace. According to Ostach, there are five ways to promote hustle in a hybrid workplace. 

“There is a stigma that remote employees are not ambitious and productive,” said Ostach. “The keys to building the hustle into a hybrid office is adapting a ‘moments that matter’ approach. Working in a hybrid office requires more planning and care. If your sales team is trying to close a deal, the priority should be for them to hold a face-to-face meeting. If your creative team is planning to launch a campaign, they should hold the first meeting in person. It comes down to planning ahead and being strategic for key moments that matter.”

Five Ways to Cultivate Hustle in the Hybrid Workplace:

  1. Prepare for Key Moments: Managers and remote employees should work together to develop a strategy to handle key moments. Sometimes a Zoom call will be sufficient but there will be bigger moments when a face-to-face meeting may be necessary. 
  1. Establish a flexible work routine: Flexibility is key for connection. Make sure your expectations are clear and performance is sustained while you stay flexible. Plans are likely to evolve over the next month and throughout the next year so anything set in stone is likely to be etched out.  Managers and remote employees should determine a work routine that fits for both parties. A standard 9-to-5 work day in-person may look different for remote workers. Stay flexible!
  1. Provide visibility of your work schedule: While remote employees may feel their lack of presence at the office may be determinantal, they should not burden their manager about every doctor appointment and errand they run. It is best to map out their week and write a summary about the gaps in their schedule and provide frequent check-ins. The key is to keep the check-ins concise and proactive in nature! 
  1. Be active on Mondays and Friday: It is no surprise that most remote employees prefer to work from home on Mondays and Fridays. To many managers, most sick days and person time occurs on Mondays and Fridays. For remote employees, it is important to manage perceptions that they are working on Mondays and Fridays from home. It is recommended for remote employees to respond to emails promptly, be responsive and proactive.
  1. Ask for Feedback: Managers should work hard to provide feedback regularly to remote employees. The best way to reduce friction is to keep in tune with your manager. If not, the remote employee should take the initiative and schedule time on their manager’s schedule. And remember, feedback is a gift! 

Ostach added that a workplace needs to compel people to want to return. The space needs to inspire collaboration, connection, creativity and a sense of belonging that people may have lost this past year. 

About Mark Ostach

Ostach’s goal is to restore energy and focus to organizations battling modern life’s non-stop pace and growing sense of disconnection.

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Four tips to prevent the winter blues

December 21 Winter Solstice Marks the Shortest Day Of the Year

Digital Wellness Expert Offers 4 Tips to Prevent the Winter Blues

The Winter Solstice on Tuesday, December 21 is the shortest day of the year and for many, it means the winter blues. Getting less than eight hours of daylight can trigger dark times, both physically and emotionally for people as millions of Americans struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  Author and Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach encourages you to reset your habits, particularly your digital wellness habits.

The winter solstice for the Northern Hemisphere happens at 10:59 a.m. Tuesday, December 21, according to Almanac.com. During that day, the sun travels its shortest path through our skies, resulting in only eight hours and 46 minutes of daylight. SAD can be any lasting change in mood that regularly occurs during particular seasons. 

“Becoming depressed with the shortened days of the winter months is most common,” says Ostach. “Some people welcome the beginning of winter and others dread this season. With fewer hours of sunlight, some of us have to take extra steps to cope with SAD.”

Ostach adds we need to reset our habit. 

“By recalibrating our habits, we can become not only more efficient and effective but reconnect internally and externally. This can help boost our mood and help deal with SAD better.”

Ostach offers four tips to cope with SAD:

  1. Protect your first 10 minutes & last 10 minutes of the day! Our minds are like sponges and thirst for things that are good when we wake and when we lay in bed at night. Be intentional about how you start and end your day.
  2. Get as much natural sunlight as possible. Vitamin D is critical for your overall well-being. Make sure to spend a few minutes outside when the sun is out. Even if that means stepping away from your TODO list. 
  3. Get fresh air and go out for a walk. Take your dog out for a walk or do some power walking and get the blood moving. 
  4. On days when you’re feeling down, reach out to someone. Don’t just Doom scroll on your phone, reach out to someone with a phone call or meet up for coffee & conversation. 

The good news is the days will slowly get longer as we inch toward the longest day of 2022, the summer solstice, on June 21. 

Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach in the News:

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How Being Vulnerable in the Workplace Can Help with Employee Connection

If you Really Knew Me…..

How Being Vulnerable Can Inspire 

Human Connection in a Hybrid Workplace

What started as a simple warm up exercise to encourage co-worker connection during the pandemic is gaining traction on reigniting human connection in a hybrid workplace.

Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach, keynote speaker and author of “Courage to Connect”, works to restore focus and bring digital wellbeing to organizations battling a growing sense of disconnection. 

He began using an icebreaker exercise called ‘If You Really Knew Me’ to help encourage social connection when employees worked remotely. Ostach begins the exercise by sharing personal insight about himself to the group such as, “If you really knew me, you would know….I have two kids, I experience seasonal depression, and I’m a huge Kenny G fan :)” The statements he shares range from being more informational to being more vulnerable.

18 months later, Ostach is amazed by the effectiveness and momentum of the exercise. He often receives feedback by former participants about how sharing things that are vulnerable in nature has brought them closer with their coworkers, some of whom they’ve never met in person.

“ ’If You Really Knew Me’ is like an icebreaker on steroids,” says Ostach. “It will take time for employees to get back in person and to connect beyond the surface. The exercise sparks virtual vulnerability and gets people connected right out of the gate. Inspiring connection in a hybrid workplace is key for fostering a culture of connection and helping employees learn to handle their stress in a healthy manner. 

It is critical for managers to demonstrate empathy for the changes employees are going through and understand ways to restore energy and team member interaction.”

Ostach adds the exercise is also good for managers to take some time to be more relational in their connections as opposed to being transactional with our interactions when we only focus on the task at hand. He stresses leaders need to be intentional with creating space for connection.

“I love witnessing leaders be vulnerable and connect with courage! I believe fostering ways to encourage social connection is going to be the most important skill as we move forward with the hybrid workplace. It also allows people to get to know each other more meaningfully. It’s a great supplement for the type of conversations that tend to happen at the water cooler or over a working lunch.” 

Ostach observes when the pandemic began in spring 2020, employees adapted to learning, living, and leading from home. While this has created flexibility and autonomy among teams, this can also create a sense of disconnection and isolation.

Responses from employees at Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurial startups included:

If You Really Knew Me You’d Know That…

  • I’m trying to approach middle age gracefully!
  • I was recently diagnosed with severe sleep apnea.
  • My mother died last month and I’m struggling to get out of bed.
  • I’ve been estranged from my brother for the past 20 years
  • I have 2 overweight cats that sleep by my home office while I work all day 

“The most impactful time spent facilitating virtual meetings is watching employees be more vulnerable and share their emotions,” shares Ostach. “ I’ve seen C-Level executives offer information in a global meeting that puts them in a place of trust and vulnerability as they’ve shared the recent passing of a parent. I’ve seen new hires get to know their team in short order by learning about personal facts through the ‘If you really knew me’ exercise. 

Ostah adds that, “If you really knew me, you’d know that It’s been such a joy to witness social connection through this exercise!”

Ostach helps people find the courage to connect—with themselves, their purpose, and with the people in their lives—both online and offline. Ostach’s goal is to restore energy and focus to organizations battling modern life’s non-stop pace and growing sense

of disconnection. He’s done this locally with organizations like DTE, Quicken Loans, Consumers, MEDC, & Honigman and nationally with global companies like BASF,  AllState, HItachi, and others. 

He’s on a mission to teach people healthy digital habits so they can improve their digital wellness and create deeper connections with things in life that matter most.

Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach in the News:

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Three Ways to Relate to Humans Again

The Imitation Principle

3 Ways to Relate to Humans Again

It’s always been somewhat of a challenge for human beings to relate to each other.

The way we see the world. 

The make-up of our personalities. 

The differences in our opinions. 

These things often create a natural distance between us. Unfortunately, this distance has grown over the past 18 months amid remote work and mask wearing, along with polarizing views on masks, vaccinations & politics and many of us living in a spirit of fear. But what if I told you the most significant factor separating you from those around you sits at the center of your thinking? Let me introduce you to the Imitation Principle

The Imitation Principle

It’s pretty straightforward: You reflect what you receive. That’s it. The things you think about, talk about, and tend to obsess about, are the things you reflect. And the people you come into contact with each day receive those things. Like a sponge ringing out water, your life rings out the water that you’ve previously soaked up.

When we soak up thoughts from the fountain of our future fears, we clamp a stronghold on the water that is intended to fuel our present state of life. 

Unfortunately, the more we focus on the things we don’t want, the more fuel we give them leading to those things pouring out of us and onto people around us.  This can hinder our ability to relate to one another, differences in all. If you want to change the way you relate to your family, co-workers, neighbors, or friends, the imitation principle may be a concept worth exploring more.

Three Ways to Relate to Each Other

I’d like to offer you 3 suggestions to get started:

Take Inventory of What You Consume: You’ve heard the saying, ‘you are what you eat’, but have you heard the saying, ‘you are what you consume’? Tracking the daily news for your sense of safety will leave you frazzled. Calling your friend to gossip or complain doesn’t move the needle on your goals & aspirations. Stop doom scrolling & rethink your digital caloric intake and intentions before calling a friend to catch-up.   

Reevaluate Your Top 5 Connections: The people you most connect with are the people you most reflect with. This can be a hard truth to face. We tend to surround ourselves with people who think  like us. It creates a sense of connection even if we are coming together to celebrate our fears! Consider connecting with new people who reflect the things that you desire to receive (such as peace, joy, & kindness) so that they may help you see things from a different perspective. As Albert Einstein once said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”           

Practice Modeling Forgiveness: Mitch Albom recently wrote an open invitation to our nation to practice forgiveness. In the article, he wrote, “It takes enormous fortitude to forgive. The falsely accused man who loses decades in prison yet forgives his jailers? The parents who lose a child to a drunk driver, yet forgive the person behind the wheel? The Amish community in Pennsylvania who forgave the gunman who shot and killed children in their one-room schoolhouse, and even raised financial support for his widow? These are examples of strength, not weakness. And if that strength can be found in such extreme cases, you wonder why we find it so hard to forgive in our daily interactions.”       

Closing Reflections

To be clear, I’m not discouraging safety measures in your health nor am I suggesting that we all need to think or act the same way. However, I am encouraging you to take inventory of what you are reflecting into the world.

We were created for community, unity, and a deep sense of belonging.

We were made to be together. 

Taking personal accountability for what we are reflecting onto each other and into the world will bring us closer to accepting each other for our differences while laying a foundation of hope for a better future.

Attract what you expect.

Reflect what you desire.

Become what you respect.

Mirror what you admire.

-Unknown

Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach in the News:

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Three Tips to Help Restore Energy & Employee Interaction in the Virtual Workplace

Businesses Getting Creative to Overcome 

Workplace Disconnection 

Three Tips to Help Restore Energy & Employee Interaction in the Virtual Workplace

A year following the pandemic, many businesses are adding virtual creativity to the top of their agenda to help reignite human connection and boost employee morale. According to a recent WSJ story,  a national poll found 65 percent of workers who shifted to remote work due to the pandemic said they feel less connected to their colleagues now.

Digital wellness expert Mark Ostach, works to restore energy and team interaction—especially today—as most employees are working virtually and some will be moving to a hybrid work setting in the second half of the year. 

“I’m continuing to get urgent calls from companies about how their teams are growing apart and the need to re-engage,” said Ostach. “Our digital life can be extremely demanding. We communicate at all hours of the day expecting immediate responses. To top things off, many of us are suffering from Zoom fatigue and nearing a state of burnout. My focus is to help reduce digital burnout and encourage empathy and compassion in the workplace.”

Julie Norris, Chief Attorney Development and Recruitment Officer with Honigman LLP, a national law firm headquartered in Detroit, Michigan shared, “We were looking for innovative ways to both connect with each other and be mindful of the importance of disconnecting from work. We hired Ostach to virtually train our attorneys across six different practice groups within Michigan and Chicago. The goal was to reconnect attorneys who were used to being together physically but now were feeling more isolated and disconnected after a year of working virtually.” 

According to Ostach, organizations like Honigman LLP can’t just do business as usual. “This isn’t the time to hold Zoom calls with a packed agenda and zero time for human connection,” said Ostach. “Leaders today need to keep employees motivated by establishing a creative way to invite their team to share more meaningful connections and be open about topics like digital burnout.”

“We were concerned about our employees mental and digital health and wanted to address these topics to help prevent people from burning out,” said Matthew Abbene, VP of Global Sales and Services at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Ostach’s message was right on the spot for our global audience”

Ostach’s schedule has been busy with virtual training for energy companies, state governmental agencies, and global corporations like Universal Studios, BASF, Thermo Fisher Scientific, AllState, Quicken Loans and Hitachi Vantara. Ostach offers three tips to help businesses reignite human connection when holding a virtual meeting:

  1. Ignite the chat box early

The sooner you can get people engaged in the chat box the better. For larger meetings, ask people to share one thing they are feeling grateful for before the meeting gets started. This helps people break the chat box barrier before the event has begun. It also gives people permission to engage over chat throughout the entire agenda. 

  1. Use breakout rooms when possible

Before reviewing the current quarters KPI’s invite people into a breakout room icebreaker centered around vulnerability. One example of this is a 10-minute exercise called, “If You Really Knew Me”. In small breakout rooms of five to eight people, invite each person to share statements that begin with the phrase, “If you really knew me.” The responses people share may be as simple as “If you really knew me, you’d know that I’m left-handed,” or as vulnerable as, “If you really knew me you’d know that I struggle with seasonal depression.” This often leaves people learning new things about each other and connecting on common grounds they didn’t even know they stood on!

  1. Incorporate a brief virtual activity

Research shows that when we can create a sense of playfulness it can spark our ability to be more creative & collaborative. Take five minutes and incorporate a brief activity into your next virtual meeting. It could be celebratory in nature like making “paper plate awards” for your coworkers or something more lighthearted like playing a brief game of True and/or False. For bonus points, you can even rent a farm animal to join your virtual event for a moment of surprise and delight! 

“Ostach’s authentic style of teaching helped invite vulnerability and human connection into our virtual event. It was exactly what our team needed to feel reconnected to each other,” added Norris.

Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach in the News:

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National Day of Unplugging

To Unplug or Not?

As Pandemic One Year Mark Approaches 

5 Ways to Find a Healthy Balance with Social Media

Tomorrow  is National Day of Unplugging

As we approach the one year mark of the pandemic, many are exhausted from national fatigue, especially when it comes to our digital health. Friday is National Unplugging Day, a time to carve out time to unplug, relax, reflect, be active and connect with loved ones. Digital wellness expert, Mark Ostach, said a day to unplug is needed more than ever. He recommends creating boundaries with your devices in order to focus on your mental health and emotional wellness. 

According to Ostach, digital wellness is a way to view the content in which you are exposed to and how it fits into your overall wellness. He compares digital wellness to our physical wellness.

“If you look at physical calories or a food pyramid, you know to eat your basic food groups and not to eat too many carbohydrates or too many sugars,” said Ostach. “Ideally, you’re maintaining your weight, feeling like you have a good level of energy and exercising. We need to start viewing our content through the lens of digital calories. If you’re feeling bloated from the news headlines, those digital calories often leave us feeling more sluggish and hungrier for more just moments later.” 

Some people chose to take a break from social media all together. Recently, Elon Musk announced he was taking a break from Twitter. Musk returned to Twitter 46 hours later.

“I don’t think anyone really notices if you were to take a digital fast from social media unless you’re Elon Musk,” adds Ostach. “Taking two days off social media is better than nothing. As you navigate your day on social media, just realize that everything you consume has a digital caloric value. If the digital calories you consume are headlines from a national news network and inflammatory posts from the “friends” in which you follow, these things often leave you feeling digitally bloated and malnourished (digitally speaking). If you can’t commit to stepping away from social media, then try to be more mindful of what you are consuming.”

Ostach helps people find the courage to connect—with themselves, their purpose, and with the people in their lives—both online and offline. Ostach’s goal is to restore energy and focus to organizations battling modern life’s non-stop pace and growing sense of disconnection. He’s done this with organizations like DTE, Consumers, Quicken Loans, MEDC, & Honigman, LLP, Thermo Fisher Scientific, BASF,  AllState, HItachi, and others. 

Ostach is on a mission to teach people healthy digital habits so they can improve their digital wellness and create deeper connections with things in life that matter most. 

Ostach Offers Five Ways to Improve your Digital Health:

  1. No digital gadgets at meal time. 
  2. Sleep device free. Get a real alarm clock! 
  3. Take a digital fast at least one hour a day. 
  4. Make eye contact when talking. 
  5. End your digital day one hour before bed. 

His best tip? Go outside & get some fresh air! Even if it’s taking a few extra moments on your porch when you get the mail.

Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach in the News:

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Tips to Ease Anxiety for Back to the Office Return

Do you Suffer from Return-phobia?

Tips to Ease Anxiety for Back to the Office Return

Survey after survey indicates employees working remotely due to the pandemic are hesitant to return back to the office. Digital wellness expert, Mark Ostach said employees may be suffering from what he calls “Return-Phobia”, heightened social anxiety from leaving the comfort and routine of working at home as they return back into an office. More accurately known as adjustment disorder, this is an emotional or behavioural reaction to a stressful event or change in a person’s life. 

Ostach recommended that remote employees give themselves compassion and patience as going back to the office is similar to the first day of school. 

“The best way for employees to deal with adjustment disorder is to own the awkwardness,” Ostach said. “Also, give yourself quiet time before going to work, either at home or during your commute.”

Ostach, author of  Courage to Connect™, works with business leadership to create a culture of connection in a hybrid workplace. According to Ostach, it may be a challenge to get employees back to the office:

  • Employees have adjusted to working from home and maybe experiencing heightened social anxiety about going back to an office.
  • Remote employees enjoy the benefits of going for a quick walk, doing laundry or not having to commute to work.
  • The key to helping employees adjust back to the office is offering flexibility.

Tips to Transition into the Office:

Ostach offered the following tips for employees dealing with lingering anxiety:

  • Ask for what they need. Don’t conceal what you need to reveal to your employer.
  • Fresh Air and Movement. Just because you are going to the office, make time for fresh air and movement. When you need it not, when your calendar says you need it.
  • Don’t forget to talk to one another. Break the ice with conversation. 

Want to learn more about Return-phobia?

Ostach is available to discuss these issues and others related to remote work, hybrid workplace, creating healthy digital habits at work and home, reducing employer and employee burnout through stress reduction techniques, helping increase productivity and discovering additional resources for organizations to become digitally fit. 

About Mark Ostach

Ostach’s goal is to restore energy and focus to organizations battling modern life’s non-stop pace and growing sense of disconnection. He’s done this with organizations that include Universal Studios, Detroit Pistons, Rocket Mortgage, Comerica, Detroit Regional Partnership, DTE, Consumers, Michigan Economic Development Corp (MEDC), & Honigman, LLP, Thermo Fisher Scientific, BASF, Allstate, HItachi, and others.

Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach in the News:

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Three Ways to Prevent Doom Scrolling

Here We Go Again: Doomsday Scrolling

Overwhelmed by Discourse On COVID-19 Masks & Vaccinations 

and Afghanistan?  

Three Ways to Protect Your Digital Health 

Do you have the feeling of “here we go again” with the latest negative news and it is causing you doomsday scroll, leaving you mentally exhausted? 

As developments in Afghanistan continue and the Delta Variant fueling a spike in Covid cases dominate the news cycle, many are doomsday scrolling. Digital Wellness Expert Mark Ostach reminds us to take a step back and set boundaries with social media.

“Dooms day scrolling is the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening or depressing,” says Ostach. ”It nudges us to an exaggeration of gloom and doom, which can impact your digital wellness and mental health.”

According to Ostach, who wrote the book “Courage to Connect, Stories that encourage meaningful connection in your life” , digital wellness is a way to view the content in which you are exposed to and how it fits into your overall wellness. He compares digital wellness to our physical wellness.

“If you look at physical calories or a food pyramid, you know to eat your basic food groups and not to eat too many carbohydrates or too many sugars,” says Ostach. “Ideally, you’re maintaining your weight, feeling like you have a good level of energy and exercising. We need to start viewing our content through the lens of digital calories. If you’re feeling bloated from the news headlines, those digital calories often leave us feeling more sluggish and hungrier for more just moments later.” 

Some people chose to take a break from social media all together.

“I don’t think anyone really notices if you were to take a digital fast from social media,” adds Ostach. “As you navigate your day on social media, just realize that everything you consume has a digital caloric value. If the digital calories you consume are headlines from a national news network and inflammatory posts from the “friends” in which you follow, these things often leave you feeling digitally bloated and malnourished (digitally speaking). If you can’t commit to stepping away from social media, then try to be more mindful of what you are consuming.”

Ostach Offers Three Ways to Improve your Digital Health:

  1. No digital gadgets at meal time or an hour before bed.
  2. Sleep device free. Get a real alarm clock! 
  3. Take a digital fast at least one hour a day. 

His best tip? Go outside & get some fresh air! Even if it’s taking a few extra moments on your porch when you get the mail.

Ostach helps people find the courage to connect—with themselves, their purpose, and with the people in their lives—both online and offline. Ostach’s goal is to restore energy and focus to organizations battling modern life’s non-stop pace and growing sense

of disconnection. He’s done this locally with organizations like DTE, Quicken Loans, Consumers, MEDC, & Honigman. Nationally, Ostach has worked with global companies like BASF, AllState, HItachi, and others. 

He’s on a mission to teach people healthy digital habits so they can improve their digital wellness and create deeper connections with things in life that matter most.

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