Today’s special: why you feel like you have no time, and the simple shifts that will help you take back control of your days without burning out.

This one's on me 🍒

References:

Time Use and Subjective Well-Being https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1103572

Job Demand-Control Model: Job Control and Stress https://www.jstor.org/stable/2392498

Ego Depletion https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252

Mental Fatigue Impairs Physical Performance https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.91324.2008

Time Poverty / Scarcity https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805092646/scarcity

Role Accumulation Theory https://www.jstor.org/stable/2094423

Weekend Effect on Happiness https://www.nber.org/papers/w20280

Implementation Intentions https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0003-066X.54.7.493

Planning Fallacy https://www.jstor.org/stable/1914185

Energy Management https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Power-of-Full-Engagement/Jim-Loehr/9780743226752

Work Recovery / Detachment https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0021-9010.92.1.204

Habit Formation & Automaticity https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0033-295X.114.4.843

Time Management & Productivity https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/1076-8998.12.3.262

Circadian Rhythms & Performance https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17936039/

Positive Activities & Well-Being https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803

Work Boundaries / After-Hours Recovery https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0035077

Introduction Music by Petrushkasound from Pixabay. License u_3gapax5f3i

Today’s special: a deep dive into screen time and phone addiction. Why do we reach for our phones without thinking? What is it costing us—our focus, our sleep, our connection? And more importantly, how do we take that control back? This one’s all about building a life that feels better than scrolling through one.

This one's on me <3

REFERENCES:

• Twenge, J. M., Joiner, T. E., Rogers, M. L., & Martin, G. N. (2018). Increases in depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates among U.S. adolescents after 2010 and links to increased new media screen time. Clinical Psychological Science, 6(1), 3–17.
• Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37(10), 751–768.
• Chang, A.-M., Aeschbach, D., Duffy, J. F., & Czeisler, C. A. (2015). Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(4), 1232–1237.
• Exelmans, L., & Van den Bulck, J. (2016). Bedtime mobile phone use and sleep in adults. Social Science & Medicine, 148, 93–101.
• Meshi, D., Tamir, D. I., & Heekeren, H. R. (2015). The emerging neuroscience of social media. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(12), 771–782.
• Mark, G., Gudith, D., & Klocke, U. (2008). The cost of interrupted work: More speed and stress. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
• Przybylski, A. K., & Weinstein, N. (2013). Can you connect with me now? How the presence of mobile communication technology influences face-to-face conversation quality. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30(3), 237–246.
• Verduyn, P., Ybarra, O., Résibois, M., Jonides, J., & Kross, E. (2017). Do social network sites enhance or undermine subjective well-being? A critical review. Social Issues and Policy Review, 11(1), 274–302.
• Alter, A. (2017). Irresistible: The rise of addictive technology and the business of keeping us hooked. Penguin Press.
• Twenge, J. M. (2017). iGen: Why today’s super-connected kids are growing up less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy—and completely unprepared for adulthood. Atria Books.

You plan the perfect Sunday reset: groceries, meal prep, laundry, skincare, nails… only to wake up Monday still exhausted.

In this episode, Virginia breaks down the “productivity hangover”: why doing more doesn’t equal real rest, how chronic stress keeps your nervous system in fight-or-flight, and what true recovery actually looks like. We explore decision fatigue, why scrolling isn’t restorative, when self-care becomes another to-do list, and the real types of rest your body and mind need. If your reset steals sleep, adds stress, or feels like work; it’s not rest.

Learn how to downshift your nervous system and reset without optimizing your burnout.

Real rest begins when the to-do list stops.

🍒 See you at the counter. And as always, this one’s on me.

SOURCES & STUDIES MENTIONED:

Psychological Detachment & Recovery

Sonnentag, S., & Fritz, C. (2007). The recovery experience questionnaire: Development and validation of a measure for assessing recuperation and unwinding from work.

Sonnentag, S., & Fritz, C. (2015). Recovery from job stress: The stressor–detachment model as an integrative framework.

HRV as Autonomic Marker

Shaffer, F., & Ginsberg, J. P. (2017). An overview of heart rate variability metrics and norms. Frontiers in Public Health

Decision Fatigue

Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource?

Vohs, K. D., Baumeister, R. F., Schmeichel, B. J., Twenge, J. M., Nelson, N. M., & Tice, D. M. (2008). Making choices impairs subsequent self-control: A limited-resource account of decision making.

Social Media & Wellbeing

Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression.

Verduyn, P., et al. (2015). Passive Facebook usage undermines affective well-being: Experimental and longitudinal evidence.

American Psychological Association. (2023). Health advisory on social media use in adolescence. APA.

American Psychological Association. (2023). Stress in America™ survey. APA.

Financial Stress & Health

Netemeyer, R. G., Warmath, D., Fernandes, D., & Lynch, J. G. (2018). How am I doing? Perceived financial well-being and its correlates.

Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science,

Social Isolation

Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review.

Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis.

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.

Emotional Suppression

Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes.

Exercise & Mood

Basso, J. C., & Suzuki, W. A. (2017). The effects of acute exercise on mood, cognition, neurophysiology, and neurochemical pathways. Brain Plasticity, 2(2), 127–152.*

Nature Exposure & Cortisol

Park, B. J., et al. (2010). The physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere).

In the second Combo episode of The Glow Diner, Virginia serves up Joy: The Secret Ingredient to Happiness, and why cultivating joy isn’t naive… it’s neurological.

We live in a world where joy can feel inappropriate. Where having fun can feel guilty. Where choosing light feels like ignoring darkness.

But as Dan Savage once said about the AIDS crisis:

“We buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night… and it was the dance that kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for.”

And as Michelle Obama reminds us:

“Joy has always been a form of resistance.”

We break down the cultural moment around Bad Bunny's SuperBowl Half Time Show, the power of choosing celebration in the face of hate, and how denying yourself joy doesn’t make you morally superior, it just makes you miserable.

Today’s combo explores:

• Joy vs. happiness (and why they’re not the same)

• The ABC Model of Happiness (A: Pleasure, B: Relief, C: Contentment)

• Why joy can coexist with pain

• How Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu demonstrates outcome-detached joy

• Neuroplasticity and why joy is trainable

• The brain’s negativity bias

• Rick Hanson’s “Taking in the Good” practice

• The Happiness Advantage and why joy precedes success

• Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Theory

• Emotional contagion and upward spirals

• Anxiety vs. excitement: same physiology, different story

🍒 See you at the counter.

SOURCES & STUDIES MENTIONED:

“The Science of Well-Being” — Yale University

Dr. Laurie Santos’ course (FREE): https://online.yale.edu/courses/science-well-being

ABC Model of Happiness

“The ABC Model of Happiness—Neurobiological Aspects of Motivation and Positive Mood”

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/6/843

Alysa Liu Stateside Performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDbfHVt2JRg

Neuroplasticity Review (2025)

“The Neuroplastic Brain: Current Breakthroughs and Emerging Frontiers”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40280532/

Fredrickson, B. L. (2001).

The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions. American Psychologist.

Hanson, R. (Positive Neuroplasticity & Taking in the Good framework)

Kiken, L. G., et al. (2017).

Positive Emotion Correlates of Meditation Practice.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29201247/

Gratitude & Well-Being Study

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39895025/

The Happiness Advantage — Shawn Achor

Additional reads:

McKinsey & Company – Five small practices that lead to happiness

Canadian HR Reporter – Happier employees = greater success

Introduction Music by Petrushkasound from Pixabay. License u_3gapax5f3i

In the first Combo episode of The Glow Diner, Virginia breaks down the psychology behind public goals, premature self-completion, and why your environment shapes your behavior more than your willpower does.

We cover:

• The science of announcing your goals

• The Vietnam veteran study on addiction & environment

• The habit loop (cue → routine → reward)

• How to actually change a habit

• Why systems beat motivation every time

If you’re ready to stop relying on hype and start building habits that stick, this one’s your house special.

🍒 See you at the counter.

SOURCES AND STUDIES MENTIONNED:

Gollwitzer, P. M., Sheeran, P., Michalski, V., & Seifert, A. E. (2009).

When Intentions Go Public: Does Social Reality Widen the Intention–Behavior Gap? Psychological Science, 20(5), 612–618.

Robins, L. N., Helzer, J. E., Hesselbrock, M., & Wish, E. (1975).

Vietnam Veterans Three Years After Vietnam: How Our Study Changed Our View of Heroin. American Journal of Epidemiology, 99(4), 235–249.

Duhigg, C. (2012).

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Random House.

Clear, J. (2018).

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Avery.

Skinner, B. F. (1938).

The Behavior of Organisms. Appleton-Century.

Introduction Music by Petrushkasound from Pixabay. License u_3gapax5f3i

On the second Milkshake Date Episode of The Glow Diner, Virginia explains why she created The Glow Diner and wanting to find a community of like minded girlies.

As always, this one's on me

In this Milkshake Date Episode of The Glow Diner, the host Virginia talks about what it was like to get diagnosed with ADHD at 21 years old after over two decades of being misunderstood, and feeling pressured to always excel.

Milkshake Dates are Casual, non scripted and very minimally edited episodes for you to get to know the host better, and maybe even relate to some of her life experiences.

I hope today's special hit the spot and, as always, this one's on me <3

Hey Glow Regulars! Here's just a quick little snack to give you a taste of what The Glow Diner is and why I started it.

This one's on me, enjoy!

TikTok & Instagram: @TheGlowDiner

Email: TheGlowDiner@gmail.com

Introduction Music by Petrushkasound from Pixabay. License u_3gapax5f3i