What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? If you’re like 80% of smartphone users, the answer is check your phone. At the pace of our society at large, we can virtually receive hundreds of emails, text messages, and news updates before we even open our eyes in the morning. All of this is fascinating and valuable, however it often results in more connectedness in the digital world and less connectedness with the people we most care about. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Utilizing technology in a specific way can result in even more connectedness to the ones we love. One of the primary methods by which family members can remain in tune with one another while still moving at the quick digital pace to which we’ve become accustomed is through Family Daily Temperature Readings.

When you open your eyes each morning and give your attention to your device, what are the things you typically see on the screen in front of you? Many turn off alarms, check social media outlets, respond to text messages or emails, or possibly read news articles. All these information scans serve as a preparation for the day ahead. You may have any number of appointments, meetings, or major events upcoming, and these simple methods of browsing may calm you or prepare you for them in some way. In the same way you consult the digital web of information at your fingertips each morning, it is just as simple to utilize technology to connect with, and check in with, the people you care about most.

Utilizing CircleCare, you can take part in Family Daily Temperature Readings. Simply stated, this means checking in with each other about the daily stressors, challenges, activities, or victories we all face in a given day. To participate in this type of family check in, it is helpful to utilize the acronym MEAPS, making simple notes of your state of being in the following areas:

Mental Health

Health Emotional Health

Health Academic/Professional Engagement (depending on age and stage of life)

Engagement (depending on age and stage of life) Physical Health

Health Spiritual Health (if desired)

Updating your family members on these areas, either daily or weekly, ensures a comprehensive portrayal of how you’re doing, how they’re doing, and areas in which family members may need support, encouragement, or simply congratulations. To address the five listed areas, focus on any of the descriptors below:

Mental

This category is all about mental peace in knowing where your family members are and how they are doing. With families today – especially larger ones – everyone has so many different things going on that it can be difficult to keep track. There is implicit mental peace and relief in simply knowing where all the people you care most about are and that they are all okay. Use this category to give your family members the mental peace that results from knowing how you’re doing.

Emotional

Emotional updates can be as simple as, “Feeling stressed about a presentation at work,” and as complex as choosing the three feeling words that best describe you at a given point in the day.

Academic/Professional

Utilize this category to update family members on significant events in your workweek or school week. This includes, but is not limited to, upcoming tests, meetings, presentations, or things you’d like to be asked about in the future.

Physical

Keep your family up to date on physical illnesses/doctor’s visits here. Additionally, if you have a physical fitness routine, share your milestones or workouts with others. Use this as a motivational tool or to allow the ones who love you to celebrate your fitness accomplishments.

Spiritual

Depending on your family’s religious orientation, the spiritual check in can be utilized daily to pass along encouragement, share Scripture, express requests for prayer, or weekly to plan upcoming religious holidays/events or plan to attend services together at a specific time.

Family members can be as flexible or creative with the MEAPS acronym as desired. The point of the Family Daily Temperature Reading is to make digital efforts to communicate and connect with the people you care about most. With CircleCare, you can do this on the go, so that family members are aware of how you’re doing and feeling, and familiar with the most significant parts of your week, without intruding into your schedule. One may wonder, “Why can’t I just use MEAPS with Facebook or other social media platforms?” The answer is simple – your family’s personal information is highly valuable to you and highly confidential only within a setting like Circle Care. The privacy agreements of other social media platforms are vague and oftentimes without reading the fine print, you do not realize how much information you are permitting them to give away on your behalf. With Circle Care, one need not worry about private family information being exposed or sold to third parties. All your information is protected, therefore a relationship-building activity like MEAPS is completely safe within this forum.

Most people wait to take their temperature until they are already feeling sick. The daily temperature reading prompts families to check in with one another regularly, so that whether the climate of your life rises or falls, the ones who love you will be there every step of the way to support you.