Hi! Looks like somebody is still sulking from these morning MS Team meetings, let’s cheer you up with a little something shall we:

Tuesday oh-Tuesday aren’t you just Monday in disguise,
Another teams meeting and my back might meet its demise.
Stale this mug of coffee, just like these corporate lies,
But Friday's getting closer, keep your spirit on the rise.

So, if you did not catch on already today is official Poetry At Work Day Hope that blew some of your deadline steam off. Now let’s get started with our data stories right away!

Today’s special:

Your New Year’s Resolution: Personal finances? Mental health? Physical Health? What do you think are the most common new year’s resolution?
Doomscrolling: Average screen time in the US has hit a whopping 6 hours and 40 minutes a day!
No Way My Doctor’s Using AI: A survey by the American Medical Association revealed that a sizable margin of physicians are using health-related AI.

New Year, New Me?

As the calendar turns, New Year’s resolutions remain a familiar ritual for Americans looking to reset habits and priorities. Brands have learned how to speak fluently in the language of “new year, new me” in the form of fitness, wellness and subscriptions as marketing is now built around the motivation peaks of January.
Numerator’s December survey of 1,000 adult shoppers found that 53% of US consumers plan to make New Year’s resolutions in 2025, a five-point increase from 2024. Younger generations lead in the practice with 71% of Gen Z and 66% of Millennials saying they plan to set resolutions, compared with 53% of Gen X and just 39% of Boomers.

Fatter Saving Fitter Living

For many Americans, resolutions remain rooted in physical and financial well-being. Statista shows that for 2026, exercising more tops the list, cited by 48% of resolution-setters, followed closely by saving more money at 46%, eating healthier at 45%, and spending more time with family and friends at 42%. The Health & Fitness Association also found that roughly 96 million U.S. adults plan to prioritize health, fitness, or exercise in 2025. About half say their goal is specifically to build muscle or strength, a trend that helped make 2025 a strong year for protein-rich foods and snacks.

Gym visits in January 2025 were 21.2% higher than in December 2024, and this trend often spills over into related sectors. January and February typically bring a 96% increase at sports retailers, a 55% rise at health stores, and a 15% increase in eating out.
Resolution-driven behavior entices many businesses to open their door for new memberships and promotional pricing designed to capture fresh enthusiasm of the new year.
A Wells Fargo survey of US adults aged 25 and older with household incomes under $100,000 found that nearly all respondents planning New Year’s resolutions for 2026 included a financial goal. Saving more money topped the list at 70%, while 49% aimed to spend less, 39% sought to improve credit scores, 38% planned to pay off debt, and 35% hoped to start a side hustle or new income stream. Even so, only 34% said they were very confident they would meet those financial goals.

Winners & Quitters

YouGov data shows that the share of Americans aged 30 to 44 planning to make resolutions fell to 29% from 44% in December 2023, while participation among adults under 30 rose to 58% from 52%. In 2024, 49% of adults aged 18 to 29 reported making at least one resolution, compared with 31% of those aged 30 to 49 and 21% of those 50 and older.
For all these, follow-through remains a challenge and research shows that just 9% of Americans actually keep their resolutions throughout the year. Many resolution-setters abandon their goals early, with the second Friday of January earning the nickname “Quitter’s Day.”
Taken together, New Year’s resolutions remain less about sudden reinvention and more about a brief window when motivation, spending, and self-expectation all peak at once. For now, resolutions still function as an annual reset button, often short-lived, but powerful enough to shape behavior and markets at the very start of the year.

Scrolling Is The New Strolling

In an era when news updates arrive by the minute and algorithms refresh endlessly; Americans find themselves locked into a habit now widely known as doomscrolling. Coined amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the phenomenon has since become a defining feature of how people engage with information.
The term “doomscrolling” itself was named one of the Oxford English Dictionary’s words of the year in 2020. But more than four years later, ongoing political volatility, economic uncertainty, and a steady stream of global crises have turned doomscrolling from a momentary coping mechanism into a persistent behavior with measurable consequences.

Scroll-Friendly Zone

TollFreeForwarding found that the average American scrolls the equivalent of 85 miles per year on their phone screen, roughly the distance between New York City and Philadelphia. It also estimated Americans spend about 2,400 hours' worth of screen-time.
Those findings align with Talker Research’s Report, which surveyed 2,000 people about their daily media habits. Younger users reported even heavier usage, with Gen Z the most likely to spend 15 or more hours a day on screens. On average, respondents said they believe they lose about three days each month to scrolling online.
Geography also plays a role as per All About Cookies analysis that used Google Trends data across 21 search terms tied to negative news, mental health, and social media. Washington, DC ranked as the biggest doomscrolling hotspot in the country, followed by Washington state, Massachusetts, Utah, and Hawaii. West Virginia ranked lowest. And across all states, “bad news” emerged as the most commonly doom searched term over the past year.

Resistance Seems Futile

It has been proven neurologically that negativity tends to command attention. A 2025 Psychology Today article noted that doomscrolling fuels stress by keeping users locked onto threatening information. During the 2024 US election cycle, many users reported hours spent scrolling through divisive political content. Similarly in 2025, climate-related disasters produced similar engagement as feeds filled with increasingly catastrophic imagery.
Harvard researchers have also linked frequent doomscrolling to poorer mental well-being and lower life satisfaction, with studies suggesting it heightens existential anxiety, a form of distress tied to fears about meaning, mortality, and uncertainty.
The effects can extend beyond mere feelings, as Dr. Aditi Nerurkar of Harvard Medical School has described doomscrolling as a contributor to what she calls “popcorn brain,” a state of cognitive overstimulation that makes slower, offline activities feel difficult. When the brain becomes accustomed to constant digital input, real-world interactions start to feel dull or taxing by comparison.
Experts emphasize that breaking the habit often requires environmental changes. Keeping phones off nightstands to avoid starting the day with a stress response or keeping phones silent and out of reach during meals and disabling notifications can also reduce the instinct to keep scrolling.
As doomscrolling becomes more ingrained in daily life, the challenge is less about avoiding bad news entirely and more about limiting its grip.

How Americans Use AI for Health

More than one in three Americans have now turned AI for health care. Approximately 35% now rely on automated tools to learn and manage their health. About 31% use it to research medical conditions, while 25% for planning their meals, and 23% for exercise routines. What emerged as a curiosity has quietly become a new form of digital self-care. AI has now joined personal doctors and trainers in the group chat.

Too Close To The Sun?

On the clinical aspect, physicians are also acclimating to this wave. A survey by the American Medical Association estimate that a whopping 66% of doctors used health-related AI in 2024. This marks a 78% jump up from 2023. It’s safe to say, the algorithms are present in the room as assistants for documentation and discharge summaries, but they’re not calling the shots yet.

The line of Caution

When algorithms give definitive answers without knowledge of the patient’s history of prescriptions or latest lab results the answers can be misleading. Even survey flags 49% of U.S. adults being uncomfortable if their doctor relied on AI. On the other side, physician’s concern has alleviated from 29% to 25% while they remain cautious their qualm towards the technology is gradually easing. So, it is being used but in calibration.
These systems perform well with low-stakes daily management like planning diet or suggesting workout. About 31% would rather ask an algorithm a question than search it on Google and 27% prefer it over consulting a health professional. But for nuanced judgement in terms of diagnoses or treatment choices, the choice remains unanimous: humans stay in charge.

Trust Issues Reeling In

About 63% of Americans concur machine-generated health information are somewhat or very reliable, however only 36% are comfortable with AI being the decision maker. Even among doctors, the sentiment is divisive. A number of caveats like privacy risks and liability questions, seem to be a deciding factor. Implementation of AI is on the rise, but trust is still in the trial phase.

What’s the most popular reason for not becoming a parent?

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