The Elephant In The Room
Technology is great.
If it wasn't for the technology we have today you wouldn't have seen this blog.
I can connect with friends and family all over the globe at any time. I can follow experts and watch their talks and do research on any subject I like without having to leave home. I can even work from home seeing clients online from anywhere in the world. It's truly amazing.
The issue I've had in the past was I over consuming it. I got "lost" in it and spent more time on this fantastic discovery than I'd like to admit. I could try and justify that it was research based but it took me down a much deeper rabbit hole than I needed to go.
But how bad can it be?
While running my Disconnected Sessions we took 2 days away from technology and went out into nature. No calls, texts or emails. No music, TV or podcasts.
Everyone felt sooo different. The decompression. The body calming from the busyness. The high stress leaving the body. The real connection with others. And I don't mean that in a hippy sense but we were 100% tuned in to the conversations and our surroundings. You just don't realise how immersed and distracted we get with technology.
More and more research is showing us the huge health implications arising from the use of technology from musculoskeletal issues, eyesight degeneration, ADD, heart disease, obesity, anxiety, depression and much more.
Obviously we can't all live off the grid. But it's the nuances that are key:
Get the right quality (not stressful arguments with randoms on social media),
The right amount for you (not checking devices every 2 minutes and try reducing the time a little each week),
The right time (not very first thing as you wake up or last thing before going to bed as this will affect your sleep)
I recently deleted my Facebook account because it wasn't adding any real quality to my life and if anything it was adding to my stress. I know there are useful technologies out there to help reduce stress but sometimes they can add to the to do’s list, for instance 72 million people have downloaded meditation APPS out of which 1 million people are actually using them.
The takeaway message is to create a basic framework of usage with technology otherwise it can bleed into all aspects of our lives. We try to do this in other areas such as with our food, sleep, exercise and down time.
So rather than it controlling you, do a little planning and you may find it becomes a healthy addition to you life.
Thanks for reading.
Rich
