Technology is everywhere, and it’s a great thing. Life changing in fact for many people. There was a period in my life when I spent way too much time “on-line”. I blamed the technology, for creating this need, and making me dependent. I loved it, and hated it.
Have you ever left the house, got into your car, turned on the music and just started driving. You’re cruising down the road, singing, and secretly hoping that no one you know sees you. The windows are cracked, and your hair is flying around, then you think “oh I should selfie”. You park, go to grab your phone and suddenly remember you left it home. Sheer panic is normally the next to follow.
Yes. That was me too! I drove into a national park, I was ready to take and post a million photo’s until I got deep into the mountains and had no signal. For a second I thought, I can’t do this. I can’t be in here, in the “wild” with no service. I have to tell you that was the most refreshing 9 hours I had in a long time, and it redefined my relationship with technology.
The entire time I was there I was able to take photo’s with my phone and iPad, but I had no access to the outside world. Initially, I was devastated I couldn’t connect. I felt isolated. I felt like I needed to share what I was doing. After a few hours, I felt a different connection. A connection that had been missing. My connection with this planet. The connection to silence.
That was in 2014, and since I’ve set very firm boundaries with technology. My phone goes on DND (do not disturb) the second I get home. I only look at my phone when I choose to, not when it dings, or rings, because it can’t on DND. I only check my e-mail at 9 am, noon, and 10 pm. I have no alerts set on my phone, so I do not receive notifications from popular social media sites, which decreases the desire to look real quick.
Technology is great, but we can loose a lot of time if we are not careful. Truth be told I am an Apple fan, and as such, I am also an Apple watcher user, but, it stays on DND. Why did I bother getting it?
The health ap, is probably one of my favorites. I love to track my steps, activity, and meet my stand goal. It’s also helpful for tracking my heart rate, and provides information that is helpful, including my sleeping habits.
When I do venture out into nature, I have a gps on my wrist and an app that will find nature trails near me. Technology is like anything else, we have to have balance. We can lose hours of our lives if we are using it mindlessly. If we use it intentionally, it can assist in changing our lives.
5 ways to balance technology
- Use the Do Not Disturb Feature when you’re home, out to dinner, spending time with the family.
- Limit the amount of time you spend using technology throughout the day. If you’re not being productive, set a time limit.
- It’s safe to assume that most of us use social media, put your energy
into creating something that empowers others. We can fall down that
negativity rabbit hole quickly. When you post, or share share something
that contributes to society. It’s easy to say “the weather sucks” and
have a hundred people comment about how bad it is. Instead try posting,
“It’s freezing out, isn’t mother nature wonderful how she kills germs
for us” or “It’s hot out and just what my plants needed, more sunshine
and free vitamin D for me”. - Get yourself a breathe ap. No matter what kind of phone or technology
you have you can find something to help you recenter yourself. The more
mindful we are of our actions, and when we act with intention it’s life
changing, allow technology to support you in this effort. - Learn to use technology for your benefit rather than losing yourself in
it. When it comes to health you can track your diet, your downtime,
heart rate, blood pressure, etc. You can also block out time that you won’t use it!
Remember the most precious thing we have in this lifetime is time. Technology can assist us in creating our lives, through inspiration, challenges, monitoring, or it can be the thing that we lose our time to.