Greeting Awesome People,
Have we ever thought the facts that are we using the technology or the
technology is using us?
Are we consuming the information that we need or we are consuming the
information without any need?
As we are living in the 21st century, technology is
everywhere and it's evolving very fast. It gives us amazing access to
information, ways to collaborate, and to stay in touch with one another. We
have a small device, it’s our smartphone
and it has probably become the symbol of the technological revolution we live
in. Now come let's see some shocking facts:
* The average amount
of screen time an adult spends consuming online media is about 6 hours a day.
* The average adult
checks his mobile phone about 50 times every day and younger adults even much
more, over 80 times.
After knowing the above facts did we can say that we have a time well-spent experience? How much of
it is adding value to our life?
I think no we are not able to say that as lots of us have no
fixed parameters to judge that or answer that. It is something purely and
solely individual. But what if there is a parameter or a method which can help
us to understand our time well spent or is it for our value addition. ~~ THE DIGITAL WELLBEING
Digital Wellbeing is about crafting and maintaining a healthy
relationship with technology. It’s about how technology serves us and moves us
towards our goals, rather than distracting us, interrupting us or making us
serve the technology or getting in the way. Being in control of technology
enables us to use its full potential and gain all the benefits of it. By
gaining greater control over your tech habits, you'll be able to get all the
benefits of technology.
Let me enlighten you
with the benefits of having a healthy and balanced relationship with
technology.
* Being More
Productive at work
In the workplace (it can be a job or your own), it can help
us be more focused and more engaged. When we are more present, at the moment we
can be more productive and more effective in our work. Some of us think we can
do multitasking but deep down we can feel that multitasking is a MYTH. People are not attentive when they are
skipping the screen or changing the screen (desktop to Mobile). Think about the
number of notifications we get all the time and how easily we get distracted.
*Being more present
to others
The best gift that you can give another human being is your
time with full attention. We all might have experienced being left out when the
person in front of us is busy with his/her device and in some cases, we have
done the same thing to some others, left out them. When it comes to our
relationships whether it's a working relationship or a personal relationship
putting technology in its place sometimes really helps us fully be there and
connect with those around us.
*Being able to switch
off
Switching off is important to be in touch with your own body
and with your own emotions. It makes you sleep better; you are less stressed,
less anxious, and just more joyful. We must sometimes take a break and slow
down so that we can be very effective when we decide to engage online.
Raising our
self-awareness of our online digital habits is the first essential step we
can take to change and improve our relationship with tech. Our satisfaction
with our tech usage will look different for different people.
For becoming more self-aware of our online habits we need to
raise our self-awareness by taking some time to reflect on a few simple questions:
*How do you spend time online?
*How does it make you feel?
*Does it add value to your life?
*And also what would you like to change about your digital engagement?
Often, we are so caught up in our technology behavior, that
we don't have a very objective sense of what we are doing. So it might be helpful
to ask a friend what they experience my tech habits to be like.
When we want to make a change, it's really important to
start with a vision. Start with below question:
* What role would I like technology to have in my life?
*Are there certain parts of my
life that I want to try and keep device free?
*Are there certain things about technology that frustrate me?
Before you are picking up some device, ask yourself: What
is my intention? What do I want to achieve?
We typically underestimate how much time we spend on
technology. And that's because a lot of our day is quite habitual or
subconscious quick checking the devices. By actually monitoring your usage it
gives us a more complete picture of our day and how we're spending our time on
these devices.
By setting a clear goal, a clear vision, then you can also
have a self-compassion intention, which will stimulate you every step in your
journey. By being more conscious of how we use technology and making some small
changes, we can get the benefits that technology allows us while minimizing
some of the challenges and frustrations of being constantly connected to our
digital devices.
To help you create a healthy relationship with technology,
here are some useful tools and tips.
Technology is such an important part of our lives, which
it's undesirable to talk about disconnecting from it entirely. By gaining more
control over our digital habits and digital behaviors we will be able to find
the right balance that works for us. There's no one-size-fits-all. What works
for one person won't necessarily work for the other.
There are 2 main elements which will help us to stay in
control.
1. Digital guidelines
As the name suggests the digital guidelines deal with the
digital aspects of this change. You can start by customizing your notification
of many apps (Gmail, Facebook, Whatsapp, etc). Nowadays our device has in-built
Digital wellbeing app (which can be found in your mobile setting). By using
that we can control the usage. For example turning your smartphone to greyscale
when you designate a time that you are ready to go to bed, Focus mode to work,
and many more customized settings that will help you in taking full control
over your usages.
2. Physical guidelines
This deals with how we can be physically de-attached with our devices for some time when we can. Why not starting and ending your day without your phone? Charge your phone outside the bedroom so actually you're putting some distance between yourself and the phone. One of the things organizations are starting to do is have device-free meetings. To help you better communicate with others try to have more face to face conversations. If that person feels that you are being distracted, the person will get the feeling that he/she is not too important for you.
Finally, changing habits and changing behaviors takes
time. You will enjoy the benefits of this balance, the benefits in your
physical health, in your psychological health, in the relationship with other
human beings, and in the way in which you perform at work.
Please share this with everyone you think need this to read.
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Thank you so much for your time and patience.
