Okay, so we all have multiple electronic gadgets which we truly believe are making our lives better, right?!
Ahhhhh, well NO!
Let’s take a little quiz to see if just maybe you might be addicted to your gadgets and being without them even for a short period of time might just send you right over the edge.
1. How many hours a day are you currently on “all” of your devices in total?
2. Do you sleep with any one or all of your devices either in your hand, under your pillow or within arms length?
3. Is you bed a communication hub?
4. Are you alerts turned on?
5. If you turn your alerts off, do you constantly look over at your device even if it is not vibrating?
6. Do you choose to text someone who is sitting right next to you instead of a face to face conversation?
7. Have you felt anxiety at the loss of your device, or if it got smashed or accidentally dropped down the toilet?
8. Are you relationships not fulfilling?
9. Do you live by consensus?
10. Are you on Facebook, Twitter, and or Texting every couple of hours?
Well, I already know the answers to these 10 and you do too! We are all guilty of each one of these. We are masters at rationalization for our actions and the truth is we are addicted to our technology.
Here are some things you can do to reclaim your power over your own life:
1. Limit you time on your devices. We all have to use our computers and other devices to do business. So when you are done with work, let that be the end of your activity on your work-related device. If you tell me you must be available 24-7 to your business or your boss, that’s a great rationalization and you need to get some boundaries or a whole lot more pay!
2. Sleeping with your device is a huge NO! The human body needs sleep in order to repair, restore and refresh you and your body. You are in a state of semi-alertness if you are still engaged electronically. Again here, BOUNDARIES! My suggestion is to never bring your electronics into your bedroom and have a place in another room or another floor where you recharge them ready for tomorrow.
3. If your bed is an extension of your office, you are headed for trouble. Your relationships will suffer, you have no clear boundary of being on the clock and your personal time, and you have no time to “be”. My suggestion here again is to never bring your devices into your bed, period!
4. Our brains are very stubborn as to the deep ruts that we have established. Your brain knows that alert may be off, but it might vibrate and someone might NEED YOU! So you are split between the activity right in front of you and that annoying alert.
5. We’ve all been in meetings, or dinner, or coffee, or other activity and you seem to be a napkin which is optional and the person you are with is engaged and distracted by their device. It is not only impolite, it is rude, and I suggest you get up and leave and see how long the person takes to notice you are gone.
6. Did you know people are complaining about not having great relationships and yet, they still do not communicate with those right there next to them? Our actions have consequences and we are reaping them big time right now. If you want a relationships you must communicate face to face not text to text.
7. You know you are addicted when you feel “not connected” until you can replace your electronic device! If you are feeling anxious and have the feeling you are missing something…you are addicted. Take a deep breath, anything that is going on will still be there on your phone when you get one. It is not the end of the world. If there is an emergency then you have already given “back-up” numbers for those occasions.
8. Here’s a really big one for couples! If you relationships are suffering, look and see how much your technology is interfering with your relationship, your intimacy, your communication, your date nights and so on. If you begin to notice when you feel disconnected is one of you on your devices and not really in the relationship with you, but rather their device? What would happen if you had a “no technology night”? What a novel thought?!
9. In my coaching practice I see this all the time, people want to have relationships and connection and have the ability to make consistent great decisions, however, they are falling into the trap of living by what I call “consensus”. Simply defined, “living by consensus” means, when you have a decision to make you get the opinions of everyone you know through your technology and then you decide on what the GROUP thinks is best for you. You forget to ask the most important person who has to live with the decision and that is Y-O-U! This is not living to be your highest self.
10. If you are always engaged in Social Media more than a few minutes a day, those are not relationships, nor is this a way to live. You have disconnected with the human race, not be more connected to it. Yes, it is fun to know what others are doing, but not every single moment. Some things just shouldn’t be shared in this open forum. USA Today had an article where more than 60% of social media users took a break for more than 6 months, and their reason was it was just a waste of time.
So what do you think? Are you addicted? You do have choices. The bottom line here is that technology and the devices that deliver that immediacy and its information will never get slower or less complicated. So how will you decide to live with your technology?
There is no substitute for the human interaction we all need and crave. We all need boundaries in our lives and our relationship with our technology is no different.
I’d love to hear what you think?
