Do you ever wonder if you’re spending too much time on your computer, your smartphone, or playing video games? Chances are that if you’re wondering, you are. While today’s technology is incredibly helpful, it’s also incredibly time consuming, distracting, and sometimes, pulls us away from real-life relationships.
As wonderful as it is to post your real-time vacation photos from Spain or find out what’s happening in your friends’ lives via Facebook, or catch up on news via Twitter, or allow your child to play video games so that you can clean the house without disruption, there are some things to consider if you’re trying to determine if technology is taking up too much time in your life. Too much technology is also known as media addiction.
- Are you losing sleep because you are on your computer or smartphone throughout the night?
- Does the thought of going off the grid make you anxious?
- Do your friends and does your family get upset with you for constantly being on your smartphone during family functions? You KNOW if they’re seriously upset.
- Do you turn down opportunities to get out and about because you’d rather play video games at home?
- Do you lie about how much time you spend on your computer, smartphone, or playing video games?
- Is spending too much time on your media devices coming between you and your spouse or significant other?
- When you’re at work, do you find yourself checking your social media accounts throughout the day, on work time?
If any of these questions made you cringe don’t worry, you’re not alone. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids between the ages of 8 and 18 now consume an average of seven hours and 38 minutes of media per day. That’s 53 hours per week! And that’s kids times!!
If you want to try a digital detox, you can try switching out your media devices and social media platforms for these activities: do something outdoors, read real books, or play a board game with your family.
A digital detox means turning off your computer and/or smartphone when you go to sleep, setting aside time during the day to allow your emails and voicemails to go unchecked, and/or turning of the TV. If you want to be really brave, try going one whole day without any digital devices, and then increase your digital detox time.