The impact smartphones have had after they showed up in our lives, has been a long way off from good. Paradoxically, we are busy but ineffective at the same time. Although we are connected to people on devices, we feel isolated and lonely all the time. On the surface, connectivity afforded by technology appears to have enhanced our sense of freedom, but the chains of technology, in reality, have insidiously enslaved and shackled us to the electronic screens and imprisoned us there.
The problem is not with our smartphones themselves. Our problem stems from our relationships with our devices. Therefore, it's not about waging a war against WMD, nor is it about securing a truce with WMD . In the long run, it is all about managing and curtailing the manner in which technology is used, so that it becomes an ally, not an enemy.
As a first step, we should keep an eye on our online activity by installing apps like Rescuetime, Checky, Moment etc and turn off the notifications on the phone to monitor and reduce consumption of technology. This will help us establish boundaries between our online and offline lives.
Embarking on digital detox sporadically could also go a long way by helping us become aware of the joys and wonders available to us outside the connected world. Setting up phone free periods during the day, not reaching for the mobile until after breakfast and switching off the smartphone two hours before bed could vastly improve your quality of sleep as the impact of blue light on the sleep would be minimised.
Substituting social media time with face-to-face activities with family and friends who support and care, setting aside the phone while socialising, as well as during dinner/meal times, reading, gym times and the like are other strategies which could be extremely helpful.
Dropping out and going offline enabled me to get back to reading voraciously, and to writing. In one study, 95 per cent of those interviewed said that their mood improved a great deal after putting down the phones to spend time outside in nature, changing from depressed, stressed, and anxious to more calm and balanced.
The other strategies that have worked extremely well for me is a productivity hack called 'batching' proposed by Tim Ferriss, in his bestselling book "The 4-Hour Workweek" where predetermined times are set, twice or thrice a day to check and respond to emails ,texts, or scroll through Instagram or interact on Facebook.
Tim uses automatic responders to let people know that their emails would be dealt with in due time. The other book which has changed my life, by making me adopt better habits and do things with more focus is Cal Newport's book titled, "Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World". Cal in his book explains his logical foundation for the significance of 'Deep Work', which is essentially performing focused work without distractions for designated chunks of time.
The world's greatest public technocrats are also the world's greatest private technophobes, not without a reason. They are totally aware of the dangers and ills of the techno-gadgets. Evan Williams, founder of Blogger, Twitter, and Medium bought hundreds of books for his two young sons but never gave them an iPad. I remember watching Steve Jobs explain why the iPad was the best way to look at photos, listen to music and imbibe knowledge through the iTunes University.
He believed that everyone should own an iPad but he refused to allow his own kids to own the device. In 2010 he revealed to New York Times Journalist, Nick Bilton, that his children had never used an iPad and the amount of technology his children could have access to, was determined by him and it was never more than the bare minimum. Technology is a double-edged sword, we can either make it our ally or enemy. Let's make it our ally, by realising that the offline world is the real world and the virtual world is just a mirage.
Technology serves as a catalyst exacerbating our restlessness and distraction exponentially. It scatters our attention in a hundred directions, turning our brains into a monkey mind on a triple espresso. The reason why we experience, blurred, scatterbrained, vacuous, disorderly and dissipated minds, is simply because, we are connected to everyone and everything at the click of a mouse, but we seem to have lost connection with ourselves.
To log into our inner-self is the biggest connection we can make. Plugging into our inner essence occasionally and unplugging ourselves from the networked world is the only therapy, we may need to overcome sleep deprived, dopamine ravaged and social media habituated minds created by the weapons of mass distraction. Once we allow ourselves to plug into the spiritual essence available within all of us, nothing in the outer world, no shiny object, no gadget or gizmo would be able to be able to dazzle our eyes, hold sway over us and take control of our minds. You may get a billion likes on your Facebook page, but that would still be nothing compared to the unalloyed joy and bliss you will access by connecting with yourself.
