Can you imagine going about various tasks in your day-to-day life without the help of some form of technology? Technology has become so ingrained in our daily lives that most of you probably couldn't function without them. We owe a great debt of gratitude and thanks to the brilliant minds who have created the gadgets we use daily. Our tech devices are a blessing for sure, but overall it's making all of us miserable, having caused both seen and unseen effects that we are just now starting to realize on individuals, groups, and mankind as a whole. Let's talk about all of the ways technology is making our lives more challenging.
Let's face it, your tech devices are addictive. It's estimated the average American adult spends more than 11 hours a day on tech devices. It's not surprising especially since big tech companies design your devices to keep you plugged in 24/7. Think about all of these notifications that all of your apps want you to enable when you download them. It's to help you develop FOMO or Fear of Missing Out. Young minds like those from kids, tweens, and teens have an especially hard time disconnecting as their young minds have a harder time putting devices down.
Your digital device can cause Insomnia. Ever wonder why you have a hard time falling asleep after scrolling on your smartphone or tablet night after night? Well, your gadgets emit artificial blue light which causes havoc with your body's internal clock and suppresses the release of melatonin, which is the hormone that helps induce sleep. Ever wonder why melatonin is constantly flying off the shelves? If you continue to stay plugged in at bedtime, it can lead to a chronic deficiency in your sleep.
Your eyesight can also suffer from too much technology usage. When you spend too much time in front of your screens, you can exhaust your eyes and cause eye strain. If you're experiencing symptoms like watery, dry, itchy, sore, or tired eyes, you could be experiencing digital eye strain or computer vision syndrome.
Social media and screen time are bad for you and your family's mental health. I'm sure you've seen the negative effects that social media can have especially affecting kids and young adults. Poor body image, anxiety, and depression are the major things that can occur when too much time is spent on social media. It can cause issues with adults which leads to cyberbullying in the forms of harassment and doxing.
Using computers and mobile devices is bad for your posture. Have you heard the terms Desk Slump? Smartphone Slouch? Text Next? Well, it's a great way to describe how you arrange your body when you're on your tech devices. Poor posture seems to go hand in hand with your devices and it can lead to neck and back issues.
Instant access to information makes you less self-sufficient. Having a large amount of information at your fingertips is handy, but it can cause problems because it limits your creative thought process. I'm blessed with an excellent memory, so I don't have to Google like the average person. This means my mind gets a little bit of a workout when I recall information. When you rely on Googling everything it means you are becoming more reliant on browsers and search engines. It's important to use the creative process of your brain to recall answers on your own rather than looking them up all of the time.
Technology makes you have more of a sedentary lifestyle. When you're on your devices for hours on end, you're usually sitting for extended periods of time. The things you can access online are endless which means you don't have to move. When you embrace a sedentary lifestyle, you're at risk for conditions such as colon cancer, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
Your personal and professional relationships can be harmed by too much tech use. A few years ago, I did a presentation about how technology isn't making you friends or building your business. I stressed the fact when you rely on social media and other electronic communication, conversations are lost in translation and as souls who live in a material world, we need to interact offline
Young people have lost the ability to interact face-to-face. I've lost count of how many times I've encountered young people with their faces buried in their phones rather than interacting with people in the real world. Most youth will give the excuse of online is the preferred method of communicating, but the problem with this is it hampers their ability to read and understand body language and how to pay attention to details in face-to-face interactions.
I hope you can use the things in this post to help highlight the problems with technology to help you develop a healthy relationship with your devices. It's important to think of technology as a tool to use and not a lifestyle. Make an effort to take regular breaks from your devices and make sure your kids are doing the same. Set up no tech zones in your home to limit technology use. Technology is great, just make sure you're using it responsibly. If you need further assistance, please reach out to me with any questions you might have. I am always happy to help!
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