Time and Technology

I’m a person who is constantly stuck in a different decade. I’ve always been fascinated by the 50s and 60s and I have loved 70s and even 80s as well! All of these timeframes have specific characteristics that appeal to me. One of the things is the simplicity of life. Of course I am not claiming these periods of time didn’t have their world problems, but we can all agree that certain aspects of life were more simple. Kids were kids and they were content with that. People could walk to most places and not feel fear the whole time wondering if any danger lurked around the corner. Parents were able to let their kids go out and freely play with other kids without worry that someone would come kidnap them or that the other children would shoot or stab one another out of anger. I can only write this as an outsider to most of the time periods, as I was born towards the end of the 80s, but I truthfully feel many who did grow up back then would agree with my points.

One HUGE thing is that technology wasn’t at all how it is today. Technology being so easily accessible has its advantages, but in my opinion, it brings many more negatives than positives. We all hear the word addiction and we immediately think of alcohol and drugs, but what about technology? I sit here on my phone typing this and I wonder,  how much time do we all spend on our electronics? I can bet most of us underestimate the amount of time; we feel like, “oh I’m only on my electronics for a little bit, not long at all” and in reality its 4, 5 or 6 hours a day or even more! I have read that American kids spend about 7.5 or more hours a day on electronics, and worse than that, I have read studies that say adults can spend 10 hours or more. I can’t say for certain how accurate these studies are, but I can most certainly believe those numbers. With social media alone, we can easily lose track of our time spent. Granted, some people have to use electronics for work, but I know that most people use electronics beyond the work realm. I believe technology can be a useful tool when needed, but I hate that it consumes us and we become addicted to it without even realizing it. We are always documenting every detail of our lives that we lose connection with those special moments. We have so much information at our finger tips and many times I believe too much. I feel like it brings more stress into our lives. In my eyes, more harm than good comes from all of this access. As the saying goes, “everything in moderation” and I believe this can be the case for technology. A little can go a long way!

There is an app my husband and I have on our phones called Quality Time and it tracks how long you are on your phone and breaks down which apps you were on and for how long. It also keeps track of how many times you unlock your phone etc. I am in no way connected to this app or the promotion of it,  but I believe it can be an eye opener. We all use the excuse, “If I had more time” yet if we only saw how much time we waste, we would be ashamed…at least that is how I felt upon first using the app. I truly felt that I didn’t spend that much time on my phone, especially when a lot of times I am on for 10 mins or so and back off…but I assure you, all those times add up throughout the day. It’s hard for me because it’s my main source of communication with my family, but that’s really no excuse. Before phones, people wrote handwritten letters or saw/talked to each other when they were able. Simple. Maybe I’m a little too stuck in the past, but I feel like less is better. I want to spend less time on electronics and more time with the people around me. I don’t want to be a person so lost in their phone or other forms of technology that they lose touch with reality. My husband and I have actually even contemplated downgrading our phones! We are definitely in the process of implementing technology free days and having designated time frames for when technology can be used and nothing beyond the specific time allotted. The world comes with enough stress, we don’t want to add more to our lives and definitely not more to our children’s lives. We want to be an example to them to enjoy the world around them; to live in the moment and take it all in. We want them to feel free to be kids without having that need to constantly compare themselves to others on social media or be bombarded by all the hate and division in the world. We are said to be living in times when anxiety and depression and suicide are at their highest and I believe an overabudance of technology and information plays a role in those rates.

These are just my opinions, you can take them or leave them. If you feel like you may be spending too much time on your electronics, try timing yourself or even downloading that app Quality Time and see how much time you are devoting to your phone and go from there. Make a plan of attack; determine how much time you want to be spending all together and when you’ve reached that limit, simply put your phone up out of sight. Inform people you contact on a daily basis of your plans so there is no unnecessary worry. Obviously this excludes times of emergencies.

I am really excited to start putting all of this to practice and maybe you’ll decide to join me! You may notice that I haven’t blogged as often and that will likely be the case. Instead of trying to blog daily, I think maybe every other day 👍I pray everyone can take a step back and evaluate where their time is spent on a daily basis. Time is such a precious and valuable gift we are given every day and I pray none of us take it for granted. May we all utilize our time wisely.

Much love and God Bless 💚