Marks' Tech Diet - The Rules
I've been contemplating a diet from technology for some time. I've had a growing awareness that the tech that I love to use has been slowly capturing more of my attention and more of my time. At meals I find myself wanting to check my phone - not for messages, but for every little thought that crosses my mind: What's the weather, what's my schedule tomorrow, what's the latest news, is there anything new on Facebook, any new instant messages, what's the name of that movie, I wonder what the Radar map looks like, maybe a quick game of solitaire while i wait. On and on. It's distracting to my family and people around me at meals.
According to studies detailed in the book The Cyber Effect, I'm not alone. It turns out, iPhones and iPhone Apps are designed to condition us to check them repeatedly. We get addicted to the constant electronic stimulation, and it becomes a new level of normal. Our brains get used to constant dopamine stimulation from the screens, video, sounds, pictures, thoughts and constant stream of information. I began to notice that I couldn't wait in line behind three people at Starbucks without an urge to pick up my phone and, and, do anything on it: Facebook, Solitaire, News. I couldn't just wait in line and be present and aware of those around me, and be content with my own thoughts.
So, I've decided, that for the month of January, I'd practice a Tech Diet. Not a Fast; tech is too integrated into my work life for that. But a diet. For a month i'm going to cut down and cut out the things that are slowly owning me. I want to see what happens when I stop compulsively using tech. To that end I've come up with some "Rules" or as they say in Pirates of the Caribbean - Guidelines.
The two difficult rules to figure out were what to do with TV, because it too can lead to mindless searching and consuming behavior. I thought about just not watching TV for a month, but that might negative impact family time. So my rule is to turn the remote control over to my wife. If she turns something on, I might watch, but she gets to choose when and what's on. I'm giving up searching behavior here (a topic for a future blog post). And if I am wanting less TV screen time, I may choose not to watch with her. But she's kind of supporting me in this diet, so I think we'll be more thoughtful and discriminating in what we consume on TV.
The second difficult is - Wait for it - the new tablet I got for Christmas. More on this at a later time but since Christmas I've really enjoyed reading on it. I had already decided that I'd not include my Kindle Paper White in my diet, because it's my preferred way of reading books and I plan on doing more book reading on this diet. Anyway, I've decided that I can read books and magazines on my new Kindle Fire tablet too. But I won't be doing anything else on it, in fact, I haven't really set it up for anything other than reading. So that's it. I'm going to blog about my experiences and what replaces the time I used to spend on tech. I'm hoping for increased clarity of thought and mindfulness, improved conversations and relationships, and maybe more. I'll try to post some thoughts most days if I can.
-Mark
According to studies detailed in the book The Cyber Effect, I'm not alone. It turns out, iPhones and iPhone Apps are designed to condition us to check them repeatedly. We get addicted to the constant electronic stimulation, and it becomes a new level of normal. Our brains get used to constant dopamine stimulation from the screens, video, sounds, pictures, thoughts and constant stream of information. I began to notice that I couldn't wait in line behind three people at Starbucks without an urge to pick up my phone and, and, do anything on it: Facebook, Solitaire, News. I couldn't just wait in line and be present and aware of those around me, and be content with my own thoughts.
So, I've decided, that for the month of January, I'd practice a Tech Diet. Not a Fast; tech is too integrated into my work life for that. But a diet. For a month i'm going to cut down and cut out the things that are slowly owning me. I want to see what happens when I stop compulsively using tech. To that end I've come up with some "Rules" or as they say in Pirates of the Caribbean - Guidelines.
- No social media. This one is going to be fairly easy and frankly a relief for awhile. I may set up this blog to post automatically so people can follow my thoughts. Then again, I might not.
- No screen based entertainment: No YouTube, No streaming media.
- No news reading in Flipboard - my go-to news aggregater.
- No solitaire.
- No grabbing my phone, computer, or tablet when I have a spare moment.
- I'll use my phone for communication only, and my computer for work (scheduling, reports) and for writing only.
- I'm going to forgo pod casts, and probably audio books, with the exception of the book Falling Upward by Richard Rohr. I started that book last month, and it's very thoughtful and I want to finish it. Listening to it on my drives to work is I think, consistent with the spirit of this diet.
- I think i'll still use Alexa / Echo and home automation. I use it for turning off and on lights and such. I think I'll try to limit it's use, just to see how much it's infiltrated my life. I use Alexa mostly for music, and I've decided not to stop using Tech for music. But even this, I've already found myself quieting down - it's easier to read in silence than with music, and my music can sometimes be another way to keep my brain stimulated. I'll see how this one plays out.
The two difficult rules to figure out were what to do with TV, because it too can lead to mindless searching and consuming behavior. I thought about just not watching TV for a month, but that might negative impact family time. So my rule is to turn the remote control over to my wife. If she turns something on, I might watch, but she gets to choose when and what's on. I'm giving up searching behavior here (a topic for a future blog post). And if I am wanting less TV screen time, I may choose not to watch with her. But she's kind of supporting me in this diet, so I think we'll be more thoughtful and discriminating in what we consume on TV.
The second difficult is - Wait for it - the new tablet I got for Christmas. More on this at a later time but since Christmas I've really enjoyed reading on it. I had already decided that I'd not include my Kindle Paper White in my diet, because it's my preferred way of reading books and I plan on doing more book reading on this diet. Anyway, I've decided that I can read books and magazines on my new Kindle Fire tablet too. But I won't be doing anything else on it, in fact, I haven't really set it up for anything other than reading. So that's it. I'm going to blog about my experiences and what replaces the time I used to spend on tech. I'm hoping for increased clarity of thought and mindfulness, improved conversations and relationships, and maybe more. I'll try to post some thoughts most days if I can.
-Mark
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