Starting this week, I’m doing something unheard of in my world. I’ve taken a technology break.
Obviously, it’s not a complete break… but I’ve decided to limit the time I spend on my phone and my iPad on a daily basis.
Now, I work for one of the largest technology companies in the world. I am a blogger. I have friends and family I like to keep up with. There is no way I could take a complete technology hiatus. Of note, I’m a little envious of Sally over at Sex and the Motherhood and that she’s breaking up with social media for lent. She actually inspired this post.
Sarah wrote this morning that for the third year in a row, she’ll be giving up social media for lent, adding, “TBH I am really looking forward to it.” Wow. Giving it up sounds amazing. Not constantly checking in, not spending all that extra time on my phone. All of it sounds delicious.
While I don’t give up things for Lent, I decided to adopt my own version of a technology hiatus… one that fit with my lifestyle, and one geared at addressing the things that I need to address most.
In a nutshell, I spend WAY too much online. I bet I waste anywhere from 2-3 hours every single day scrolling my social media feeds. And, that’s in addition to the time I spend surfing when I’m multi-tasking on Facebook while waiting in line at a store or double-clicking on images on Instagram while I’m waiting for people to join a conference call.
I easily spend 45 minutes to an hour that I spend in bed on my phone at the beginning of the day. It’s become this incredibly unproductive thing I do… and I believe it’s becoming a problem.
Another Confession: I never want to get out of bed for work or for any reason really. So, instead of jumping in the shower, I lay there… on my phone or iPad catching up on all I missed out on while I slept. By the way… There is never anything urgent nor life-changing. Yet there I lay, completely captivated, wasting time…
While I adore all of those I follow, this is not good use of my time and a horrible way to start the day. By the time I get out of bed, I’m rushing around… throwing on the closest outfit I can find that matches, doing a five-minute makeup job, then rushing out the door. All this rushing and stressing to get out the door, when I’ve been up for nearly two hours. It makes no sense.
If we look at my evening activities, they’re very similar. I wind down, head to bed… and I grab my devices. An hour or two flies by as I flip through Pinterest, spend time catching up on Twitter… and I finally close my eyes at the end of the night, curious as to how I’m going to function on just a few hours sleep.
I wake up in the morning… and it all starts again. It’s time for this vicious cycle to end. And, it’s going to start today!
So… Would you sign up for setting technology limits with me?