Are You Addicted to Technology?

Did you know that most people will spend roughly 46 hours and 26 minutes online per week and that an average person is projected to spend roughly 6 years and 7 months of their life online?  Holy Smokes! 

Now don’t get me wrong, I do understand that part of our lives and careers use some form of technology, and I get that. A lot is unavoidable.  I’m using it as I write this, and you are using it as you read this.  But then we also have some choice in the matter.

On average, here’s what’s happening according to the stats:

Overall Screen time =  6 hours and 38 minutes per day

Mobile Usage =  3 hours and 45 minutes

Social Media = 2 hours and 21 minutes

Streaming Music = 1 hour and 25 minutes

Podcasts =  52 minutes.

By these estimations, beginning at age 18, a person who lives to be 80 will have spent more than 17 years of their adult life on-line in some fashion.  What could you use with even a tenth of this time back?

Consider this……

Do you ever bring your phone, Ipad or laptop to the bathroom?

Do you pull your phone out when ever you have to wait more than 2 minutes for anything?

Have you ever received and replied to a text from someone in your house?

Do you check your “feeds” more than once an hour?

Do you ever ask “google” to figure something out for you before you try and figure it out for yourself?

Do you check your email or social media accounts before you brush your teeth?

Do you spend more time on-line than you do with real live humans?

Do you panic when you can’t find your charger(s)?

Would you rather email someone than talk to them?

Does the thought of losing your phone create more panic than losing your wallet?

Can you find your way to some destination without using some form of GPS?

Do you email, text or go online when you are watching television or at an event or at the dinner table?

When you are out, say at a restaurant, do you keep your phone tucked away or on the table?

How often do you check your phone or email or texts?  More than once an hour?

Is your phone in you hand right now or somewhere you can see it?

If you answered yes to most of these than you are hooked and may need an intervention.

Can you…..

1.      Abstain from technology for a day?  A morning?

2.      Run an errand without taking your phone?

3.      Turn off the notifications and sounds that steal your attention?

4.      Take command of your day by not looking at your phone, email, or any other technology for the first 15 minutes of every day?  You can let “others” form your day or you can shape it yourself first.

I love what technology can do FOR us.  Not such a fan of what it’s doing TO us.

What do you think?