I heard Manoush Zomorodi on NPR and then watched her TED Talk and thought, I have to share this information with you all about how your technology addiction is crippling your creativity and well-being.
Some Facts:
Before mobile phones and pads our average attention span was every 3 minutes our mind would become distracted.
TODAY it is every 45 seconds!
On average we check our emails 74 times a day! Some more than 200.
Phone check 60 times a day on average. On phone 2 hours a day.
You will spend 2 years of your life on FaceBook. What?! And thats average…Instagram, Twitter…
We switch tasks on our computers 566 times a day and it takes an average of 24 minutes to find our way back to our original task. We are wasting so much time and energy on things that don’t matter!
There is very little down time to be bored and let our brilliant ideas enter our consciousness, create deep friendships or find peace of mind.
There is very little down time to be bored and let our brilliant ideas enter our consciousness, create deep friendships or find peace of mind. Think about if you were doing this many activities with food, shopping, drug/alcohol, sex, gambling addictions how messed up your life would be. It’s time to get real about what technology is doing to our mind, body and spirit. This is why people are depressed, anxious, overwhelmed and lacking creativity to make things happen in their life.
I want you to know it is not your fault, the companies developing these products want you to be addicted to them. They built in triggers to get your attention and get a rush of dopamine or serotonin. It makes them money and gives them power and disempowers you. The time has come for you to do something about it because it is causing you harm and taking away your creative abilities like problem solving, imaginating a future, and leadership skills to name a few.
It is also causing you mental, emotional and physical health issues. Poor sleep, low self-esteem, addiction behaviors (not running your own life), relationship issues, communication issues….You are driving your brain to these addictive behaviors and cutting off the creative parts of your brain.
Tech developers refer to you as USERS, just like drug dealers do. Your attention is a product.
You can learn how to use technology to improve your life instead of being task masters to the companies technology additions. Watch the TED Talk below and I’ll have resources and steps you can take to take back your life and creativity down below.
Resources:
Bored and Brilliant Book by Manoush Zomorodi
Do you know how powerful you are?
Quick Soulutions:
- Delete all apps that take away your energy
- Turn off all notifications while working 60-90 minute sessions.
- Check email twice a day
- Let others know you will not be so attached to responding asap and you’re taking back your life.
- Decide for yourself when to interact
- Spend time without technology to space out and day dream
- Don’t sleep with technology in your bedroom., buy an alarm clock if you use your phone.
- Get together with friends without phones and have conversations, you’ll feel happier, connected, more confident and inspired
- Reframe doing nothing as creative time
Let me know your thoughts on this topic and what you do to self regulate technology use in the comments below.
Please share with others if you find this information of value!
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