Admit it, technology is your best friend. Your day always starts off with the blaring alarm on your phone. You blindly manage to silence it and, instead of actually getting up, your hand keep hold of the phone; the irresistible temptation to check what you’ve missed in the last few hours is almost hypnotic. You spend the next hour texting emojis and texts, scrolling down multiple news feeds, and checking what your friends and favourite celebrities have posted on a variety of sites. Before you know it, you’re submerged in the lives of others before you’ve even begun your own day.
This time spent glued to our phones can be seen as time lost – in the mornings it is time in which you could have exercised, made a healthy breakfast, or finished the homework you’ve been procrastinating. But of course, all of these productive things can wait, because your phone and the world it holds are much too interesting. I’m sorry to break it to you, but you are victim to the unforgiving world of technology and social media.
Though history is ridden with oppressive regimes, today’s greatest tyrant of all is found in every household: technology. Of course, there is no denying its life-altering benefits, be it the long talks to distant family, or the phenomenally infinite amount of information that is instantly at your disposal with just a few clicks. But, just like any dictatorship, these benefits do not extend equally. While some may use its benefits to the fullest, others have experienced technology take over their lives to a robotic degree. Being humans of the twenty-first century, technology has transformed from being a part of life, to a way of life.
In the field of psychology, Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs organizes human needs in levels, ranging from the basic physiological needs at the bottom to the need for self-fulfillment at the top. To ascend to each level, the needs of the level below must be met. Once needs of hunger, thirst and fatigue are met, the next need, the need to be secure and sheltered, can be attained. Once fundamental human needs are fulfilled, there begins the search for a sense of belongingness and love, as well ways to gain approval and recognition. This is where technology’s partner in crime, social media, comes into the picture.
Social media provides a medium for each user’s unique personality to show amongst a community of what Facebook has labeled “friends.” This sense of community is further reinforced by the recognition received for portraying fragments of yourself that are shared, be it a “like” or “retweet.” Twenty years ago the needs to belong and be recognized could only be satisfied through direct human interaction, most prominently face-to-face, whereas today, these needs can be met from the confines of our bedrooms. By altering how we treat social situations, technology has had a profound impact on personalities and behaviour. Isolation has become a norm.
So the question is, how can technology be stopped from consuming your life? Simply, time management. After you have become consciously aware of your shortcomings, or in some cases, the incessant pleas from parents to look up from your phone just once, the following steps should be considered.
Step One: Don’t panic. You’ve identified the problem; you deserve a pat on the back.
Step Two: Minimize the distance from whatever it is you check regularly. To be truly productive, you have to cut all ties with your addictive tool and give yourself a few hours to truly get down to work. This is the hard part. There’s a lot of ways to minimize distance, but here are a few pointers:
- Ask someone to hold your phone/laptop/tablet hostage for as long as you need to work.
- Save the media usage for times you know you can allot for it, like a bus ride home.
- Play the responsible card and plan times to check your phone in between productive hours.
- Manage the time you spend on your phone. Allocate five to ten minutes of phone time per break, or have a set number of times you’ll check your phone in the day, say, an hour or two.
- Evaluate what is most important to you. Is the latest news feed update more important than that friend you’ve been meaning to spend time with for weeks? How about that resume you’ve meant to drop off?
Step 3: Persevere and follow through with your time allocations. Really, you’ll be much happier knowing that an inanimate object no longer has your full attention and that your energy is being expended in a positive way.
Though most people are quick to label technology as an exclusive demon, this is an overstatement. With technology, as with most things that permeate into our daily lives, it is important to set limits. By doing so, we prevent the misuse of something that may prove to be beneficial, as well as the creation of bad habits. After all, the key to a truly prosperous, joy-filled life is always balance and moderation.
By Zahraa Saab
Please note that opinions expressed are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and values of The Blank Page.
