Tame Your Technology

Technology Takes Root

Around 2010, the world was waking up to new possibilities with smartphones and web applications. We were shedding the earliest versions of Android and iOS mobile phones for improved 'smart' models that could let us handle work and personal communication on the go.

Technology was taking root beyond desktop computers.

That trend has been unstoppable. Just look in the drawer where you keep your old phones. It tells a story. In a short decade, even the vocabulary we use to describe smartphones has changed every few years:

• 'cell phone' ➡️ 'mobile phone' ➡️ 'smartphone' ➡️ 'device'

Imagine witnessing a tsunami. You are on a hill overlooking the shoreline. There is a thunderous clap that shakes the ground as tons of water crash onto the shore. Everyone in the area notices, is alarmed, and reacts.

You gaze for some time in awe and terror.

Something suddenly makes you think, "Look behind you." You realize an hour has passed and that, in the meantime, the water has forced its way inland for miles. While you were processing the magnitude of the first wave, the water kept going further, unnoticed.

This is what technology is doing in our lives.

Ubiquity

Your refrigerator, washing machine, night light, watch, bread maker, kids' toys, clothes, sneakers, cars, doorbell. It's gone well past the phone in your pocket.

Many of us can hardly think for long periods without checking some device or another. The notifications are an exercise in Chinese water torture: badges, bubbles, pop-ups, pings, vibrations, and more drill into your head over the course of the day.

What kind of effect is this having? The German neuroscientist, Manfred Spitzer, coined the term 'digital dementia' in a book of the same title published in 2012 (the original is in German, 'Digitale Demenz').

He posited that repeated and constant use of technology negatively impacts cognitive abilities, and cryptically added, “If you want your child’s school results to get worse, buy him (or her) a video game console.”

I personally don't take such a dim view. There is a lot of social interaction, teamwork, and strategy happening in video games these days. But, it is a slippery slope to be sure. Extended time at the console without taking breaks is not going to prepare a child for life as an adult.

The list of risks to health seems to grow:

• Physiological: The Mayo Clinic writes that "research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns. They include obesity and a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and unhealthy cholesterol levels — that make up metabolic syndrome."
• Social isolation: We stay on our screens too long, preventing us from connecting with others in person. Noreena Hertz writes in her book, The Lonely Century, about how loneliness is comparable to smoking fifteen cigarettes per day and is worse than obesity.
• Time loss: Procrastination, dabbling, poor time management skills.
• Privacy vulnerabilities: Still using that same password?

The devices that we surround ourselves with is foisting a new reality on us in short order.

But... I Love My iPhone

Nevertheless, devices give us incredible versatility: notes, reminders, work emails, personal emails, schedules, health journaling. Audio books. Curated Spotify lists.

I'd be lost without Apple Maps.

Devices have achieve a permanancy that we need to cope with. The thing to strive for is balance to prevent oneself from succumbing to the negative impacts on health. Here are a few techniques that have helped me.

1. Read paper-bound books. They force you to sit and focus. When you stop reading for a minute, you can look up and contemplate rather than swipe to a different app and react mindlessly to another ping-tremble-pop. You will retain information better if you read a book away from digital devices.
2. Turn off smartphone notifications. Email notifications are pointless. There will be a steady stream of job-related and personal emails today, tomorrow, the next day. Turn them off and, instead, check in from time to time on your own schedule. (I leave the text message badge on for my family, though.)
3. Think of exercise as simply moving your body. Do you really need to change clothes, drive 20 minutes to the gym, and do vein-popping grunts like Dwayne Wade? Why not do 100 step ups on your stairs at home? And stretch for another 15 minutes? And walk half a mile in your neighborhood? There's many small, impactful things you can do throughout the day to keep yourself lithe and fit.
4. Meditate. I know, I know. Every thought leader recommends it, to the point where it's become a fad. Well, I was an exchange student in Japan in 1992. The school brought us on a trip to Daihonzan Eiheiji, a temple that was built in 1244 in Fukui Prefecture, to experience Zen Buddhism. They taught us meditation techniques that I still use to this day. Try to sit comfortably in a quiet place, and don't think of it as 'meditating' so much as a chance to let your mind wander.
5. Use the Pomodoro technique. Francesco Cirillo is a renown computer programmer who developed the idea of working intensely for 25 minutes and then taking a break for five minutes. During this period, keep your work environment pristine and put your smartphone away. You will get more done. In his book Limitless, Jim Kwik exhorts readers to "Set a timer for 25 minutes right now and concentrate on what you’re reading in this book for that amount of time. When your alarm goes off, bookmark this book and close it. Then write down what you learned within that 25-minute period."

Conclusion

The inroads that devices and technology have made into our personal lives is alarming. It is literally changing how we learn, communicate, work, and spend time with others. AI will certainly exacerbate this trend.

However, we still have agency. Even though devices have more or less entered our bloodstream, it doesn't mean that we have to let them take over. The way to take control is to take stock about what's important, identify the activities that fulfill us, and keep perspective. Technology can be managed, instead of it managing us.