This post is about setting up some healthy rules for yourself regarding how much time you spend on-line.
I often think about how much time I spend on my digital devices. Is it four hours a day or more? I know it’s the first thing I do when I have my morning coffee. I log into my i-Pad to read the paper and catch up on emails. I reach for my phone to read any current texts. Once I get to work it’s more of the same log on, get more e-mail, check the texts on my phone, and then I’m in for however long it takes me to sift through the messages and respond appropriately. Next is usually a coaching session via Zoom or Teams or on my phone, and then back to more emails or chats.
Sometimes I just seem to hang out on my device. You know how it is: You’re in that blank space, staring at your screen (like staring into space) and just sort of surfing around with no particular aim in mind. It’s comforting in a vacuous way, but I find that I often feel guilty if too much time goes by, the way I do when I watch stupid stuff on TV.
One of the ways I’ve counteracted too much time on-line is to read a real book. I love the feel of a book in my hands – the way the paper looks and feels, the particular type-face that’s used, the pleasure that comes from turning the page, especially when you can’t wait to find out what happens next!
I’ve also found that when I spend too much time on-line, my neck starts to hurt, and that’s my wake up call to get up and move away from my device. I also try not to use devices before I go to sleep at night. Once I’ve left my work, I leave it behind. But, the texts still pop up on my phone and there are still times when I need to respond to someone after normal working hours. If I don’t discipline myself, it all creeps up on me and I find that hours have gone by without my even looking up from a screen.
What are your on-line habits like? Are you regularly sending friends a text instead of calling them on the phone or going to see them? Try limiting the amount of time you spend on line or, at the very least, try adding other methods of communication to your day so your digital devices are not your only source of interaction. One client of mine has found that blocking off times during the day when he’s not on any of his digital devices helps him to fill that space with more beneficial pursuits. As he says, “There’s a lot that goes on at work and I need time to myself to digest what I’ve heard and learned. I can’t do that while I’m on my phone or computer so I take a time out from all of it regenerate myself. ”
These devices are, after all, machines, and I find that if I spend most of my day interacting chiefly with a machine, I feel rather empty when the day is done. I marvel at their many uses and the wealth of information they make available to me in a nanosecond, but I second this thought from a friend who asked, “Who ever curled up on a rainy day with a good computer?”
Kathleen