Addicted to Technology?

There’s no question technology is an inescapable part of everyday life. What was once just for work is now at home, at play and even in the bedroom. Has so much technology made us more efficient but less effective?

“Technology begins as a convenience,” Sherry Turkle, psychologist and professor at MIT, tells PINK. “Then we start to use a technology designed for efficiency in the realm of our intimacies. It becomes a way to hide from each other.”

Turkle, also the author of Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other, suggests there’s a reason – beyond convenience – that people text and instant message others right down the hall. “In a text [message], we can perform our online personas; we can put forth the self we want to be and communicate when we wish and disengage at will.”

How to unplug?

Experts agree that setting boundaries with technology, personally and professionally, is the key to managing this medium. Disengage during the day to allow for personal time and resist the temptation (and what scientists say might hinder quality sleep) to remain glued to your Smartphone until late in the evening.

They also suggest creating “policies” for yourself, like disconnecting during mealtimes and vacations.

Those who don’t let technology get the best of them know it will be never be a valid substitute for the real world and communications skills you build there.

Bonus PINK Link: Staying on top of technology – without going overboard – is vital to your business. Here’s why.

By Nancy Bistritz

“The production of too many useful things
results in too many useless people.”  Karl Marx