ON BALANCE || 4 Simple Ways to Create Tech-Life Balance

For better or worse, it’s not uncommon nowadays to be lost in the world of technology. 

Technology - not only are we talking about our cell phones and tablets but also things we would use or come across daily. Tech has become so common that many people have grown so accustomed to technology that it’s become a part of their daily lives.

We wake up, switch off the alarm on our cell phones, then, without knowing, we are either in a communication application (aka Whatsapp), a social media application (needless to say), or even the weather application. We get ready for the day, hop into the car, the public transit, tap the transit pass, and make a Nespresso coffee - the point here is that we are using technology throughout the day. Not to mention, we easily get lost in the well-known world - the Internet.

Browsing through social media.

Let’s share some quick technology facts. Did you know there are over 3 billion smartphone users and over 4.5 billion active users on the Internet? This means that nearly all the world’s youth and adults are active on the internet and are drowned in tons of notifications from dozens of different apps, pop-up advertisements in newsletters, and social media content. All this virtual shouting is why most of us subconsciously lose focus. How? Let me give you an example. You unlock your cell phone to check the time, but somehow you end up scrolling through social media, and now you’re in a tab on Safari looking for the best restaurant in town. And this is what we officially call falling into the internet rabbit hole.

We all know that mental health is important and can affect our happiness. But due to our fast-paced digital lives, we often get caught up in the chaos of our technology and devices, which can take a toll on our mental health. The key here is to find a balance between life and technology. Here are a few tips that you can start practicing right now!

Avoid Double-Screening

Do you find yourself in a zoom meeting, and you’re on your tablet sending out an email? STOP! As we know, multitasking has been proven to be bad for productivity and generally is a stress booster rather than a stress reliever (when it seems like you are saving time by doing two tasks at once).

Night-Mode

Create tech-free rules, and what we mean by that is to avoid using technology or gadgets before bed. The key here is to avoid artificial light before resting the mind and body to promote a good night's sleep. We recommend leaving your phone outside the bedroom and not using it at least one hour before bedtime.

Meditation 

Whether it’s for 3-minutes, 5-minutes or 15-minutes, try to meditate whenever you want to pick up your phone or watch an extra episode on tv. Meditation will help you clear your mind and put you in a state of relaxation and tranquillity. 

Limit the Notifications

It’s easy to enable notifications for the dozens of applications we have on our smartphones, but what if you limit yourself to five or even less? Of course, notifications are helpful when you are expecting something important, but low-value notifications can be switched off to avoid picking up your device for no reason.

Meditation break.

The technology we have today is amazing and has definitely enriched our lives - but it’s also important to pull yourself away from time to time and reset for a healthy balance between life and technology.