I woke up this morning intending to start a new day and spend 10 minutes of intentional time off of technology.
I began to do a breathing treatment and set my phone aside, but I found myself struggling to stay off of my phone. It felt like an eternity passed and it was only 3 minutes.
The more I kept tapping my watch, waiting to see if time was passing, the more I began to think…
I have seen many posts about parents struggling to get their kids off of screens, but what about us too? What would happen if I made myself feel vulnerable and shared this with other people? Too much screen time is not a them problem, it’s an us problem. As parents, we are the models our kids count on; if we can’t define and enforce our own limits, what example are we setting?
Let me tell you, ten minutes does not sound like a lot, but it’s a start. A new start! That is what I have been craving and longing for, to return to a time that favors real life connections and time spent in nature. Simplicity! I don’t just want it, I need it, and research shows, you probably need it too.
Do you remember what it’s like to find shapes in the clouds, make flower crowns, carefully craft snow balls, and run around until it gets dark outside?
It’s hard to believe there was a time before smartphones, streaming services, Bluetooth, and WiFi. Kids today are missing out on valuable life experiences and real human connections. Many children haven’t lived in a time before this, so they don’t remember what it’s like, but we do. We can teach them, and when it comes to using technology for the power of good, maybe they can teach us!
The upsides of technology are amazing! It can connect us to faraway friends and family, allow us to work from home, and now, with the help of ai, ideas we never even thought possible are coming to life every second. Technology can be harnessed for good.
Unfortunately, while our global reach for opportunities increases, our loneliness and the search for meaningful connections does too. We are spending holidays making hashtags, family dinners in restaurants with phones and TVs to distract us from face to face conversation, and mothers and fathers are feeding their babies while looking at their phones instead of their eyes. Political memes and news stories are carefully contrived to generate clicks and reactions that give elite executives money by manipulating us and driving us all further apart from each other.
I understand the importance of technology and the weight and immense power it has on humans and our relationships. I want to challenge the rules on what it means to be a “modern mom” and break them, and I want to break free from being addicted to screens. Finally, I want technology to be used in a way that is not only balanced but beneficial to every person around the globe.
This is my journey figuring out how to do a real life factory reset, trying to go back to a time before screens and remember what that’s like.
Are you with me?
Let’s go offline, and plug into real life. Together. Again.