You are sitting down to have dinner with the family, or watching TV together, or just talking about your day and suddenly there is a ding. Or your phone is next to you and you see a new email or Facebook notification. Or you are driving in your car and a ding sounds. In all of these cases you grab your phone to see what it says. Or you are talking to someone but looking at your phone the entire time. Does this sound like you? It sounded like me until a few weeks ago. I was becoming so consumed with my phone that I could not even watch a 30 minute television show without looking at my phone at least 5 times. That is crazy.
What did we do before we had these devices that seem to control our lives? I know that we spent more time talking to each other. I know we spent more time actually listening to each other. We were less distracted. I found that my need to have my phone with me at all times was consuming my life. It was taking away time from my family. It was teaching my kids that I do not have to look at them when they talk to me so they do not have to do so either. So what did I do?
My Steps Towards Detechnologizing
I still have a LONG way to go. I still cannot make it through a television show without checking my phone. I still play games on it while watching TV sometimes. What I have done though is shown my family that I can give them my undivided attention when they need it. Technology is GREAT. I am a huge supporter of advances in technology, but I also think that we have allowed technology to take over our lives. We have lost the personal connections we had. We need to learn to detechnologize for the sake of ourselves and our family.