Unplug & Unwind

Jess Lundie — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:00:51 +0000

Today’s post is a guest post by Jesse Langley. Jesse is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in consumer technology. He writes on behalf of Colorado Technical University.

Conventional wisdom says the first step on the road to recovery is to admit you have a problem. So, here goes: my name is Jesse, and I’m a techie addict. I came to that realization when I did a quick inventory of my daily routine:

The first thing I did when I woke up in the morning—after silencing the alarm on my smartphone—was check my e-mail. Then I browsed my Google Reader feed to see if there were any stories I missed the night before. After my shower—but before getting dressed and doing my makeup and hair—I powered up my laptop to browse my Facebook and Twitter accounts. On the way to work I fit my Bluetooth earpiece into place and listened to Morning Edition on NPR from my smartphone, since fiddling with the radio is too much of a distraction.

After a day of staring at my laptop screen at work, my free time was still full of gadgets. On evenings I didn’t devote to blogging or Tweeting, I came home and unwound by watching a movie on Netflix or curling up with a good book on my Kindle. Once I was ready for bed, I set the alarm on my phone, checked my reader feed one last time and drifted off to the sounds of an Audible audiobook.

There’s something seriously wrong with that routine. At no point in my day was I disconnected from the Internet via some sort of device. Even my daily interactions with friends and family were dominated by texts and Facebook wall posts. Something had to give, so I decided to do something radical: I restricted my access to the Matrix and started living life in the physical world.

Disconnect from your phone

We use our smartphones to shop, tweet, text, and to download music, but it’s becoming rare to use them to actually call people and talk to them. It’s passé to use the phone for anything other than emergencies. While the trend is gaining popularity, it robs our daily interactions of significance and familiarity. Learn to use your phone as a phone again: call close friends and family instead of texting them.

Also, keep your phone on a table or on a shelf where you can access it if it rings—but not right at hand. Phones have become like security blankets, and a misplaced phone can cause real anxiety. You don’t need to have your phone on you at all times. And for goodness sake, buy a real alarm clock so you don’t rely on your phone as an alarm.

Set limits and get out

The Internet is my most important tool, for work and the grad school program I’m enrolled in. I used to come home and browse the Net for hours or get lost in tweeting back and forth with cyber friends, and before I knew it, I’d blown past my bedtime. Putting limits on the times I use the Internet forced me to tend to the other, more important tasks that piled up throughout my day; it also made me think about how much time I spent interacting in the virtual world.

Another way to detox: get real face time with your friends and family. Instead of using a Google+ Hangout, actually hang out with your friends at a restaurant or at your place. Friendship, after all, used to be a full-contact sport—going out and doing things is still an option.

These two steps are just part of my tech detox plan, but they’re a good way to start if your own virtual life is taking over your actual life. Do what you can to put boundaries on your interaction with your gadgets, and learn to live without being tethered to tech.

No related posts.

Nobody Likes a Meanie Greenie

Jess Lundie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:19:39 +0000

Last week, David aka the Good Human wrote a great post about being an eco-sinner. His point? We are all eco-sinners. If you are reading this, you are an eco-sinner – the computer, the electricity you’re using, the roof over your head (unless you are this guy, who is amazing). No one is perfect, and almost all of us are living in a way that negatively impacts the environment.

Several recent experiences caused me to wonder at how social media gives us new mediums through which to harass, critique and treat other people disdainfully. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. There are incredibly effective ways to use social media to further your cause, my cause, any cause. We’ll get to that. But first, let’s take a look at what people actually do.

Scenario Numero Uno

My dryer broke in January. For a variety of reasons, it doesn’t make sense to replace the dryer right now. In spite of the obvious environmental benefits, this has most definitely not been a good thing. In fact, it has been a giant pain. Because you know what’s hard to do? Hang-dry clothes in the Pacific Northwest in February.

Several weeks ago, I ended up getting into an online conversation with someone about hang-drying clothes. This fellow greenie proceeded to one-up me about relative difficulty of hang-drying clothes based on where we live. I disengaged and walked away, because really, what was the point of that? I’m glad he’s been able to get his clothes to dry successfully, but personally, I’m tired of my towels smelling vaguely of mildew.

Scenario Numero Dos

A few days ago, I was contacted via Twitter by a grass-fed, organic meat company several states away. I told them that I love what they’re doing but that I try to buy local. What could have been a great interaction turned unpleasant, as the company rep proceeded to harangue me via DM for not understanding organic standards, not caring about sustainability, and trying to convince me that ordering from their company on Amazon is better than supporting a sustainable (but uncertified) source 20 minutes from my house.

Big mistake. I love promoting and supporting companies who are doing good things. I would have remembered and recommended the company to people in the future. Not anymore. In fact, even if I end up in a position where it would make sense for me to purchase from this company, I would probably look for an alternative.

I shot back a series of cranky retorts. Fortunately, they were eaten by a Twitter error. I love it when technology takes the high road on my behalf.

This Kind of Stuff Is Why People Don’t Like Us

Take notes, people. This kind of stuff is why people don’t like us. This kind of stuff is why I don’t like calling myself an environmentalist. And unfortunately, social media has given us the ability to be jerks in new and far-reaching ways.

What frustrates me most is not that I had these two encounters. It’s that other people are probably running into this too.

I worry about the people on the verge of change. What if I was someone who was looking into sustainable eating for the first time? An encounter like that might have driven me back to the grocery store meat section. It may not be sustainable, but at least they aren’t yelling at me. Same with dryer-guy. His conversation with me wasn’t helpful or constructive. In fact, it served no purpose at all. Maybe it made him feel better about himself, but it didn’t make me more likely to hang-dry my clothes. And it made me much less likely to come back to his site and engage with him.

It is a rare thing, perhaps impossible, for us to truly know where someone else is coming from. We can try, but it is at best a guess. For people we know well, it may be a very good guess. For people we meet on the internet or connect with via social media, isn’t it worth erring on the side of caution?

Whatever your cause may be, I think it is better served by listening, really listening and trying to understand where someone is coming from. We gain more allies by being gentle and constructive with people, those who are clearly “on our side,” and particularly those who might be leaning that direction and just aren’t there yet. Sometimes we serve our cause by disengaging from the need to be right.

Social media is a phenomenal tool for doing this. Let’s choose to use it this way instead.