Technology has numerous benefits, and has helped us connect to each other in more ways than before. You can do a Skype session with your friends across the world, as well as emailing your clients. However, how many of these are beneficial to you in the long term?
In actual fact, there are numerous pitfalls that come due to constant connectivity. Some are just realizing the problems of the internet and social media, while others are starting to place limits on the connectivity amounts they experience every day.
Regardless of what is happening in your week, it is important to recognize you cannot keep up with technology and social media all the time. It is also vital to disconnect from your email, phone, laptop, and any other electronic gadget you own. You need to place limits on the hours you put in social media and your tech gadgets, and telling others about getting back to them during official working hours – so that you take care of your own health. Here are some of the benefits.
It encourages you to build your self-control
Tech is good, but the worst part is that it controls your life in so many ways. For example, you switch on your Wi-Fi on your phone, and the phone buzzes with an email notification from a co-worker. You then drop all the things you are doing to answer the email, even neglecting your family time to get back to work. Sounds familiar?
Deciding the hours that you will utilize technology gives you control of your own time, because it demands that you exercise self-control. Regardless of the activities you are doing at the time, you will have to stop the moment your break time arrives.
When you adhere to the rules you have placed on yourself strictly, it fight the urge to keep on working. It will also force you to work only when you have technological access, just like working with BestVPN.com, and encourages you to build your control so that you only power down at specific times.
It helps the brain to relax and wind down
In the course of the entire day, you will be looking at screens – ranging from your tablets, computers, TV screens and phones, as well as other screens – all for entertainment and work purposes. You have always trained your brain to expect a notification to pop up and wait for something to appear.
However, the constant stimulation you are receiving eventually stresses and overwhelms the brain. In fact, a 2013 survey that was done by Cornerstone On Demand revealed that almost 40 percent of millennials feel an ‘overload of technology’. Technology addiction also changes the quality of your sleep and alertness levels during the day.
Unplugging from technology, at least for a day, can actually give your mind some rest from the overuse of technological gadgets.
Note that mental health problems will also have a strong link to technology overuse, aside from addiction. Social media in particular, also proves to be a major cause of loneliness, jealous and mentally unhealthy. Added scientific research has also shown that exposure to computer screens and other electronic devices reduces the levels of melatonin after you use them for two hours, which means that you cannot sleep properly and for very long – and that will obviously have a negative effect on your psychological wellbeing.
It helps you give time back
Without your TV, Twitter, Instagram, email or Candy Crush next to you, you might not know anything you can do to keep you occupied. You notice that you have a lot of free time on your hands and nothing major to do. Utilize the time to get back to the activities you loved before and those that matter the most to you.
For instance, you can use that time to connect with your family and friends. You can also read a book, have a family dinner, or go for a walk. You can also use it to connect with others like in playing games and spending some quality time with them.
Reminds you that multitasking never works
The attempts you might make in shifting your attention between preparing for an important activity, sending emails and making reports is never a great idea, regardless of whether you are doing it from school, work or home. The more highly you rate yourself a multitasking, the worse you actually are at it – in addition to being more impulsive overall and taking greater risks.
Therefore, it may be that the act of multitasking is a major sign that the person in question is not able to put their concentration in a project to the maximum.
After all, you have an idea that it is better to put your focus in one thing instead of doing ten things at the same time. For example, trying to focus on sending an email while fixing your dinner and chatting with a friend on Facebook will not make you good at any of the tasks you are doing. So, make sure you switch off all the notifications while you are at home or outside working hours, or give yourself a break for some hours.
The time off allows you to think
Technology always seeks to distract you from what you are doing, instead of helping you achieve things. When you allow it to entertain you all the time, you will never give yourself the time to think in abstract ways or have deep thoughts on matters. Without the intrusion of technology, you are forced to think on issues, as well as reflect on your week.
When you allow your thoughts to run free, you have a better opportunity to come up with solutions to problems, new ideas, as well as forming new conclusions to matters. You cannot do this while scrolling through social media feeds or surfing channels.
Final thoughts
Disconnecting from technology takes discipline and firm decision making, but it is a choice that will benefit you in the long term.