Hey, have you heard me say this before? We all need to be forced to create some tech boundaries for ourselves and our families. But, as you know by now, we can’t wait for “someone” to solve this tech-driven disconnect; we have to do it ourselves. Yes, we must. This shit is making us sick and weird and annoyed with each other.
There are things we can do. Many of them are dinky and unsophisticated. But are we that surprised that a swing to the rustic and tangible might just be the fix to our tech addictions? What do you think of these ideas?
1. Leave the phone out of your bedroom. Der. EMFs in your head. Read about this here). Get a battery alarm clock.
2. Use the “Do Not Disturb” function on your iPhone 9pm to 7am. Your phone will automatically stop all calls and alerts within the scheduled time. Every day. (You can still allow calls from “favourites” to come through, if you do want to make sure you’re contactable in an emergency.)
3. Have a Family Investment Bucket. Heidi Middleton, co-founder of Sass and Bide does. The whole family puts their phones, iPads etc into the bucket from 5-8pm every night to make way for tech-free family time.
4. Dedicate one charging station for all your digital devices. Unplug them when they are fully charged. (This saves the battery too.)
5. Play the phone stacking game at dinner with friends. Phones (face down! and on silent) in a pile on the table. The first person to pick up their phone pays for dinner.
6. Switch off “push notifications”. I do. Those red circles make me as anxious as one of Pavlov’s dogs.
7. Pfft the phone. Challenge yourself to head out to a dinner, a movie, a family picnic, without your phone. I do it regularly. It’s embarrassingly liberating. I feel like I’ve truly achieved something.
8. Don’t capture moments. Try not taking a photo or sharing a tweet when something happens. Be a rebel. I’ve written about this here.
9. Do an email detox. This is bold. I’ve done it. It’s liberating.
What revolutionary rebellious tech-liberating stuff do you do?
