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Technology can help us if used correctly. But it can kill us when used unwisely. Some people report a delight in not being reachable. However, some people need to be reachable and feel a real high when they are available to others all the time.
The average person spends about twelve hours a day looking at a screen of some kind, whether it is a computer screen, cell phone, iPod or digital reader. The computer occupies more than five hours of our day, on average.
Addiction makes us reliant on something outside of ourselves from our fundamental well-being. This makes us feel vulnerable and disempowered when we are not connected or in touch with others in some way.
Addiction also causes us to regress emotionally and spiritually. Addiction shrinks our lives and us with it, even when the substance is something that has the capacity to expand life.
Technology then becomes a powerful drug, even more than we ever envisioned. We need to take an active role with our technology use and not become a society of addicts. In other words, we need to control our technology use.
If we don’t take steps to control our use of technology, we will become technologically drunk.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to determine if you are technologically drunk:
1. Are you unwilling to look at the truth of your behavior? Do you get defensive when someone remarks how much you are using technology? Can you admit to yourself that you have a problem putting down your technological devices?
2. Do you connect online as soon as you wake up? Do you check your text messages in the middle of the night? Do you text at night? Do you keep your cell phone in your bedroom at night?
3. Do you create any down time away from technology? Do you feel anxious when you are away from your devices?
4. Do you use technology as a way to escape from the here and now without awareness? Are you trying to escape something?
5. Do you chronically multi-task? Does technology become one more multi-tasking agent for you?
6. Do you allow technology get in the way with truly connecting with others? Do you text during dinner or lunch when you are sitting around with family and friends?
7. Can you disconnect for a pre-set time, say 6 hours or 12 hours? Can you make one day a week tech-free or does the thought make your stomach churn?
By answering these questions, you will be able to determine if you are addicted to your technology and whether you are digitally drunk as a result.
You can feel less drunk on technology. You just have to be ready to unplug, even if it is a few hours at a time. If you can do that, you will indeed break the addiction of technology and regain your life.
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