How Technology Plays A Part In Our Life
Humans developed technology to make our lives easier, yet within just a few years we have become completely reliant on it.
The rising use of mobile phones has been linked to anxiety and depression. Whether it is the bombardment of news headlines or social media acting like a pressure cooker for your insecurities, it’s hardly surprising. The result is we’re less patient, we expect constant stimulation, and it’s thought to affect our memory as we allow apps to do the hard work for us.
A rise in mobile phones and hand-held computer devices has meant the human hand is undergoing a transformation too.
Dr Sadie Plant carried out a study, which concluded that the thumbs of teenagers and young adults have become more muscled and dexterous than the fingers on their hands, thanks to the way we use technology today.
The study showed that people under 25 would use their thumb to ring a doorbell, whereas older generations used their index finger. So if you’re ever unsure of someone’s age – just ask them to ring the bell!
Time to unplug the technology
Sometimes you may feel like you need a digital detox from the world, but when you plug back in, you will be back where you started. So we thought we would give you some handy life hacks to rely on technology less!
Check your phone less
Checking your phone whilst you are in the middle of doing other things is essentially multitasking. Having your phone light up or bleep throughout the day will distract your attention and make you less productive.
When you should be concentrating on work or family time, turn on ‘do not disturb’ or switch to flight mode, and choose when you want to reconnect to the world. If this isn’t practical then turn off all notification noises (including vibrate) to help keep focused on the task in hand.
If you feel like properly pulling the plug try deleting all the apps you don’t use or don’t really need, and lose your data plan so you’re only tempted to use apps when you are connected to WiFi.
Reduce screen time
We all know too much screen time isn’t good for us or our families. Findings from RescueTime showed that we spend an average of 3 hours and 15 minutes a day on our phones, and the top 20% of smartphone users spend over 4.5 hours on their phones each day.
– If you need tech help but want to reduce screen time, you can incorporate simple changes to how you use it:
– Pick up the phone or put it on speaker, and actually talk to your friends, instead of sending a message.
– Use voice assistants like Siri or Alexa to find the answer to something, without touching your phone.
– Listen to podcasts and audiobooks more and use video steaming less.
And if you are feeling really brave – leave home without your phone!
Go old school at work
Today’s work culture means we live in our inboxes all day. A study by SoftwareONE found that employees waste five hours per week re-reading old messages, needlessly checking for updates and sending emails to colleagues instead of saving time with face-to-face conversations. It is the equivalent of 230 hours a year of wasted time!
Instead of doing all your communicating with colleagues digitally, have face-to-face daily meetings to talk through tasks and queries.
In larger work environments, pick up the phone and make an internal call. It can be a quicker way of resolving a work issue than a stream of emails back and forth.
If you aren’t expected to check your emails outside of your work hours – then don’t! Turn off push notifications on your email at the very least, so you aren’t aware of emails until you want to be.
Technology is a huge part of the world we live in, and is the basis of our business. We want it to liberate our customers, not burden them!
To find out more about how we can support your business with IT and communications, contact us!