How To Do It?Unplug, switch off, put away all your gadgets! (Not just on airplane mode…) And yes it’s all of them! It’s 24hrs from sundown to sundown. We can manage that right?! What Next?Engage with what’s going on around you. Spend some time with family and friends. Go outside and take part in an activity. Explore your local area and see what’s out there. I’m sure there are lots of things you can be doing. (Whilst you have the internet do a little research if you have to!) Why Do It?There is lots of research showing us the amount of time we use screens. About 3 in every 10 adults in the US say they are constantly online. Kids are spending between 4-6 hours a day looking at screens and teens can be using tech for up to 9 hours a day!  Sleep Impact When it’s light outside our bodies react to this making us more alert. So when it gets dark outside our bodies react to that too. We naturally become more sleepy. But we are keeping ourselves awake longer with our manmade lights and our devices. Long-time phone use has been linked to mental disturbances that can lead to the development of anxiety and depression. Body Impact The main impact is our eyes. There’s the glare from a screen. The different angles that the screen might be. Our eyes have to work harder in order to look at a screen in contrast to a printed page. Also our neck and shoulders get effected too. The way we sit when using screens can have a big impact on us. There is such a thing now called Computer Vision Syndrome so we need to take it seriously! And then there’s the hazard of looking down at our phones and walking into something! Ouch!  Relational Impact I’ve walked into a room where everyone was playing a board game – on their screens – with everyone in the room! Relationships: friend-to-friend, parent-to-kid, partner-to-partner, need more than communication through a device. It’s great to be able to communicate all around the world. It’s great to be able to communicate with those who are around us too. What Next?Use this an opportunity to revise how you use your tech. It’s useful for business and communicating and connections. But let’s put practices in place to help keep it in balance. Here’s a few of my suggestions: Mealtimes Don’t bring your phone to the table. We have a rule that no phones are allowed at the table during mealtimes. These are family times. I’ve heard stories of friends going out for dinner. They put their phones in a box in the middle of the table and the first person to get theirs out has to pay. I’ve heard of restaurants do similar incentives if you can leave your phone alone for the meal. Outdoors Go for a walk and leave your phone behind. Make the most of the environment around you. Hear what’s going on whether it’s traffic or birds or construction or the wind in the trees.  Bedtime If it’s possible leave your phone out of your room. What?! That might be a step too far. Phones often have the capability of being able to set up routines so you can turn the internet off at a certain time or disable apps when it might be distracting. Make the most of these. Basically what we need to practice is how we can make the best use of these wonderful gadgets we have around us. Tech is there to help us. So let’s make sure that we are using it in a healthy way.  If you’d like to talk about how to manage your tech or would like counselling about anything else then please get in contact with us here. Josh HardinghamCounsellor and Psychotherapist
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