Digital Detox

It's 8:56 am CST, my computer has 1hr 11min worth of charge remaining, my cell phone is vibrating on the table, I'm cruising the web for interesting and uplifting stories in the world, emails are flooding in and I'm jamming to some funky reggae beats blaring in my headphones.  I'm completely connected and in-tune with the digital world.  I couldn't get more plugged in unless battery packs for humans existed.  Until that day, my gigantic Americano sitting next to me will have to do...

This is the cultural norm now.  These days not having a Facebook account will make people look at you as if you just drove by in a Flintstone's style car.  If your cell phone isn't a smart phone you might as well be using styrofoam cups and string! And, for the record, my cell phone is not a smart phone and it works just fine.

I enjoy the digital world. I like the fact that it has provided creative types a new platform from which to innovate and create. I like that it has created an inter-connectedness unlike ever before.  I like the efficiency it provides too. However, an unintended consequence of this lifestyle is that we cannot detach from it. It's almost as if we believe the entire digital world will fall apart if we aren't plugged in--this is the 'buy in' that has been created. The new unspoken rule is that once you have joined the digital world you are not allowed to leave.

That's ridiculous. We'll all be clinically insane if we don't start implementing periods of digital detox into our daily lives.

Try this:  Tonight at 7pm turn off your cell phone, don't check your email and avoid the TV.  Go for a run, read a book or enjoy a nice glass of wine.

Let me know how it goes!