Reducing addiction to technology

Reducing addiction to technology

Imagine that you have been transported back to a time when technology was not as advanced as it is today, say around a century ago. How would you feel? Definitely, it will be hard as we can imagine. Because today technology has become a significant part of our lives. As an example, let’s take our mobile phone. When we wake up in the morning, the first thing we tend to reach for is our mobile phone. Also, we never forget to bring our mobile phones when we go for a walk. Not only that but also before going to sleep at night, many of us tend to check our mobile phones. Overall mobile phones have become kind of a best friend for us. It’s not just mobile phones that we are addicted to, there are varieties of ways to become addicted to technology.

Why should we reduce addiction to technology?

However, is it good to get addicted to technology? Obviously, no. Because it negatively impacts our physical and mental health as well. Again, let’s consider the mobile phone as an example; most often, what we do using mobile phones is scroll up and down in social media. Social media gives us entertainment and helps to improve our knowledge. But, when we look at the screen for hours, it gives us headaches and eye strain. Since we are in a fantasy world when we use mobile phones, we enjoy the moment by trying different postures. But when we receive the result of poor posture, maybe we are late. To have a productive day, humans should take at least five hours of sleep. But the use of mobile phones at night reduces our sleep hours. And this will lead to anxiety and depression.

Nowadays, we like to communicate via different technological platforms. Because we experience a funny, attractive and easy way of communication. However, this causes us to forget to communicate with people around us. As an example, when we are home, we do group chatting, and group calls via different social media rather than engage with family members. This causes weak bonds with each other around us. Communication using technology is indeed very easy, but we have to prioritize our loved ones when we are with them.

How does addiction to technology affect our productivity? One way is a distraction. Technology is a very attractive thing, which is why we can easily become tied up with it. Think you have an important task to do within one hour. But no matter how important it is, we don’t forget to check our phones and other devices. And also, addiction to technology leads us to procrastination. Instead of working on important tasks, we spend hours scrolling up and down on social media or watching videos or playing online games. So, we are unable to get things done. Additionally, addiction to technology reduces our creativity. Why is that? Creativity is increased with the activities we engage in. Technology has two sides, one is it increases our creativity level and another one is it decreases our creativity level. It depends on the way we use technology.

Effective ways to reduce addiction to technology?

Technology is a really useful thing. However, excessive use of technology leads us to addiction. And it will negatively impact us. Therefore we should reduce addiction to technology. Now let’s see some of the ways to reduce addiction to technology.

1. Creating boundaries.

As we discussed before, addiction to technology leads us to distraction, procrastination, also weak bonds with our loved ones. To overcome these things, we can set boundaries for using technology. For instance, we can set time limits for social media apps, we can use the Pomodoro technique while we are doing important tasks and avoid using technology while we are with our family members and friends. By doing these things, we can enjoy the use of technology without affecting our personal life.

2. Finding hobbies

Addiction to technology affects our physical and mental health. It is better to take a digital detox every day. What is meant by digital detox? It is a period of time in which a person can stay away from digital devices. It helps to reduce stress and increase creativity. The best way to take a digital detox is to find a hobby such as painting, gardening, engage in sports. Developing this kind of hobby will reduce your stress, improve your mental health as well as increase your happiness. As an example, let’s take gardening. Imagine creating a canvas of colour and life in your garden by planting a flower bed. You treat them, you shower them, and you see how it grows day by day. And when the time comes, you can see beautiful flowers, a magnificent display of nature. How could you feel that?

3. Engaging in Physical Activities

Life is not a fantasy world full of technology, we have to find reality and live in the real world. It is full of fun and excitement. Today a lot of human beings spend their life in front of a smartphone or any digital device. Since they forget to treat their mental and physical health, they end up having a load of illnesses. Engaging in physical activities is a way to treat our health. It helps to reduce stress and anxiety. Doing workouts helps to release human hormones such as endorphins. By allocating a few hours to take care of yourselves, we can reduce addiction to technology.

How AIESEC helps to reduce addiction to technology?

AIESEC is a platform which helps to develop leadership skills in the young generation. AIESEC reduces addiction to technology in several ways. It doesn’t mean that AIESEC doesn’t get the use of technology. You can see that even via their well-manageable social media platforms. AIESEC is not just an organization, it is a family with amazing fellows. AIESEC keeps engaging their members by doing attractive events physically. It helps members to find themselves by increasing their creativity and thinking ability. And AIESEC tries to lead all the AIESECers to achieve their expectation of being an AIESECer.

Don’t let technology control you, let you control the technology.

by Dileesha Perera

Jayewardenepura Showcasing Team