How to Manage Technology Addiction for a Tech-Life Balance

Life was much easier when APPLE and BLACKBERRY were just fruits. ~ Unknown (Tweet this)

We are living in a time where many are becoming more disconnected from one another and more connected to the technologies. Some of these technologies can be beneficial to us in our life, but technology addiction and over-dependence on these technologies are leading to all kinds of problems for people young and old.

As we become more aware of these imbalances we have opportunities to restore them while the issues are minimal. If we leave it too long before making the changes, we may find ourselves firmly entrenched in unfavorable habits, or even addictions.

Life is about Family and Technology. ~ Mark Goddard (Tweet this)

Too many of us worship technology, as we manage the tech-life balance at the expense of our health; it is time to change this.

7 Ways To Reduce Your Technology Addiction

1. Take some time to connect with nature

The health benefits of connecting with the green of a forest or the trickle of a stream, whilst receiving an influx of vitamin D, are becoming better understood by science. Nothing balances man-made materialism better than nature’s beauty and serenity.

If you live near nature – take a good long walk in it. If you live in the city, seek out even a small park where you can put your bare feet upon the grass.The more you do it, the more you benefit from the myriad of health benefits such as decreasing depression, improving mental health, and reducing the stress that you perceive from life’s events.

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. ~ William Shakespeare (Tweet this)

Go on a hike with a friend and you may just find yourself experiencing a level of connection you have not experienced before. Your whole day can look different after you return from even a fifteen-minute walk.

2. Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day

We have largely become quite an inactive world, as many of us sit at our desks for 8 hours a day or more, with little movement. Physical movement and exercise can counter some of this and provide your body with some of the healthy stress that it needs to build strength and endurance.

It does not need to be overly strenuous exercise. It only needs to be enough to get your heart rate to rise and your lungs pumping air faster. If the desire to perform rigorous exercise takes you over then go for it, just remember that we need balance in movement as much as in stillness.

3. Meditate to improve your response to stress

The more you are connected to your cell phone and technology the less aware you are of how they are affecting you. You will be unaware of the stress building in your body and mind as you receive the incoming pulses of electromagnetic radiation from your gadgets.

Consistent daily practice of meditation, among other things, boosts your immune system, enhances your creative side and helps to improve concentration. You will become more aware of disturbances within your body due to the technology you use. As such you will find yourself naturally pulling away when you have been in front of it too much.

4. Limit social media and TV Time

Cut yourself off from social media sites and TV when you are in zombie mode, and become a master of your life.

If you catch yourself simply paging down streams of updates from people you don’t know on Facebook it may be appropriate to take a time out. It is one of those things that before you know it – you have spent a whole day surfing the net and accomplishing very little. Time yourself on these sites and watch how long you spend aimlessly scrolling when you do not give yourself a time limit.

Another time waster comes in the form of misused TV time. Many are worried about governments attempting to control us but are quite happy to sit and watch TV and let the news and commercials control our thinking. Cutting out forms of media that have been controlled by people with agendas will help you become a master of your own destiny.

Turn off the TV and connect with the family you have not seen all day while you have been at work or school. Both Facebook and TV can be used in ways that support your life, but overuse can diminish it.

5. Make use of beneficial technologies

Technology addiction can disrupt your life – so, why not use technologies that are beneficial for creating balance within your body? Designed specifically to support your health, these kinds of technologies can be good to keep around.

Magnets, earthing pads, full spectrum lights and other goodies work to negate the effects of some of the other technologies that have the opposite affect on our body.

Dependence on these is not encouraged either, but in a world where the balance has swung in the opposite direction it is okay to rely on the compassionate hand of technology in certain situations.

In the concrete suburbs of metropolitan cities where finding green space is a challenge, earthing pads offers a way to drain the pain of our technological “utopias”. They can help bring balance back to your sleep and wake cycles. They may not save you, but they can do a lot to support you.

6. Listen to some beautiful music or repeat loving affirmations

Throughout our day we are bombarded with all kinds of noise stimulus that we may not want. Go to any coffee shop or retail outlet and the noise of people and music can be deafening to the sensitive heart and ears.

One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. ~ Bob Marley (Tweet this)

At work many of us are subject to unkind words from bosses or customers and these need to be balanced with loving words from friends and family. If none of those are around we can offer them to ourselves.

It is not always apparent how much the opposing consciousness of noise has influenced us because it is playing along in the background. The subconscious mind still picks it all up though so balance it out with beautiful music and words.

7. Use alternatives to technology when your intuition guides you

We have become so dependent on technology in many areas of our lives that we do not even question our use of it. Worse, we back off from beneficial habits when the technology we are dependent on is not around to support us.

For instance, you might be used to using a treadmill at the gym to provide you with the physical activity you need. What happens when the gym closes for a week for renovation? Many people will simply give themselves a week away from the gym, little knowing how to work out without this technological personal trainer.

I know when I grew up, it was …. If it was daylight outside, get outside. Well, now, with the technological age of computers and everything, everyone's inside virtually going everywhere they want to go, virtually having relationships, virtually traveling across the neighborhood, virtually going to that island. ~ Matthew McConaughey (Tweet this)

See how many areas of your life – you have become dependent on technology to fulfill a need.

How can you fulfill that need in other ways?

Can you overcome this technology addiction?

Would you be prepared to ditch that technology altogether?

It has probably taken you about 5 minutes to read through this article. How about managing tech-life balance with a five-minute walk or some meditation. Then come back here and let us know how you feel.