Addicted to technology

Positive Mondays: Addicted to technology

A self-experiment in shedding the layers of technology to make a quantum difference in the time that you have available.

I found my behaviour rather amusing. A post was important enough to post, but only if it was free. The importance faded if I had to pay for it. So I asked myself this. If the social platform charged me Rs 10 for a post, would I pay up? If the social platform started charging, let’s say Rs 1,000 for every hundred likes, would I still use it? If I was charged Rs 10 to like or comment on a post, would I still like/share/comment? If the post is not worth Rs 10 for , why am I posting it?

While it might seem ironical, that you are reading this in an electronic medium. Which also means, even if LinkedIn asked me to pay for this post, I would pay!

As always, it started with a measure.

The iphone has a very interesting feature. If you click on settings -> battery, it tells me the exact time I am spending on every single feature of the phone.

I discovered I was spending in excess of an hour on Whatsapp. Wwwwhaaattttt? How was this possible? The answer was simple, if you are awake eighteen hours, and spend even four minutes chatting etc, takes up seventy-two minutes. Similarly another hour went in social (Facebook) and professional websites. I am not an active user of twitter or instagram and too old to be on Snapchat or Imo, or for that chase elusive characters on Pokemon.

The posting, forwarding, liking, commenting, messaging was taking up valuable waking time.

The nagging question was, am I alone?

I started asking people. Would they be open to disconnecting Whatsapp or any other social media for a month? The answer was pretty much a loud and definitive no. I started observing co-passengers on a plane. By default, every one was immersed in either sleep or a screen. During my evening walk, I started observing that my fellow runners have the distinctive white wires dangling from their ears. In coffee shops, groups of friends are on screens.

I realized I was not alone in being addicted to a screen.

So here is what I tried.

The first set of apps to go were the social apps. Facebook, LinkedIn were deactivated.

Here is what happened.

The myth of fatigue relief:

When I would be working on an email, and once the proposal was on its way, the brain would seek a mental break. The default break was to fire up my browser, and type out, “f” and “a” before the realization would register that my account was deactivated. Very gently, I would have to walk back the Tab button.

Loss of identifying the controllable versus controllable:

Most of the news was anyway overwhelmingly negative. How did an uncontrollable event of a TV anchor ejecting a Police Commissioner matter to me. For that matter how did the debate on politicizing caste, river, border disputes energise me for tasks at hand.

Loss of savoring:

If I heard good or bad news, I had to simply share it. Even worse, I had to assign a judgment of good or bad, in line with my values and beliefs. Good news was no longer about celebrating the moment, the effort, and the individual.

Checking out who has checked you out and getting a thrill on how many people viewed my posts, somehow scored over checking out the latest knowledge laden posts from The Economist, McKinsey, and of course Pulse.

Starting the technology diet

In my case the culprit was the messenger apps. The diet plan was simple,

·      Look at messenger apps, once an hour,

·      Avoid reading and responding to group messages,

·      Reply only to clients and close family and only to messages directed towards me.

Guess what, my whatsapp time is now down to ten minutes. I have freed up in excess of an hour.

I activated my social media only on hearing the passing of King Rama IX in Bangkok. I guess I had to share the grief with friends.

My personal guide to what goes on social platforms

I formed my own two step pre-check list.

1.     Have I completed my daily to-do list? Can I spend twenty minutes on something else? Which includes a power nap, a quick meditation; or maybe revive music, which I have completely stopped.

2.     Make it an absolute pain to use. Absolutely do not check social platforms more than once in an hour. Do not tick the “keep me signed in feature”. Hide the phone apps within a folder, which goes into another folder. Research shows the best way to not do something is to add layers of work.

So what goes on social media?

The Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley runs a fabulous site with some great columns and posts. Below each post they have a quick survey, which I have reproduced below. This became a meaningful guide and inspiration.

1.     Would I pay to share it? LinkedIn has a fabulous feature, it restricts the number of InMails that you can send. If you wish to send more inmails, then you need to purchase them.

I found my behaviour rather amusing. A post was important enough to post, only if it was free. However, the importance faded, if I had to pay for it.  

So I ask myself, if the social platform charged you a token Re 10 for a post, would I pay up? If the social platform started charging lets say Rs 1000 (assuming there is no hanky-panky) for every hundred likes, would I still use it? If the post is not worth Rs 10 for an individual, why am I posting it?

2.     Does it add value to my work, family, finance, and community? Most of my posts failed this test. Posting or responding to political commentaries added no value and all it did was bind everyone to their original held positions. A post celebrating an act of kindness of someone feeding stray dogs everyday for twelve years evoked more conversation on the merits and demerits of stray dogs. Quite the reverse of what I had anticipated.

3.     Am I ridiculing someone, however loathsome his or her acts might be? Behind their backs? Its hardly courage or humor to “troll” someone. By the way, when did bullying metamorphose into a troll? Seen through this lens, a lot of my posts, seemed rather cowardly.

So what did my little experiment achieve?

The only meaningful post that I could find was the discussion on the sheer joy of dunking a Parle-G in a cuppa. I can assure you, the science of a Parle – G holds a universal truth, worthy of consideration by the Nobel Committee.

Besides these a few myths got busted.  

Fear of missing out (FOMO) retreated into the background

The diet seems to work. I am down to twelve minutes on whatsapp. My fingers don’t twitch as much. My brain is getting used to not being connected.

Every now and then I needed to remind myself that there is absolutely nothing that I missed out. If it is important, they will call, email, or text, they will find you. If it is important.

The myth of connectedness got busted.

Here is the kicker. The number of people who asked me if I had disconnected, could be counted on the fingers of my hands. Correction…my left hand. Actually a more accurate representation would be the fingers on my left hand situated to the right of the index finger.

The number of people who asked why were even less. Note to self…. cherish and nurture those connections.  

Less is more. Literally!

I find myself with more time for myself. Bedside books are getting read. Emails are being responded to quicker. I can harness the energising power of serenity, stillness, and even solitude. People who matter get the time and priority that they truly need when they need it. Websites and newsletters that are important get priority.

So an experiment starts later this week. When I go on a holiday, I will be deleting all the messenger apps on my phone. The final step in engaging with the fear of missing out. Lets see how that works out.

Finally, my statement holds true. Even if I was charged for this post, I would happily pay.

Meanwhile, we will take a break for the next couple of weeks, unless I find news, that I would be willing to pay for you to hear from me. See you a bit after Diwali.

The author is the Founder of The Positivity Company, where he helps business leaders become more positive and productive. Birender can be reached on [email protected] or on Twitter at B_Ahluwalia.