The Digital-Age Dilemma

If you grew up before the 1980s, you probably missed a few television shows due to emergency or outside commitment. When that happened, it was the proverbial spilt milk: no one had even a VCR, let alone access to social-media or YouTube replays. All you could do was wait (and hope) for the program to come back as a rerun.

Fast-forward to modern times, and nothing seems permanently losable. A quick online search locates any number of downloadable reruns or a long-out-of-print book or magazine. You don't even have to travel to human-led events anymore--and if two workshops you like are scheduled for the same time slot, just do one now and watch the other on replay.

There's no denying the advantages. But is this also generating "you've never really missed your chance" attitudes, and leading us to squander our one truly irreplaceable resource: the days and hours that make up our lives?

Has any of this happened to you recently:

• You spend a whole afternoon binge-watching YouTube shows just because they're there, and come bedtime you haven't retained a thing--and you never got to the DIY project you fully intended to start that day?
• You curse out the computer because the video you wanted to watch can only be found in paid versions, and you feel entitled to see anything for free?
• You multitask by reading 20 online articles while sitting in a conference room "listening" to a live program, because it seems that if you leave the articles for "later," they'll be buried under an avalanche of new options?

Well, I've been there too. The world of Google and Zoom has given us access to a multitude of new things to do, but hasn't done much toward helping us choose the best things to do. If anything, it's spread a pandemic of doing a lot but getting nothing much done.

I'm not saying that if you want to accomplish anything with your life, you first need to throw away your digital devices--just that we need to be proactive and decisive about how we use our time, rather than letting our lives fill up by first-seen-first-done default.

Here are my suggested Top Ten rules for living purposefully in the digital age.

1. Clear your screens of all app icons you don't use at least weekly.
2. Turn off all news feeds and alerts.
3. Check your messages only at set times--every couple of hours at most.
4. Have set hours every day--and at least one full morning or afternoon a week--during which you turn off all devices completely.
5. Before clicking any link, ask yourself: Is this truly useful in relation to anything I hope to accomplish today? Will it contribute anything toward my long-term goals? (Thinking before clicking will also protect you from fraudsters who rely on impulse reactions to steer you to dangerous sites.)
6. When you go to bed, turn off your devices and let them rest too.
7. When you go out, put your phone in your pocket/purse/glove compartment and take time to soak in the scenery.
8. Never drive, eat, shower, or spend time with another person unless your phone is safely out of view. Ideally, just turn it off. (Remember when we used to complain that land lines always rang when we were in the middle of something?)
9. Always have at least one regular hobby that can be done unwired.
10. Make a daily count of blessings--human love, pets, beautiful weather, wildflowers, good food--that you don't need technology to access!