Are we too dependent on technology?
By: Aamer Seth
Tags: Self Help, Self Improvement, Mental Health, Electronics, Technology

Photo by Domenico Loia on Unsplash

I have come to the realization how dependent I am on the technology around me, recently my laptop. One morning, I am simply folding clothes while watching some Netflix and all of a sudden, it dies. I get the blue screen of death. So, I am thinking that no problem, it’ll just restart and all will be fine. But, it doesn’t. I try and force shut down and boot it up and learn that my hard drive has essentially died, not being able to boot Windows.

I have no laptop.

Since losing my laptop, I have been working off my iPad which has been very limited. While I am able to get some basic work done, it has certainly slowed down my work flow a lot and made it increasingly difficult to get anything done. It made me realize how dependent I am on my laptop and the technology around me. Thinking back, I almost did not get the iPad, but now I am happier than ever or else I would not be able to do any work whatsoever.

Without my laptop, I have been less productive in many ways. Online school is much harder, taking notes and viewing the lecture slides from a much smaller device is no fun. As a photographer, I am unable to edit any photos from my iPad, something that I absolutely need a laptop for. I spent more time procrastinating and playing games and my overall mood had gone down since I feel bad for wasting time and another day doing nothing.

This may seem overly dramatic, but think about it. If your technology all of a sudden stops working one day, what would you do? (I am genuinely curious, feel free to comment). I can’t be the only one where their computer and smartphone is how they function.

Some may try to move back to a more paper and pen workflow where nothing can crash, things are far less expensive, but the fact of the matter is that the entire world has gone digital, especially during this pandemic. So if you don’t have a computer or a device to work off of, your essentially screwed.

And it is not just work. We use our devices everyday to talk to people, play games, watch tv, and more. Work, play and relax and all done on our devices.

This brings up the question:

As a society, are we too dependent on technology? We all start and end our days looking at a screen, working on a screen, talking to a screen, watching a screen and putting our screen down before we sleep. Is there anyway that we can be productive or be entertained without looking or using a device?

Now I know that there are probably many people who work without computers and electronic devices, but I think it is safe to say that most people do and, like me, are dependent on our devices to get work done, call people, use it for relaxing.

I think that this experience has made me realize that I need to find activities and practices to do that are not focused on electronics and devices. Something productive that I can achieve without a computer or my phone. It does not necessarily have to be work related, but a task that makes me focus and fires up my brain so that I no longer feel like a slob, wasting time until I have a new laptop.

If we can become less dependent and focused on the electronics around us, we would be better off, for our mental and physical health. Mentally being focused on other tasks that do not include a screen, going out rather than being a couch potato and watching Netflix. I may be late, but I have learned to take some time off electronics everyday to achieve something that does not require a screen so that I feel more at ease and less stressed.