Log Off Your Mind; Digital Revolution Can Wait!

Wake up. It’s your mobile phone that’s sending off the alarm now. It must have been ages since you got your alarm clock to wake you up. Where’s it, in the attic? Or did you discard it already? Ah, there’s a clock hanging in the hallway. But, who cares when your smartphone is smarter than you are. It has a clock, a timer, and all those apps that make your life less complicated? Really, you didn’t think you needed before right?

Get to office and check mails, go through your schedule and submit at the hands of your laptop and organiser. Oh, have you synced your organiser with your phone? Just in case you forget that important meeting, your phone should send you an alert. Life’s easy!

On the way home, your GPS tells you to take the same route you have been taking since ages. Yet, you have got into a habit of hearing that soothing voice that directs you home, tells you about traffic snarls and how delayed you would be. Add another crease on your forehead. But then, at least you know what to expect on the road.

Getting home has a schedule. Speak to family; but keep it to bare minimum. Television takes over. Time to eat and sleep. Dinner’s in the fridge and then on to the microwave. Don’t forget to reach out to your kindle. Reading is a good thing. Who cares about a book when you have your kindle? Close the burning eyes after reading. Sleep before you wake up again and repeat the routine!

Now, let’s revamp again. Just count the number of digital devices that you use through the day. How many hours pass before you go from one digital device to another? And from one technology to the next?

World over, unless you are living in some remote Afghani or African or Indian village, you would have more or less the same schedule. How do you think you are a ‘self-made’ individual if your smartphone turns out to be smarter than you?

We struggle with the baggage of modern life so much so that when it exhausts us, we suddenly find ourselves thrust in the deep dark hole that has no signs of light or life. Imagine a world without the hurry, without technology and without all those gadgets that we think are necessary for life. Can we live? Try living without them once, and you will certainly know you not only live, but also emerge with added clarity in your mind.

That phase would be called ‘Digital Detox’.

Why is it essential to do a digital detox? Because just as you are health conscious and care about your arteries, liver and overall fitness; your mind also needs some time away from the hustle bustle. Your brain needs to comprehend with the world around you, not the one that’s make-believe and exists inside those numerous apps on the smartphone or laptop.

Because, experts say this isn’t yet the age of digital revolution yet. We are just getting there, and this is a small beginning for the big things to come. How intolerant can your mind get then?

See the danger sign even before it socks out your one eye and leaves another bruised for life. It is easier to learn to switch off, at least for a while, before your life shuts off.

How can you do a digital detox? The answer is simple and something probably you would even know. But, it is the execution that is important. Challenges lie there, that can either make you or break you.

Digital detox is much needed like your resolve to quit smoking, or drinking binge, or curbing the aggressiveness behind road rage.

What goes into it is simpler than making a soup. Here, try this recipe. To begin with, decide a time for detox. Take a break from work and tell your office you are going to someplace where the network won’t reach you. Switch off. Literally, and figuratively!

You need at least 24 hours to understand the exhilaration this experience can bring you. Go on a trek, or simply read a physical book, or do some gardening and listen to your children speak. Have real time conversations with people, and not mails or chats or whatsapp messages.

Log into the world. Let the technology, for once, take a hike. In this sense, you would have truly added a day of life into your tech-laden life. And, you won’t regret it.

Image: thinkstock