Tue, 13 October 2015
Are we the most connected disconnected generation yet? Wired and tired. Frustrated with our sense of being busy all the time yet feeling distracted to the point of being really unproductive. I think we can all relate to this feeling.
Being ‘switched on’ all the time leaving us feeling very tired and yet being terrified of a moment of non ‘busyness’. Notice the check-out line in the supermarket, bank or restaurant and you might see people in front of you but they are far away, heads down ‘talking’ with someone else.
I am not anti-technology I am constantly fascinated by the constant advancements in every area of life from medicine to banking to science to well…Facebook! Social media plays a huge role in our lives, it is about creating some boundaries to make our online activity enjoyable and productive.
As humans we have always connected, from an evolutionary stance it was vital to our survival. But go without your phone or technology for one week, try our detox challenge and I promise you you will find it a big stretch and personal challenge. Our three volunteers John, Soairse and Orla bravely took our digital detox which was pretty tough. The idea was to show them how much of an impact being online is having on our daily interactions, life quality and relationships. Long term my goal was to get people to engage in contemplative computing where technology is a part of your life but not eating up all your time.
From my perspective as a Psychologist my concern is for the impact it is having upon the quality of our sleep. Long gone are uninterupted nights where only the noise of your alarm clock woke you up.
When we knock good sleep hygiene out, it has an impact on every aspect of our lives.
Allison Keating is a Registered Psychologist of the Psychological Society of Ireland with a MSc., in Work and Organisational Psychology and a BA in Behavioural Science in Psychology. In December 2006 she opened the bWell clinic in Malahide in Co Dublin, which is fully owned, managed and operated by her.
www.bwell.ie
