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I realize that times change and that each generation does things differently than the previous one. I also understand that the world around us is asking us to change the way we do things. However, I believe that with all the technology that has been created to make our lives easier, we have actually allowed ourselves to get even busier than before. This is about how we choose to deal with it.

Obviously things change over time, usually so much time that we don’t even realize it’s happening. The goal of these advances is to enable us to get more done in less time. However, I think we’ve used that free time and filled it with even more things to do, usually online and usually over our phones. Yes we create more but I don’t think we gained anything because we don’t use it for things we want to do; We just keep adding more and more things that we feel we need to do. I think we’re so addicted to filling our time now that we just don’t know any other way. Every free minute we grab our cell phones or laptops. We always have to look at something, check something or do something (usually more than one thing).

I’m certainly not against any of these advances. However, I think there is still a place in our lives where we can stop and look for other options. I think we can use this technology to our advantage, but also make sure we use this advantage to keep our humanity. I would like to make a suggestion to just stop and evaluate situations to see if it’s always the best use of your time. Sometimes it’s better to just be in the moment and enjoy it just the way it is.

I know we can all agree that multitasking while driving is a bad idea, but I also know that most of us continue to do it. I’m not just saying texting and driving, but making and receiving calls, even over Bluetooth, is distracting. The conversation itself is distracting. Now how hard is it to sit through an entire red light without looking at your phone to see what you’re missing? When we’re in meetings at work, people are either busy checking their phones or running right back to their desk and grabbing it. When was the last time you met a friend for lunch or a drink and just sat and talked? I walk past parents walking their children in strollers and the adult is on the phone, so no interaction is possible. When the kids are playing in the park, the parents are sitting on the bench talking on the phone or scrolling through their messages, emails or apps. Children learn by talking to us, through interaction and play. I see the same thing in grocery stores, restaurants, department stores and at various events. People do things like grocery shopping or watch a child’s sporting event, but they also get distracted by something else. I get it! It’s my fault too and I usually immediately regret it when I do it. We all have to get as much done as possible in one day, right? Sometimes we need to take calls or solve a problem. I’m just saying that there could be good times to just NOT multitask when possible. Now might be a good time to think about what our world, our relationships, should look like in a few years and how our next generation will deal with it.

Our children learn how to behave by interacting with the adults around them. We’re the ones setting the expectations, spending time teaching them what’s right and what’s wrong. Kids are so smart they learn just by watching what we do and they learn a lot! If we want to change something about how we use this technology, now is the right time to do it. Now we can change how our own children deal with it. Again, please don’t get me wrong; There’s definitely a time and a place to use these things and I know we need them, but it’s important to pay attention to the people we’re with. It is important to give our full attention to driving and our work. Giving ourselves permission to just be in the moment is important. So enjoy that sunset or that game or that entertainment without doing anything else! We all need time to think, switch off and focus on what’s really important to us. After all, that’s what all this technology was designed for, right?

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