Technology Addiction: When Screens Take Over Your Life
Love it or hate it, technology is a part of our lives and won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. It’s at work, home, school, transportation, and buildings – unless you live in a very rural area, you’d be hard-pressed to move a mile and not see a screen. Overindulgence is nearly impossible to avoid, and technology addiction is on the rise, so now we’re left with the question of “What do we do about it?”
Technology Addiction
Many already know what technology addiction is. Heck, It’s in the name. They may also already know the basic points regarding it as well. “Phones are bad for you” and “staring at a screen all day is unhealthy” are both basically common knowledge at this point, however, what people tend not to completely internalize is where they stand on the scale of addiction.
Picture this: You use your phone every day. Pretty common, right? You use it for work or school, maybe use it to talk with friends and family, when you’re bored you use it to watch videos or scroll social media, or maybe you want some time to focus on other things, so you listen to music or a podcast. Again, normal, right? Well, what we just described is a single device taking up 80% of your life. Your social life, your work life, entertainment, even background noise, if your phone is already involved in all these processes, it’s not a great sign. This isn’t even accounting for television, streaming services, or video games, which are an even greater direct time sink. You surf Facebook, Tik Tok, answer emails, shop on Amazon Prime.. the list goes on.
A lot more people are addicted to technology than they would realize, and it’s showing itself in troubling ways. Attention retention is dropping, people panic if they leave their phones in the other room, and hours are being spent on social media that people don’t even like! Before anyone jumps the gun, this isn’t a memo to suddenly drop all devices and live off the grid – but moderation is desperately needed, and there’s a surefire way to get it.
Technology Addiction Coaching
If you haven’t heard of it before, an addictions coach is what it sounds like. An individual trained to help addicts overcome their problems utilizing untraditional means. To clarify, this doesn’t mean it’ll be completely out there or experiential, but just a different experience from a traditional medium like rehab. As opposed to the boring group-by-group shuffling, 30-day retention period, and entirely closed-off environment, addictions coaches come to you, focus on you, and the service is molded around your life.
Some hear the term addiction coaching and may believe it’s exclusively for drugs and alcohol, and while that may be true for some contractors, there are many who cover all sorts of things! Sober on Demand in particular offers coaches that cover drug and alcohol addiction, shopping addiction, food, and eating disorders, and, yes, technology addiction. SOD is particularly notable because it can guarantee each coach is insured, certified, and bonded, all guided by Cali Estes, The Addictions Coach
It’s also important to note that while it may seem scary, addiction coaching is catered specifically to you and your issues. There will be no prying or excessive monitoring, and heck, it’s all to encourage moderation, not separation. Technology, while filled with flaws, isn’t inherently bad. It’s contributions to the workforce, school, and even communication are commendable. However, being able to step away from your phone without FOMO or anxiety is an essential skill that many people lack nowadays, especially younger people. We shouldn’t be allowing such major issues to start so early, and with coaching a change can be made.
