Steps to manage your use of technology

Today our lives are increasingly dominated by modern technology. We are dependent on our smart phones, computers, tablets, and increasingly everything is becoming “smart”, such as TVs and even vehicles. Being connected to the Internet is a necessity. Increasingly, our personal data and information is stored “in the Cloud.” We watch videos and listen to music via streaming services. We use social media to keep in touch with our friends and follow celebrities and influencers. And now we are being told the future is AI - AI will do our jobs, write our emails, generate media, plan our trips, and in the future perhaps even cook our meals and clean our homes. People are even having relationships and falling in love with AI personas.

Sounds like Utopia? Maybe it is, or maybe it is not.

It is no surprise that technology companies have become very big and very profitable. The top 5 companies in the world by market capitalisation (https://companiesmarketcap.com) are, at the time of writing, Apple, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet (Google). Meta comes in at no. 7.

Data has become the new oil. More specifically, our personal data, which is traded and exchanged between companies like commodities. To capture personal data, all the major technology companies offer us products and services in return for harvesting our personal data. Therefore, the technology companies create products (like smart phones, TVs, and cars) and services (via apps and social media) that are hubs for collecting our data every time we use them. In order to maximise the collection of data, these products and services are designed so that we spend as much time as possible using them. They are inherently designed to be addictive, to capture as much of our attention as possible.

Think of this the next time you use any technology product of service, particularly if it is being offered to you at little or no cost. As someone once said, “If something is free, then you are the product.”

Because using technology is so addictive (by design), we need to monitor our use of technology and mental health. Increasingly, we are spending almost all our waking hours engrossed in technology - using social media alone has been estimated to take over 6 hours per day for some people. If we include consuming other forms of media (such as music or video via streaming services), emails, messages, etc. then the total amount of time is even more significant.

Using technology can be an addiction. Like any other addiction, it becomes difficult to manage, let alone stop, and needs to be controlled. We need to limit and ration our use of technology. Otherwise we end up letting technology control us, rather than us using technology for our benefit.

Below are some tips and techniques to control our use of technology:

1. Reduce or eliminate notifications - Adjust the notification settings on all your devices to only essential alerts, like phone calls or text messages. Silence or disable notifications from email, apps, websites, social media. If possible, silence all notifications at regular intervals (using features like “Do Not Disturb”). For example, 8pm-8am to prevent unwanted interruptions. Make sure your family and friends are aware and do not try to reach you during those times. If you prefer, turn off your devices during this time.
2. Limit your use of social media - I recommend only checking social media once a day, and limit it to no more than a fixed period of time, eg. 15-30 minutes. Try and avoid checking social media whenever you are bored, and consider listening to music and reading a book instead. Consider unsubscribing from any services you do not use regularly.
3. Manage email effectively - Turn notifications off, and check email only once a day or even less often (preferably in the morning, and avoid checking email just before you go to bed). Try and impose a 24-hour waiting period before responding to important or critical email, to enable you to reflect on what you wish to say. Avoid sending emails when you are angry or emotional. Tell people if they wish to discuss something urgent, they should use phone or text messages. Ask your acquaintances not to send non-essential messages like jokes, photos, videos in order not to pollute your inbox.
4. Use technology responsibly and purposefully, never out of boredom - there must be a reason to turn on the computer or the phone, which is to do something meaningful. Do not use technology as a source of entertainment. I still read books, listen to records, watch DVDs and Blu-Rays. I avoid using streaming services. Some people suggest watching or listening to streaming services can create “filter bubbles” - the recommender algorithms on these services will surround us with only the things we like and opinions we agree with, and after a while there is a risk our views will become more rigid and we will be less tolerant of others.
5. Cybersecurity risks are real - don’t assume you won’t be hacked, almost all of us have had our personal details stolen at one point. Some estimate around 5% of personal devices such as phones have been compromised by spyware from firms such as Pegasus. Be careful about accepting cookies, or giving access to personal information.