Back to Article index To print this page, click on the Print icon in your browser.    Slaves to Technology   Do you remember what life was like before answering machines, faxes and cell phones? It was simpler and, yes, I'm dating myself. (I remember having only one phone in the house for a family of six.) Still, it hasn't been so many years since most of us had just one phone in the house.   In those days, if somebody called you and you weren't home, they called back and hoped to get you later. If you happened to be on the phone they got a busy signal and still had to call you back when the line was free. They were responsible for getting to you and delivering news or messages important to them.   Then came answering machines. When you weren't home your callers left a message with the expectation you'd call back as soon as you got home. The assumption was the message was as important to you as to them and you'd, of course, return the call quickly. And how upset did callers become (and still become) when you didn't return the call quickly? Their message on your machine somehow relieved them of the responsibility of getting through to you and transferred it to your shoulders.   Now we have the internet and email and people expect instant responses when sending email. No matter that you aren't sitting in front of your computer 24 hours a day just waiting for their email to come in.   It's all gotten out of hand and we are becoming slaves to technology more every day. Not only is technology changing our world at an unprecedented rate, we are struggling to keep up. We have access to more information than we could possibly need. We can send messages across the globe and "talk" to people on the other side of the world. We are running a technology race and we're going to lose if we continue to run it. There is a way to win, though. It requires some major shifts on your part and I guarantee it's worth it.   Look first at what your patterns are now. Answer these questions:   1) Do you think you are a slave to technology? 2) Do you check your email first thing in the morning before anything else? 3) Is the answering machine your first destination when you come into the house from being out? 4) When the phone rings, do you run to answer it? Do you feel guilty if you don't? 5) When you're home and in the middle of a conversation, a task or a meal and the phone rings, do you stop to listen to the message instead of just letting the machine do it's job? 6) Do you feel compelled to answer emails and return calls as soon as you get them? 7) Do you carry a beeper and jump to respond to each message? 8) Do you talk on a cell phone when you're having lunch with somebody else (or in your car or when you have any kind of non-committed time)? 9) Do you have call-waiting and interrupt telephone conversations to check who else might be calling you? 10) Do you feel totally overwhelmed by the volume of calls and emails you think you have to return to people?   If you are being honest, most of you will answer yes to at least three of these questions. Even one "yes" is a red flag, though, and means you are a slave to technology to some degree. It's not a right or wrong. It's a trap you've fallen into and it's time to get out. Wouldn't you rather shed all that and take back control of your life?   Choose the one behavior described in the list above that seems to be the most consuming and distracting in your life. Decide you're ready to change it. Then:     1) Define how the behavior interferes with the flow of your life. Distractions always inhibit your ability to be highly productive and being a slave to technology is a distraction. What do you stop doing to respond to the beeper or a ringing phone?   2) Notice how the behavior makes you feel - anxious? Obligated? Frustrated? Overwhelmed? You have a choice – just as you allowed technology into your life, you can choose just how much you want it to be part of how you live each day. You can choose something other than the negative, limiting feelings. However, first you have to notice and be aware of what those feeling are.   3) Begin changing your responses and choices to technology. When the phone rings, let it. Don't jump up from the table or run from another room to pick up. Let your answering machine do its job. Stop wearing your beeper. Change your cell-phone number and don't give it to anyone else. Make a point of not checking messages first thing in the door. Look at your email once or twice a day and answer it then. Get rid of call-waiting – take control.   This is a change process and will take time - like all change. One step at a time. It was easy becoming enslaved and it won't be so easy to free yourself. Technology does have a place in your life. It just can't consume your life if you want balance, peace and freedom. Life is possible without the demands of technology. You can step away from your computer, turn off the phones and truly enjoy your life. Take a vacation without leaving home by just turning it all off. It might take you a few days to get used to this - not unlike being on an away-from-home vacation. You can do it and when you "come back," remember how it feels to have no demands from technology. Let technology back into your life selectively. Return to simplicity. Love your life.     © Copyright November, 2001. Laura Hess, MCC 702.252.3657