Technology Hygiene

OK, so I invented this term…at least, when I googled it, it didn’t come up with any relevant terms. And if it’s not in Google, it doesn’t exist, right? But I’m hoping that it is a term that’s gonna catch on. Take a read, and pass it on. Put it as a screen saver for someone you care about, or print it off and tape it to the laptop of your favorite techno-relative whom you miss and want to reconnect.

Let me explain…

“Sleep hygiene” is a term professionals use to looks at habits people have to fall asleep. When people have trouble sleeping, a professional will ask questions of a person surrounding their patterns around sleep. I’ve had clients tell me, “My doctor says I have terrible sleep hygiene”…they work on work reports in bed, take naps, sleep in on the weekend, drink in the evenings, consume caffeine in destructive ways, etc. All these things are recognized to impact negatively on sleep. If you google “sleep hygiene”, you’ll find 9 tips here, and

17 tips there (as well as about 351,000 other results…but don’t read them all evening…that would be…ahem…poor sleep hygiene). 🙂

Ok…so you understand some of my context now…sleep hygiene is a way to organize your life so that you can sleep better, and then function better in your life during the day because you’re well rested. Good sleep hygiene has ripple effects into the rest of life…less short tempered, more alert, more energy and so on.

So, I figure our culture needs to start talking about good “technology hygiene” habits…and I’m not talking about sanitizing your “iPad” screen with antibacterial solution. I’m thinking about establishing good habits so that technology deliberately adds value to your life, and you deliberately ensure that it doesn’t create disastrous patterns.

Now…some of you will want to stop reading here…You’re thinking “Pshaw, I don’t know what she’s talking about” (Does anyone actually say “Pshaw”? But I do know that some of you are writing me off at this point!) Be honest, be truly honest here, with yourself, and as much as technology might enrich your life, have you stopped to think about possible impacts you might not have considered?

So…I’m proposing some “technology hygiene” habits…I’m hoping this is a preliminary list, and over time, others will grab them, add to them, improve them, make them work better. Think about it:

1. Experiment with a “technology fast” for one week a year (could be summer vacation)—no iPods, computers, anything with a screen…notice what happens to relationships with your family, notice how you think differently, notice what happens when you’re not being vibrated or buzzed, or needing to check the stock market, inbox or weather several times a day. Do you ever notice how so many work so hard all year to get a few weeks away to enjoy the “simple things” in life…Yahtzee with the kids, a glass of wine at sunset, a walk on the beach, listening to the sound of rain on the roof, breathing in the air on the front porch? Why do we have to wait a whole year to enjoy low tech? The lessons learned from a total fast, or even a modified fast can be significant

2. No screens for a defined period for bed. This overlaps with sleep hygiene here, but allow your brain to stop being stimulated by screen light and the information held on those screens. I overheard one expert being interviewed recently that said “no screens” for 3 hours before bed…that’s  tall order for many. Thinks it’s dumb? Try it for an hour before bedtime for a week…see if you can do it…notice how you start sounding like an alcoholic…“Sure, I could stop at any time, I just don’t want to right now.”

3. Take an honest inventory of your use of screen time. How much time do you waste? Ask yourself honestly…how many times more than necessary do I check _____ (your email, the news headlines, a blog you follow, whatever). How many video games do I play? How many times have I said, “Just one more” and then it rolls into 5 or 10 or more games. How many times have I postponed legitimate work, telling myself that before I buckle down, I really need to just check _______ or play_______? Like I said, be honest with yourself here. This one leads to …

4. OK, so once you’ve taken an honest inventory, then decide what needs to go, and develop good technology habits. Be creative. Find strategies that work, that provide structure and routine that help build in good habits. Me—I’ve given up video games completely…I’m so darn competitive with myself that I have to try one more game of bubble-pop, or boggle, or tetris, to see if I can beat my best score. Then before I know it, I’ve wasted too much time. I’m not proud of the need to do so, but I’ve not played a video game for about 3 months now…and I’m more productive…and I have more time. I choose to not take my computer upstairs…I keep it on the main floor of my home…that changed how I use it in good ways when I established that guideline for myself.I bet there are some “apps” that will help shut down the computer, or remind you when it’s time to stop, or an automatically timed turn-off for a game available if you need them.

5. Don’t communicate via technology when face to face interaction is a possibility. Why text someone in another country when you’re with a friend in the same room? In our house, if someone is texting when someone else is around (like say 2 people in a car, and one is texting), the rule is that it becomes a 3 way conversation…the texts are read out loud, and we talk/joke/discuss the response. It doesn’t work perfectly, but we’re working to not exclude “live conversation” with “virtual conversation”. Be present with the people who are with you.

6. Choose in person “live” conversations over someone through technology when possible. Don’t break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend via SMS. Don’t tell your partner that you are furious with them via text because you it’s hard to say in person. Have the tough conversations in person…what girl doesn’t like to look into a guy’s eyes the first time he says he loves her?

7. Make conscious use of headphones/ear buds/cans. The brain was meant to have periods of silence. All the major religious traditions have credible and millennia long traditions of practicing silence as a discipline. A chance to hear one’s own thoughts is lost when there is constant external input of music, podcasts, news, and the like. Ensure you have a daily time of “no technology stimulation” to ensure a time of quiet…for your imagination to meander, your thoughts to wander, a chance to ponder that which is significant, and your spirit to whisper truths to you that won’t be drowned out.

8. Balance the expense of technology with other expenses. Yes, the cost of all of this new stuff (check out the new iPod touch coming out) is coming down. But there are more apps, downloadable songs/movies/podcasts, electronic gizmos, contraptions, 2.0 (or later) versions and so on coming out all the time. Ensure that your budget doesn’t get spent on this at the expense of a dinner out with friends, a trip to the ski hill with your partner, or a board game for your kid. Remember board games? You loved them as a kid…when was the last time you played one?

9. Ensure the important takes precedence over the urgent. When your Blackberry vibrates in the middle of an intense conversation with your partner, do you look at it? Has she looked at her beeping iPhone when you were trying to tell her something that mattered to you? Remember how that hurt to be interrupted and minimized by a gizmo. Ouch! I have never used a real estate agent who guarantees a 10 minute call back or who proclaims he never sleeps…I don’t want to do business with someone who devalues their family like that.

10. Add your own here. If you unplug your headphones, and sit quietly for a few minutes, ask yourself if there are ways in which technology interferes in your life as a time waster, in relationship interference, in self reflection time, in poor sleep or in any other way.

Let me know what you find.

Technology has developed at an exponential rate—it has already changed our world, and has the potential to work for us in so many incredible, wonderful ways. Ensure that it doesn’t work against you.