Well, it’s over. We’ve been off the grid to one degree or another and have discovered we’re not “all that”.
We don’t need to be accessible to everyone all the time and surprisingly the world is still spinning and no one we were responsible for died!
The biggest loss for me was my iphone and every app that goes with it (read here). Apparently I’m not alone in my attachment. Look at the stats I read this week:
- There are 7 billion people on Earth. 5.1 billion own a cell phone. 4.2 billion own a toothbrush. (Mobile Marketing Association Asia, 2011)
- It takes 90 minutes for the average person to respond to an email. It takes 90 seconds for the average person to respond to a text message. (CTIA.org, 2011)
- 1% of all smart phone users have their phone within arm’s reach 24/7 – (Morgan Stanley, 2012)
- It takes 26 hours for the average person to report a lost wallet. It takes 68 minutes for them to report a lost phone. (Unisys, 2012)
The benefits and drawbacks to technology and media were both intensified this week, but the biggest lesson for me is that I’m Media ADD – totally undisciplined in this area. I need BOUNDARIES like Lindsay Lohan needs a better rehab program.
Confession: I may be more responsive to my phone than I am to God.
There are no magic beans in this experiment. In each area it’s going to take some conscious decisions about new habits and boundaries if we are going to move the dial even a millimeter. Sooo… Help me out…
Do you have boundaries regarding media? What are they?
For example, do you only check email or Facebook or Twitter at certain times of the day? Put your phone away? Or only use your phone for “necessary” stuff like calls and map quest? Go without internet on the weekends? Guard times of silence in your car or other places?
