Twitter, Facebook, emails, and voicemail – we are overwhelmed by digital data, is it time to rebel against information overload?
We were brushing through wet grass in the early morning when we saw it – a flash of white drifting behind a small patch of trees, backlit by the sun. Crouching down next to my small son, we watched the unmistakable shape of a barn owl until he disappeared into the wood. The look on my son's face was part of a brief moment of magic, the kind of memory that we live for. Ordinarily, my next thought would have been to pull out my phone and take a photo, send a tweet or record a video. Connecting is something I do unconsciously now. Tweeting is like breathing and photos and video have documented nearly every day of my 21-month-old son's life. The meaningful merged with the mundane, all dutifully and habitually recorded – my enjoyment split between that technological impulse and the more delicate human need to be in the moment. This is how we live.
She goes on to observe the effect the weekend had on her partner Will before going on to explain about some recent research...
The hustle we develop as we struggle to keep up with the pace of digital information has produced a restless, anxious way of engaging with the world. Desperate for efficiency, this seeps into our physical lives; I feel compelled to tidy while on the phone, to fold the washing while brushing my teeth. No single task has my undivided attention. A study by the University of California, San Francisco, last week concluded that constant multi-tasking gradually erodes short-term memory. And interruptions are a massive problem, taking anything up to 20 times the length of the interruption to recover. For those of us compelled to check email every few minutes, that revelation explains where the day goes.
This is concerning stuff because in this world where we are expected to multi-task, even us men, it shows that our productivity can be seriously effected. I have also recently finished reading The Winter of Our Disconnect
by Susan Maushart which took the digital detox onto another planet by removing all connected technology including iPods for 6 months. I can throughly recommend reading the book especially if you have children as it shows just how ingrained our connectivity has become in our lives. Susan recounted not only the experiences of her and her family but also explores the relevant studies and she too debunks the multi-tasking benefits of the younger generation as a myth. Jemima goes on in here Observer article...The author, former Washington Post journalist William Powers, is, like me, a true believer in the power and potential of digital technologies, but concludes that we need a little discipline to restore control over our unsettling, hyper-connected lives. [He] offers practical solutions, including advocating the use of paper as a more efficient way of organising our thoughts. The theory of "embodied interaction" asserts that physical objects free our minds to think because our hands and fingers can do much of the work, unlike screens where our brains are constantly in demand.
We try very hard to keep a digital Sabbath on Saturdays and do things as a family, and find it hard and liberating at the same time. When we are connected we tend to turn outwards, take a look at any screen activity, you are all looking at a screen, not each other, and if it is multiple screens then you will often end up with your backs to each other or at least only see the tops of heads if the device is a portable one. Once the computers are off and the phones put away then it is possible to have shared time together.
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