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Can Technology Overload Be Managed?

The challenge of perpetual connectivity has morphed from a convenient aside into a full-blown problem. But is it possible to draw a line, to reset your digital diet and get your physical footing back?

In the royal court of digital distractions, the smartphone is king. In the grand narrative of connectivity, one comes to despair at the idea of turning it all off. The clever folks at Worth magazine thought so too and assigned this quiz to their virtues team: "Did you feel less anxious after 48 hours without your smartphone?" Of course, they didn't ask me, or I'd say yes. After all, many have found curated inpatient rehab "digital escape" experiences for wellness seekers with plenty of selfies on Instagram, under a #nomobietransformation hashtag(FOMO), are common. But most folks can't self-designate into desert seclusion, and the open questions that remain are: What does the constant drain on your psyche mean when it's impossible to not get the next message or check if you *do* have service, even though you know you don't? Is it possible to "re-connect" to digital spaces on a conscious level while also maintaining sanity?

Strategies for Pacing Your Connectivity

1. Understanding Data Time

To really hone in on your digital management strategy, you'll have to understand "data time". Recognize the incentives of the targeted ads feeding your scrolling emotionally engagements: ad spends, useful clicks, growth for their paid publishers. The troves of data harvested prop up the bottom lines. The undeniable benefit to your future goes to sidestepping data exploitation on platforms like TikTok & Twitter. The lifestyles of supposedly plugged-in socialites, in the places where all the major bucks have always played, are bohemian in reality. So, how to respond on a volunteer-by-choice basis? National Time Off Day moved this year to January 17th, 2024, to shine a global spotlight focal short-term breaks. I much prefer "bloc-time"— block-scheduling clear digital space and getting back to the human connections that matter to more.

2. Know the Five Touchpoints

Digital well-being pros at Harvard meanwhile, pinpoint Five Essential Touchpoints for overcoming digital fatigue retraining focus levels, and simply being coherent:

1. Define Your Intent
2. Sleep
3. Going Outside
4. Personal Interactions.
5. Setting Goals

3. Choose Deliberate Digital "Breaks"

Transforming your adaptation to total connectivity—you need blot-away stints--Narnia-style! Increasingly privileged small-biz apps running Parkinson's Law mitigation software offer a "time left until digital stamina depletion" function---likely anticipated in future automated Internet-to-6G.

Can technology overload be managed? Yes, but at a cost when it crosses the finer thresholds, slacking off becomes cool again.

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