Courage to Be Off-grid — Just Switch Off!

Courage to Be Off-grid — Just Switch Off!

A Story by Daniel Johnson
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People who stare at displays are the norm in subways, trains, queues, in restaurants, alone and in pairs, everywhere — and also in lecture halls and seminar rooms.

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Again a message via WhatsApp, answering two emails, checking the news portal, quickly sending another text; where is the restaurant where we meet tonight?

 

People who stare at displays are the norm in subways, trains, queues, in restaurants, alone and in pairs, everywhere �" and also in lecture halls and seminar rooms. Humans and smartphones are a perfect match. As if we had longed for this symbiosis for centuries, the device serves as a crutch to compensate for human ailments, such as forgetfulness (photo collection), the laziness of thinking (Google), shyness (Facebook, emails, texts). Just like portable gambling dens, discos, and video stores, boredom has been abolished, our entire private and professional lives flow together on the device �" no wonder that we can hardly put it down.


Between Presence and Virtual Reality

 

With the smartphone, the boundaries of time and space blur: we are there physically, but our attention is constantly jumping back and forth. Does our counterpart even notice us? We are no longer sure of this since the concentration oscillates continuously between presence and virtual reality.

 

Between worlds, like the student who just presented how her group imagines the issue of the use of mobile communication devices, as soon as someone starts to respond, the student is already immersed in a mobile device. Like the cyclist who drives in front of us in a serpentine line and just misses the lamppost: he is engaged in his smartphone world, additionally acoustically shielded by huge headphones.

 

Defensive reactions range from confusion �" is the other person listening to me or not? �" up to the annoyance of "phubbing" (from "phone" and "stubbing", to stub your toe). The warnings of "abuse" or excessive use of mobile devices range from "digital dementia" to problems with concentration and poor performance due to multitasking, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders, and even a real addiction potentially.

 

As a tool of busyness that corresponds to the spirit of the times, mobile devices are always at hand to remove you from burgeoning boredom, to avoid emptiness, to fill any free space. This form of activity can represent a "manic defense", emptiness and boredom can then no longer be used to perceive your own world, your own thoughts, your own state of mind.

Always Available, Always Online

 

According to a study by the Techniker Krankenkasse, an average of 87 percent of 18 to 25-year-olds are always available, always online, which means that they make sure very frequently throughout the day whether a message has arrived, and interrupt all activity because of it.

Complaints about the stress caused by information and stimulus overload, and constant interruptions (and the related illnesses) are increasing, although in the case of smartphones we willingly provoke these interruptions and the flood of information ourselves, by constantly checking whether the last few minutes something happened in the cyber world.

 

Advice on reducing stress and relaxation can, therefore, also be understood as a plea for more emptiness: walking, breathing exercises, meditation, mindfulness training, doing nothing �" all this serves to perceive the here and now and not to force any activities. "Switching off" can be taken literally: it means taking a time-out for the smartphone too. The most effective executives are those who can both act and reflect �" which means making time to do nothing. We need the emptiness in which thoughts, creativity, intuition can unfold. Well dosed, every day. Therefore: just switch off!

© 2020 Daniel Johnson


Author's Note

Daniel Johnson
Was written thank to expertise of Techniker Krankenkasse, psychologist at https://write-essayforme.com/

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Added on June 23, 2020
Last Updated on June 23, 2020

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