&
Mind
I listen to podcasts when I jog . I hit play as I set off , and for the next 40 minutes my mind is immersed in some other world . Then , suddenly , I ’ m home . I never once have to hear my own laboured breathing . I ’ m also too busy to read books or write fiction for pleasure , even though both are allegedly my favourite pastimes . It recently occurred to me that those things might be related .
Wellbeing
Why It ’ s Important to Have Time Offline
Are we all too busy ? Or just hooked ?
Last month , I listened to an interview about the book Irresistible : The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked . Author Adam Alter explained that technology , by design , offers gratification that mirrors drug abuse or gambling . I felt jolted by this . I was standing two miles from my house and couldn ’ t tell you how I got there . Kind of like a drunk driver . My thoughts hadn ’ t been my own for the preceding 40 minutes . Are we all truly too busy ? Or just hooked ? And is the “ business of keeping us hooked ” stealing our real-life hours ? I decided to ask someone more productive than me . Joshilyn Jackson has published eight award-winning novels since 2005 . EIGHT . How does she evade the hooks ?
Well , even Joshilyn finds herself tethered by technology . So , she escapes it . “ I beg , borrow , or rent a cabin in the mountains ,” she tells me via email . “ I usually go with a member or two of my writing group , and we spend the days alternately working and hiking .” Staying unplugged is getting harder . “ Even in remote areas where five years ago there would be very poor or no connection , the internet is right there lurking inside the same computer I am using to write ,” she says . Worse , she adds , “ I always have my phone with me , and it has bars everywhere .” The key is being deliberate . “ Even halfway up
Let ’ s discover who we are when we are not plugged in
a wild-life and kudzu-covered north Georgia mountain , I have to actively decide to stay unplugged ,” Joshilyn says . “ I can lose valuable time to checking email or playing Pokemon Go or making stations on Pandora .” Adam Alter would approve of Joshilyn ’ s kudzu treks . His book advises we physically remove the temptation . In nature , where we don ’ t even know what year it is , we can be restored instead of hooked . So let ’ s pay attention to this . Let ’ s discover who we are when we ’ re not plugged in . Imagine , if we spend more hours with no chargers or wifi in sight , what we can accomplish .
ISSUE # 04 | 2017 | SkinHealthMagazine . com 8