As in All Things (Suggestion: Seek an Intentional Delicate Balance or Moderation)

TECH TUESDAY

Unplug yourself

RECOVERING TECH ADDICTS REACH OUT TO OTHER OVERCONNECTED AMERICANS

By Jessica Yadegaran Contra Costa Times

   The first time social media junkie Micah Daigle took a day off from his Facebook account, his friends joked that they needed him back. “My news feed is empty,” one said, laughing. “Where have you been?” The second time was more profound. It was 2008, and Daigle was heading back to San Francisco from Burning Man. After a week with no access to technology, he turned on his iPhone to a flood of e-mails, Twitter updates and Facebook notifications.

   “It was really overwhelming,” says Daigle, 28, founder of the Collective Agency, a design and online branding company. “It was such a stark contrast to the sense of peace I had in the desert.”

   CRAVING MORE of that unplugged peace, Daigle started taking Ouija walks, his term for device-free strolls. “The world is my (Ouija) board,” he says. “I leave my phone behind and let my intuition guide me. I know people who don’t see the potential downsides of being connected all the time. But I know it’s not good.”

   Hulu in bed. iPads at dinner. Twitter on the toilet. According to Pew research, the average American spends 8 to 12 hours a day plugged in. Research shows this technology habit is having a negative impact on our health and relationships. Don’t believe it? Internet Use Disorder may be included in the revised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, due out in May.

   Experts say learning to use social media with intention and spending more time off the grid can help us reclaim a balanced relationship with our digital devices.

   Levi Felix started Digital Detox, a company in Oakland, Calif., as a way to help people disconnect from their gadgets in order to reconnect with themselves. A casualty of the tech industry, Felix had his own aha moment after 80-hour work weeks at a start-up put him in the hospital with an esophageal tear and internal bleeding his doctors said were caused by stress and poor lifestyle.

   He spent the next 2 years traveling the world with his girlfriend, Brooke Dean, working on remote farms and in orphanages. They meditated, did yoga and grew the food they ate. But they never touched a cell phone or laptop.

   THE EXPERIENCE WAS so transformative that Felix and Dean returned home to create digital-free retreats where anyone, from stay-at-home moms to Google executives, could disconnect from technology and recharge through hiking, journaling, art and massage.

   “There’s no seat belt or smoking section for the digital world,” Felix explains. “It’s not that all of these digital technologies are bad. But humans have never lived in a situation like this, and we need help to reconnect in a more meaningful way.”

   Felix and Dean apply the same concepts to their Device-Free Drinks events, where people trade in their cell phones for analog activities, like board games and playing on typewriters.

   “Instead of staring at your phone or checking in online, you’re meeting new people and having fun,” Felix says. The bar events have drawn at least 200 people a night since launching last October.

   But you don’t have to go to an event to unplug. Among his tips for a balanced digital diet, Felix suggests taking the time to Like people or things offline with a simple thank-you or other act of gratitude. Also, try waking up with an alarm clock instead of a cell phone.

   “YOU’LL SLEEP BETTER, won’t have the urge to check your messages or scan status updates from your sheets, and your REM won’t be interrupted by random push-notifications,” he says.

   Another biggie: Don’t take your digital device to the bathroom. “It was reported that over 75% of Americans use their phones on the toilet to text, play with apps, make calls and browse the Web,” says Felix, referring to a recent study by 11 Mark, a Virginia-based marketing firm specializing in technology and health care. “But some of our best ideas come when we are sitting on the throne. Use it as a break. It’s a perfect time to reflect and take a moment for oneself.”

   As part of her New Year’s resolution, Tanya Rosner deleted her Facebook page and plans to limit the time she spends texting and surfing her favorite mommy blogs after her children have gone to bed. And even then, says the mother of three, she’ll give herself one hour.

   “After that, I’m going to read a book or go to sleep,” she says. “I don’t want to fry my brain.”