Digital Detox: Reasons to change

One thing I've always struggled with is staying present and away from electronics. It's not just me being young and growing up with computers. My ADHD also plays into this. 

Introduction

Computers work with my brain, from gaming to organizing files and so much more. ADHD feels similar to having a computer for a brain, so using computers comes naturally to some degree. I love problem-solving, and I love working with well-defined and consistent systems. It is just a natural extension of how my brain works. But with anything, too much of a good thing can become bad, and it's super easy for me to get wrapped up in something techy and leave the world behind me. Tech is also a major form of escapism for me. In a simulator game, things just work as intended. The rules of the world don't stop working because people decide to act poorly. There are parameters and strategies that I can follow and stick with. The world can be made nearly perfect. Back in the real world, the best-planned highway system is made a traffic nightmare when a crash closes a single lane and no one is able to work together to move traffic through efficiently.

So overall, I have a constant need to break away from all the tech and be present in the real world. It's super important for everyone in this world, but it's even more important to me. This post will be a plan, a goal-setting session for me. Hopefully, this can also act as a pattern for others to follow and work towards more presence in the day-to-day. 

I find it easiest to start with reasons and base my actions and priorities on them. 

Reasons

1. Time: I spend a ton of time being distracted by social media or games or videos on YouTube. A quick guess from my side is that by better controlling how many tech distractions I have, I could gain several hours back every day. For me, this is either more time to do things I've been putting off or it's just extra time to breathe and relax.

2. Stress: I suffer from a heavy dose of FOMO. I look at notifications one by one for fear I'll miss something important if I just skim. Not only does this dedication to checking everything cut into my time, but it also gives me a lot of unneeded stress. But irrational fears are irrational, so telling myself I don't need to check everything just isn't a real solution. I have to reduce the actual number of notifications I get. I want to be present in the moment and the world around me, not stuck on making sure I didn't miss someone writing something silly on Twitter.

3. Family: I have 5 kids, one with Autism, and a wife with big mental health struggles. I find myself so stressed and pressed for time between all the things I don't really need to do or worry about. I end up with less than adequate time to be part of my family and help my wife and kids. And the less time I have to relax, the more stressed I am, and the less energy I have to be a father when I do have the time.

My next post will be my plan of action based on these reasons.

With love and insanity equally,

J.M.