How to set healthy boundaries with technology

We love our phones, our screens, our devices and what they allow us to do. But having the world at our fingertips, and in our pockets, has accelerated the pace of our lives unlike ever before. And it’s brought a whole new universe of temptations, notifications and alerts that often make it seem like we’re living in service of our devices rather than leveraging their tools to make our lives better.

To understand just how dependent many of us have become on our devices, consider an experiment conducted by researchers at Harvard and the University of Virginia. They gave people a choice to be alone in a room without anything – no devices, no papers, no phones – or to get an electric shock. A whopping 67 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women chose the electric shock.

Most of us need a little help creating new norms about how we use technology – to go from valuing always being ‘on’ to also valuing unplugging and recharging. We don’t need to renounce technology – not at all. But we can realise what we’re really missing out on when we give in to the conventional notion of FOMO (fear of missing out), and take Microsteps to set healthy boundaries.

Here are three to get you started:

• Take a daily tech time-out to improve your focus and reduce stress

Set time aside to step away from social media and email so you can truly connect with yourself and loved ones.

• Don’t start your day by looking at your phone

Instead of scrolling through email or social media, which can lead to negative emotions, take at least one minute to focus on your intention for the day. 

• Before you get into bed, escort your devices out of the bedroom

Our phones are repositories of our to-do lists, inboxes, projects and problems. Disconnecting will help you sleep better, recharge and reconnect to your wisdom and creativity.