Our columnist Eamonn Carey is a self-confessed tech junkie. He knows he’s got a problem, and he’s getting ready to go cold turkey.
By Eamonn Carey
I am obsessed.
I check my email first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
I am like a drug addict.
When I get even faintly distracted, during a lull in conversation, I’ll almost unconsciously reach for my phone and check my Twitter stream.Studies have shown that these short-term gratification activities release dopamine into the bloodstream – giving us a little high.
It makes me anti-social.
There can be a range of activities and conversations going on around me – it could be the most interesting conversation in the world – a life altering experience; and I will convince myself that I’m not missing out – and that the email I’m tapping out is far more important.
I sometimes wonder if I am a victim of the modern age, or just a drug addict whose fix is provided by some ephemeral connection to the rest of the world. I have, in the past, woken up in the middle of the night and been consumed by the desire to look at Facebook and Twitter, and possibly even read the headlines of the New York Times. In an age of instant access to unlimited information, I almost feel like I’m betraying the Internet by not scampering around trying to accumulate as much information as possible.
I’m not alone. There was an article in the New York Times earlier this week that talked about this new obsession – fed in part by the Internet, in part by smartphones and apps and in part by the social nature of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and others.
Our constant referral to the Internet is partly a way of sniffing out information. It’s also the digital equivalent of sitting behind a net curtain, snooping on what your ‘neighbours’ are doing. Except instead of spying on the Jones’ in number 14, you’re reading about what Joe and Jane Punter are doing all over the world.
We’re definitely not designed to take in as much information as we are now exposed to.
Our nonstop connection to the Internet and one another is a really significant shift in the human condition. I had a really interesting chat with a Neuroscientist a while ago – and for eons, we have been a fundamentally anonymous species.
We’re not necessarily evolved to be as social as we have become. And we’re definitely not designed to take in as much information as we are now exposed to.
The article in The Times suggested that we are exposed to a lot more information, but that we don’t necessarily retain as much of it. I definitely think that’s the case. I must read thousands of articles, blog posts, tweets and emails every day. I guess my mind filters out a lot of it, and part of that is probably because I’ve been using the Internet for so long, but I also find myself randomly forgetting to reply to mails or text messages, as I’ve simply become too distracted.
I suspect part of the reason is due to information overload, which is exacerbated by the fact that I don’t sleep as well when I have the opportunity to check emails in bed.
Cold turkey
Later this year, I’m hoping to undertake a bit of an experiment. I’ve gone cold turkey on email and Twitter before, but I want to try and take it to the next stage. I’m going to try and banish all sources of artificial light from my bedroom. I read recently that iPhones, iPads, laptops and other forms of electronics that people routinely use in bed all emit a type of blue light which our bodies associate with daylight.
So when we watch something on our laptop before bed, we’re saturating our bodies with this light, meaning that when we turn the light off, we’re not in a sleeping mode. I’m curious to see if eliminating this light will make a difference to my sleep patterns. A lot of people have suggested that your bedroom should only be used for sleeping and sex, and I think they have a point.
So, if you’re an information junkie like me, maybe give this a try. Switch off your phone before you even go the bedroom to go to sleep. Read and watch TV in your living room. Make your bedroom a place where you flake out and sleep (amongst other things). Don’t make the same mistake as me and turn your bed into another office.
Eamonn Carey is a digital media consultant and co-founder of URBN, a digital publishing and smartphone company. You can follow Eamonn on twitter.com/eamonncarey. His Tech View column appears every week on JOE.ie.
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