Learning to thrive alongside technology
In the past 15 years, we have accumulated numerous digital layers through our smart devices, social media connections, streaming services, and more. Yet, in swiping right for relationships, becoming outraged by things we didn’t even know we cared about and being “always-on” at workplaces that tell you to take unlimited days off; we’ve paid a price in the form of contracted attention spans and decreased productivity. A small study of college students found they now only focus on any one task for 65 seconds. A different study of office workers found they only focus on average for three minutes.
There are now an increasingly rising number of employers, school administrators and individuals feeling overwhelmed with the unbridled onslaught of algorithms and screens. In fact, “One in three US adults have taken active steps to improve their digital wellbeing in the last year.” according to a recent Google consumer insights survey.
Some of the techniques people are using include tracking and limiting screen time, keeping digital devices away during meals, limiting screen use before bed, and deleting social media apps.
We also see fledgling efforts from workplaces encouraging employees to silence phone calls and notifications during work hours to increase productivity. A host of tactics from device-free whiteboarding to “Focus Fridays” are intended to minimize digital distractions.
These interventions can act as effective circuit breakers, but do not prevail in a meaningful way.
What’s missing:
Simply turning away from digital interactions is a simplistic response that doesn’t address the reality that life around us is becoming increasingly connected. We also tend to fixate on social media or video games but ignore the impact of commonplace apps like email, Texting, or the drain in attention from the hundreds of SAAS apps place in an average workplace.
Screen time is the closest proxy of measuring our relationship with technology and its biggest flaw is that it lacks context. Just like calories from a spoonful of sugar don’t have the same nutritional value as the same number of calories from a carrot – engagement with digital interaction measurement needs nuance as well.
This abstinence centered approach creates vicious guilt cycles which are entirely too harmful for creative productivity to thrive. Even if moderation in screen time has limited success for those that lived in the pre-digital era, it fails the newly sprung “born-in-the-cloud” generation of kids that expect AI agents and haptic screens in the same way as they anticipate heat from fire.
Way forward:
There is much that’s unknown about how the human and technology interactions will evolve as Artificial Intelligence permeates our social fabric. One thing that is clear however is that the choice cannot be between quitting technology or letting it steamroll human attention.
At Scroll by Choice, we’re hoping to forge a path where we enable individuals to take control of their digital habits. Additional information about our approach for addressing this emerging need, please visit www.scrollbychoice.com.