Turn Off, Look Around, Disconnect ~ Or not....

Aloha! Brian from MB Tech here, assailing you in electronic format, trying to get your attention for just a few seconds.

You see, the saturation of technology and the intrusion of it into our lives is both a blessing and a curse, don’t you know?

Sure I can Google anything from Anarchy (Sons of) to Santorum (Don’t look that one up) and get millions of hits, but getting the information I want quickly and efficiently without having to go down the rabbit hole to get it, or sift through millions of irrelevant junk links, are just a couple of the many challenges facing us each day we turn on our computers.

LOL! Yeah, right. Turn ON your computers. Your computer, like mine, is likely ALWAYS ON. What is the point of turning it off anymore? If not the PC, what about your mobile device, your tablet, your laptop, your netbook, your iPhone, your kids computer, your TV, your TiVo, etc.? Always on, always connected, GPS Tracking, Location Broadcasting, your work PC two clicks away, it just never ends.

I was just reading a story about ‘sleep texting’ because people leave their phones on the nightstand as an alarm clock, it buzzes, they wake up, half asleep, knock out a text or two, wake up the next day and have no memory of it.

Is this a luddite kind of warning, asking us to hearken back to more innocent times? Ah, the halcyon days of our youth when everything was perfect, perfectly innocent and gumdrop trees spilled their magical fruit into our mouths and all was right with the world?

Of course not. This is a guide to managing your online life, your devices and your sanity, as mine (Sanity and patience) is under assault as well.

As the old saying goes, ‘I have one nerve left, and you are standing on it!’, is about how I feel sometimes with the crush of constant access required by everyone 24/7/365. It is just non-stop and fraught with ‘OMG! 911’ importance, according to some users anyway.

Turns out, not so much. If Timothy Leary were still alive, maybe his motto ‘Turn on, Tune in, Drop Out’ would be better said as ‘Turn Off, Look Around, Disconnect’. Hello! McFly!??! ANYONE IN THERE?! Put down the phone and LOOK AT ME.  And please quit yelling into your phone while on the elevator hoping that the voice on the other end can somehow magically hear you! YOU ARE IN AN ELEVATOR!

Trust me, I am guilty of it too. (Not the elevator part) But again, this is supposed to be a note that might help you gain some perspective on the unending onslaught of information, computers, devices and demands to be available and connected at all times. It is NOT sustainable.

It is certainly going to increase before it decreases, unless you take steps to manage it now. I will tell you one thing, Dick Tracy never saw this coming.

The answer, quite simply, is to set boundaries. Like no remote access to work. No work email to your mobile device. No texting while walking down Bishop. Put your hands in your pocket and look up at the sky for a change. Disconnect each and every day for an hour, two or more.

This isn’t helping, I know. We all know better, but it is so compelling. There is a feeling of power that comes from the ability to connect from anywhere at all times, but you are paying a steep price for it. Is it really worth it?

Turn Off, Look Around, Disconnect and Rejoin the Human Race. Or Google it.

Of course if you want to create new connections, configure your mobile device for more access, add a new computer, server or service to your quiver of access capable devices, let us know. We aim to please.

Aloha! Brian