How many times do you check your email? How much of your day is spent gaming? How many times do you check facebook, twitter, tumblr, LinkedIn, google plus, LiveJournal, pinterest, Insta-this, Insta-that, whatever?

How much total time do you spend on techno activities per day?

Is this a dumb question?

No, it’s shockingly relevant. That’s the whole point.

Take a minute. Calculate the amount of time you spend ‘tuning in’ on a typical day. Objects of your calculations should include use of your cell phone, landline, computer, television, radio, all techno gadgets and the many activities therein….emailing, texting, tweeting, checking websites, gaming, returning calls, listening to the news.

(I’m overcome by stress bubbles just listing all this techno activity. You? I need to sit down, whoa.)

Better.

Okay.

Now. Please: over calculate your techno activity in one day, don’t under calculate. Under calculating is cheating.

And then be prepared. You might fall drop off your computer chair, drop your smartphone, drop your jaw when you realize that what remains is about one minute per day enjoying traditional simple things (from your pre-techno revolution past), like staring into your beloved’s eyes. Or reading a book, smelling a flower, patting a dog, looking at your four walls. Enjoying a bit of silence. Or even paying a bill, without any distraction.

Get serious now: are you getting anything meaningful done anymore? I mean, really? What does ‘downtime’ mean to you these days? Sitting on a comfy, cozy chair, texting away? Are you kidding me?

This is a huge stress bubble!  You probably don’t view it as a stress bubble, because it’s so entertaining to be tuned in, turned on, stimulated, challenged, wowed, charged up, grossed out, scared, thrilled, terrified and amazed… via all things technological.

Why, it’s like being at an amusument park, on the high scary rides, (or in my case, the kiddie rides that don’t scare but invigorate me.) We never tire of scary rides do we? They get better and better, the adrenaline rush, higher and higher. And in the case of techno addiction, the toll on mental health bigger and bigger?

The Life of The Human Being is growing muddled. Our social lives, a key to health, are in free fall. We’re not paying bills on time, we’re not spending time with our beloveds just hanging, we’re spending beyond our means, we’re clicking away like maniacs to get news of the world but nothing is getting solved, not really, and our paperwork is packed up to the ceiling because paperwork, even in this digitized computerized age, seems to be spewed out more than ever.

“YOU ARE NOT DESCRIBING MY LIFE!” you bark back.

Well, good for you. I’m glad, relieved even. So spill. Do you have a full-time maid, nanny, personal assistant, bookkeeper, mani-pedi specialist and cook who relieve you of duties and pressures so you can go techno crazy whenever you want? Do you have an extra few seconds in your day that I don’t? If so, you can’t take my test, sorry. We’re talking about a revolution here…in technological use and abuse.

So. You’ve done your twitter, facebook, google plus, television, radio, gaming and other calculations. Where you do stand?

I’m fighting for the Right to Retain My Life. I work hard to maintain ‘balance’ between an absolute lust for technology (combined with utter disdain, when it fails me) and my basic need for a regular, centred and healthy existence. Am I fighting the inevitable? Is technology about to overtake us all anyway? Help?

A balance has to be achieved. We still have a right to be centered as human beings. We need to be aware that equilibrium is being lost here. “Moderation in all things,” says my mother. Indeed. Except that techno ‘moderation’ is like going on a hardcore weight loss program when your fridge is stocked with gourmet full fat ice cream. (Or in my case, full sour dill pickles.)

This is one brutal juggling act we’re now in, and we’ll be fighting this maelstrom for a long time.

It’s the stress bubble of all stress bubbles: navigating a world that’s moving at a pace humans can’t keep up with.

This topic is raising my anxiety levels to stratospheric levels!

What to do?

You tell me!

And I’ll share too. In my next post I’ll offer some (‘Techno Insanity’) stress poppers that work for me. I hope they’ll help you, too.