Hello, our names are Ellen and Arianna, and we are PDA-aholics. No, we're not addicted to public displays of affection (as nice as they may be). We're addicted to our personal digital assistants -- our iPhones and BlackBerrys, and all the other digital devices we can't live without (iPods and laptops and Kindles, etc.). Thankfully, we're both on the road to recovery.
Ellen's story:
I first realized I had a serious problem during a family vacation in Key West last February. At breakfast, at lunch, at dinner, even at the pool, I was never untethered. I was even on it during our Everglades tour, as my husband, my kids, and I stood a few feet away from about 20 alligators -- at least I think they were alligators. What's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile, anyway? Hey, let me Google that for us right now! My husband told me that he was going to throw it (and my laptop!) into the swamp. Or me.
Between my BlackBerry, my laptop, my iPod and oh, yeah, the TV too, I literally don't have a single "unplugged" moment all day. And boy do I feel wired -- and not in a good way!
Arianna's story:
My "aha moment" also came on vacation. It happened a few years ago, as I stepped off a tender to board a friend's boat anchored off the coast of Cannes. My BlackBerry was tucked into my shoulder bag. A shoulder bag with a small snap. A small snap that came open. A soft splash drew my attention. And I watched my BlackBerry sink into the sea. The finality was absolute. It wasn't as if I'd misplaced it and, after tacking up fliers and putting out a household-wide APB (All Pursue BlackBerry), would eventually track it down. Sure I had closure, but closure of the worst kind.
The only good to come from the loss was that it finally brought me face-to-face with my addiction--the reality brought home by the response of my friends, who all suddenly started treating me as if I'd suffered a major loss. And that's when it hit me: If my friends assumed that losing a small electronic device would devastate me, I must really have it bad. So I cut back from having three PDAs to two (you gotta start somewhere) and began dedicating myself to the idea that the best way to reconnect with myself is to regularly disconnect from our always-on world.
We realize that this is a widespread malady. Consider these stats:
If all this sounds like addiction, well, it probably is. In a new study, college students who went 24 hours without using any media -- no cell phone, iPod, TV, etc. -- then blogged about their experience, using terms of addiction to describe their feelings: in withdrawal, frantically craving, miserable, jittery, crazy.
And it has the same effect as an addiction when we feed it as well: We crave it, so we give in, but it doesn't make us feel good. For most of us, being wired all the time has totally stressed us out. We can't relax, and the result of all that stress -- particularly for women -- is:
And let's not forget the other troubles we're dealing with from being so plugged in all the time. Got neck and shoulder pain from all that texting? Check. How about BlackBerry thumb? Check. Done any texting while driving lately, and had an accident (or a near miss?) In fact, you're 23 times more likely to cause an accident when driving while texting.
The Health Magazine/Huffington Post Challenge
It's time to stop the madness. We at Health magazine and HuffPost Living want to help you de-stress, relax, and get your life back under control. It's time for us all to Unplug and Recharge.
Here's what we would like you to try: This month, we want you to spend 30 minutes a day doing something off the electronic grid: It can be 30 minutes all at once, or 30 minutes split into small chunks over the course of your waking hours. Ellen is going to use her 30 minutes to walk her dog in the park (no iPod on!). Arianna is going stick to the "no BlackBerrys during meals" promise she made to her daughters.
We'll give you all kinds of support to help you unplug and recharge: We've got easy meditation and other relaxation tricks, blogger experts who can help you develop a better work/life balance, and a diet and exercise plan that will get you off the computer and into the fresh air so you can clear your head and get into shape.
Think of it: After a slight withdrawal jitter or two, you may feel an incredible rush of freedom. That's when you'll finally feel ready to recharge -- and have more time and energy for what's really important: family, friends, and reconnecting with yourself.
Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush: 5 Suggestions for Re-Creation This Summer
Susan Smalley, Ph.D.: There's a Different Way to 'Meditate' For Everyone
Julia Moulden: Can You Unplug And Recharge When You're Trying to Save The World?
Take a walk away from your home all by yourself down to the nearest hardware store.
Purchase a pocket knife that fits comfortably into the palm of your hand and a piece of sandpaper.
After you leave the hardware store with the pocket knife, walk back in the direction of your home stopping first at the drugstore to purchase some gauze and then at the nearest apple tree.
At the apple tree break, off a small limb.
Upon returning to your home, sit down on the front porch, open the package of gauze, spread it out across your lap, then open the pocket knife and begin to carve the apple limb to the shape of your blackberry catching all of the shavings in the gauze as you do.
Once the apple limb has been carved to the shape of your blackberry, set it aside, stitch the shavings into a gauze sachet, take the sachet and the blackberry saddle to your bedside and take a nap.
When the blackberry rings, buzzes, vibrates or beeps, remove it from the cradle, cover it with the sachet, take the sandpaper and smooth the cradle sniffing the aroma of the apple blossom as you go.
If this doesn't work, text me and I'll ignore you.
In our family electronics are usually verbotten on weekends save for the family blu-ray on Saturday night after dinner and the hour or so of 'dad-time' I'm allowed to play on the Internet.
Instead of gaming, surfing, or watching I've been spending time with my son teaching about the important things in life, like Legos. I also spend a lot more time helping my wife around the house, which has it's own benefits.
It was hard at first, but after almost a year of being disconnected I can honestly say I don't miss my BlackBerry.
And years later, when you're lamenting how time flew by so quickly - and that child is a teenager who doesn't seem to need you anymore, and actually doesn't even seem to want you around - it may be too late to do then what you could have done years before. It's easy to regret some of the things we did, and even easier not to recognize some of the things we didn't do.
The issue is control and volition. When any of us find ourselves in a position in which our toys rule our behavior ... it's time to take a vacation. Bravo to "the Universe" for deciding that it was time for you to see what was going on," and Bravo to you for being willing to look the lesson in the eye, not resist, and be willing to change.
AttilatheHoneycom
I have no home computer, and recently put my cel phone in a drawer because I got tired of it. I go to the library to check e-mail and it kindly limits me to 2 hours a day surfing. Perhaps I'm lucky -- over 60, unemployed, have no need to make a lot of long distance calls or texts or "apps." It took me a long time to even get a phone answering machine.
You may be cured, but what about the kids who get a cel phone for their 6th birthday? Sometimes we just have to let go of controlling everything in life.
And notice what's right above this post? "Check out the latest smartphones"!!!