Technology is a beautiful reflection of how intelligent, foreword thinking and innovative the human race is. We create technology that saves lives and makes other components of our lifestyle so simple. It's a beautiful thing that most of us use in our personal or business lives in one form or another. There are, however, a few things I don't feel quite ready to hand over to technology just yet. Call me old fashioned, but there is something gratifying about not relying on anything manmade, anything requiring a plug or a cord or anything that could possibly "die" on me to get things accomplished.
My planner: I cherish my Erin Condren life planner. I love the pages, the stickers, the pencil notes, the highlighted areas and the beautiful binding that holds it all together. I write every single appointment, to-do, phone call, Zumba class and tennis lesson in my planner. Why not just use the calendar on my phone that automatically syncs to my computer and somehow creates magic you ask? I do. Yes, I write everything down AND I add it to my digital calendar. I quickly realized that only plugging it into my phone was actually not effective for me internalizing what my appointments and my to-dos looked like, and how I needed to prepare for them.
Technology has a way of making us feel like it's taking care of things for us rather than supporting us in things we really need to do ourselves. Instead of really focusing on the fact that I had a big client call to prepare for, I entered it in my phone, forgot about it and scrambled to prepare 15 minutes before it took place. There's something so gratifying about writing things out, feeling a pencil on paper and being able to arrange my day in a way that doesn't come out of a brightly lit and constantly dying screen. While it definitely takes a few extra minutes each day, I find myself more focused and more on task because I've written it out. Imagine that...
My books: Oh my books. I am an extreme reader (not exactly sure what that means, but I think I'm it). I hoard books, I read every day, I constantly pick them up at garage sales and it's one of my favorite stress relievers. I cannot imagine, for anything in the world, picking up a tablet or any other device and reading my favorite beautiful stories without turning physical pages. It almost seems sinful! I love the smell of books, the sound of a page turning, my bookmarks and being able to physically share my books with others when I'm done. I'll never give them up. The digital reader has also lost this battle.
My toothbrush: Okay, before all of the dentists come out of the woodwork and lecture me on how electric toothbrushes are better for me, let me say this: My manual toothbrush works fine for me. I have some of the healthiest teeth my dentist has ever seen (toots own horn). I brush multiple times a day, I floss EVERY day no exceptions and I eat a diet almost completely absent of sugar. This one may come off a little weird (and I hope you wouldn't expect anything else from me) but there is something great about manually controlling how I clean my mouth. I guess my point is that I still genuinely appreciate caring for my health and my hygiene without the use of devices, chargers and batteries. I'll never switch over! At least until my dentist says otherwise...
Technology is fabulous, and there's no denying that. I support it, I buy it, I use it and I love it. At the end of the day, there are still certain things I need to keep in my life that require the sole attention of my brain and body parts. Are there things you enjoy doing sans technology?
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