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Smart Technology in Our Lives
Since the invention of technology, humankind has made significant steps in its development, and our attachment to it has grown considerably. After the invention of the mobile phone, humans have attempted to successfully develop technology to a more interactive product by giving it the ability to adapt to human senses and environment. This adaptability and increased capabilities are the reason it is referred to as âSmart Technologyâ. However, its interactive nature and ability to make human life easier has resulted in human addiction to technology. Humans are wired to find the easiest ways to do things, and smart technology is helping them achieve that. It introduces portable features such as the internet, information handling, among others, to mobile phones. Lately, it seems that everyone has grown an extra limb at the end of his arm; a smartphone. We are stressed when we forget it at home, we depend on it for every little information in our lives, and we are consistently attracted to its bright screen no matter what we are doing. This obsession with our smartphones is becoming a significant concern as it is contributing to collective social problems as anxiety, depression and loss of relationships. This paper attempts to provide insights on how we can effectively use our smartphones without giving way to their effects on our daily lives.
The increased use of Smart Technology has come up with a corresponding public awareness in matters of health. However, it seems that the more smart technology and use of smartphones increase, the more the paradox of health increases. Today, we are more attracted to using our smartphones without regarding health matters. This usage is contributing to social problems highlighted earlier in this paper. Nevertheless, we still have a chance to change the way we use our smart devices. Our new approach could mean that our usage of smart devices will be more productive and healthy.
Our dependence on our smart devices can affect our posture. According to studies, we tend to bend when using our smartphones or tablets. This, according to researchers, harms our spine and neck as it tends to reverse the way they are made as they are unnatural. This effect may eventually cause us back and neck injuries. However, neurosurgeons suggest that we can engage in healthy usage of the devices by fixing or preventing some of the adverse effects it causes. For instance, we can adjust our posture while using our smartphones by holding them at the level of our eyes while reading or sending emails or texts. This method of holding the smartphones at this level helps one hold back their head hence reducing the stress exerted on the neck and the back.
Additionally, when using smartphones when standing, we should hold them with arms close to our bodies and shoulders back. Additionally, we need to use both arms when using our smartphones as it will help us to develop a symmetrical posture. Symmetrical posture spreads out the strain to the rest of the spine.
The other prevalent problem associated with our use of smartphones is the time we spend a while on social media and other unproductive activities. We become so attached to them that we start forgetting our fellow human beings. Today, people would rather text or video call on Skype or WhatsApp instead of meeting physical. When they happen to meet physically, their interactions will be interrupted by the mobile phone as they will regularly check for messages and status updates on social media. By doing this, they miss the most crucial aspect of meaningful human interaction with people around them. The result of this is social detachment; our relationships remain at stake as we may separate from other people. We can correct this problem and embrace a more healthy usage of our smartphones by ensuring that we do not use them while we are around other people.
Similarly, we can reduce the time we spend online and on social media, and try to balance it with our real-life interactions with other people. This strategy will help us share our experiences. This approach could be an effective strategy for solving the issue of depression among humans.
To achieve healthy ways of using our phones, we must first develop strategies of using our phones in productive ways. While smartphones may be blamed for taking a toll on our healthy relationships, they can also be used in useful ways. An effective strategy of using smartphones should involve improving our productivity in daily activities, as well as improving our time management. One of the most effective strategy we can use in planning the time we spend on our devices. In most cases, our productivity is affected by the time we spend on our mobile phones while forgetting the importance of other activities. By setting a timer that can limit us on time we spend on our phones, we can reduce the hours we waste and create more for more critical activities.
The second effective strategy would be temporarily disabling internet connectivity and notifications. In most cases, the internet acts as the biggest distractor to our productivity as it facilitates social media activity. When notifications pop up, we always pause what we are doing to check them. In the end, we end up spending more time on the phone compared to other activities. Disabling these notifications will play a crucial role in ensuring that we adhere to our daily activities with minimal distractions.
Although smart technology can steal much of our time when we indulge in social media, it can also be a useful tool for organizing our lives. Today, smartphones have been developed with features which can assist us in organizing our daily lives by offering us with reminders. For instance, Google Inc. has invented a smart application that can be used by mobile users to organize appliances at their homes. Similarly, we can use smartphone calendars to plan and organize ourselves. Lastly, we can use our phones to improve our financial behaviours. Today, different applications such as âSpendeeâ, âPrismâ, âMobillsâ and âEverydollarâ have become common among mobile users as they help in monitoring and assisting how users can improve their spending habits, and how they can effectively budget for their money. If we make use of these applications, perhaps our perspective of smartphones as distractors of our effectiveness and social development would change.
Smart technology has been one of the best inventions of the 21st Century. Its rampant growth and development have made humans more attached to intelligent devices, which has affected their social lives. However, it does not mean that smart devices have purely adverse effects on our lives. We can change our usage habits to healthier ones if we choose to incorporate the abilities of these devices to our daily lives. There is more smart technology than just social media, video streaming and video calls.