Connect and disconnect
It's really amazing that I have come across an article saying that we should try and be 'offline' when we are having our own time, such has having meals, walking, taking transport, spending time with loved ones and even in the toilet!
Nowadays, everywhere we go, we are just like busy people with the phone! Really! And I don't really think that we are much more connected in terms of people-to-people relationship. We are just more connected to Facebook, Yahoo news, Candy Crush etc. I just feel that we aren't that close to the friends we were in the past. It's the truth :(.
Disconnect - It Helps
Both Eve and I have tried. And it's possible.
What we did is to switch our smart phones to silent mode and we do not touch it in front of our children when we are spending time with them. If we keep connecting ourselves to the phone, we are disconnecting with our children during playtime. It's not wise at all. We limit ourselves and use it when it's appropriate.
For example: Why bring a child to library if we, parents, are playing the phones, and the child is reading the books? So weird right? Is it too busy that spending 30-40 minutes with the child is too difficult? I have seen and I do not feel it's right. Soon, the child also wants to play the phone in the library.
Hence, we are trying and make ourselves 'offline'. And we actually have much more time for ourselves!
Play time
During playtime, we will just have 100% concentration (well, at times try to have 100%) and attention to our children. Talk to them and look them in the eyes. They will feel it, whether we are listening to them or not. And luckily, our house do not have any television because it will definitely rob us with family time.
At the playgrounds, I will just play with them and occasionally take good pictures of my children. That's it. I won't be checking out on other work stuff, or other Apps. It's THEIR play time and I need to be both physically and mentally present. And it's much more fun to see how much your children has grown. Note that children are smart and they know whether you are really playing with them! :) Don't deny the quality time you have with them.
Meal times
Also, during meal times, we do not even touch or display the phones on the table. Only my mother-in-law will place it because hers is the old Nokia handphone. The children are not interested in it. Ha. Have a meal with humans, not phones. I have a friend who shared with me that when her family members eat dinner, they will consolidate all the iPad, iPhones, Smart phones etc into a bag. And no one is allowed to touch it until dinner's over! So cool right?
Once a while, they want to play our phones after their meals. It's alright. We will set 10 minutes alarm and they will happily play it and return back to us after that. It's not that we will 100% control it.
Public Transport
The first thing one got on the bus/train, 90% of them will whip out their gadget. I used to be one of them. And now, I don't. I will whip out a book instead. At times, I will think of my family, my children, the food I want to eat etc. It's more like self-thinking and I feel it's much more self-satisfying this way.
I'm not sure about you. However, I used to get 'hooked' as in keep touching my phone every 1 minute. After I checked my email, I closed it. After 1 minute, I checked my phone for any Facebook updates. Read finish and I closed it. After 1 minute, I checked my phone again for yahoo news. And I closed it again after finding that there is no news at all. After 1 minute, I checked the Facebook again. It's so tiring and quite meaningless. It's just straining your eyes and the unknowing anxiety gets you no where.
Hence, I have put a stop to this. And I can see what other people are doing. Either they are Candy crushing or Facebooking or even watching movies. It's so standard. And they kept looking and playing the gadgets until they have reached the station. Expats or tourists, on another hand, doesn't seem to have this behaviour! This is quite amazing. When I'm in Taiwan, it's not common to find it.
I have also saw young children looking at the smart gadgets THROUGHOUT the journey! It's really straining to their poor eyes and the parents allow it. If taken away from them, the child will fret or scream. My children used to have this withdrawal syndrome from playing the phones. That's why both Eve and I didn't want to happen again. And setting the 10-minute alarm works and we have done it for over 6 months!
Walking
It's quite fun now to walk without any gadgets on your hands and pockets. I get to see the nature much closely, and even appreciate the sounds and air I breathe. Now I don't put the phone in my pants because of the radiation and it's quite uncomfortable actually. I place it in my work bag or pouch if I'm going out.
I used to walk and see my phone. And many people still do these days and they don't really look at the front actually. It's quite dangerous. Even students are also doing that. Anyway, who am I to say. However, I am glad that I have managed to stop this 'walk-and-also-see-your-phone' thing for myself.
I will only take out the phone when someone is canvassing in front of me, such as credit cards, donations etc. And I can escape from them! :)
Toilet
Oh, I tell you. I still do this when answering the big nature call. And it actually extends my time in the toilet. And I only exit the toilet once the video is finished. Ha. I'm still trying to cut down on this part! :) I just feel that it's quite optimising to use the phone when making your big business in the toilet.
All in all, I feel that we should try to disconnect ourselves from the online world for awhile. Be it to save battery or to rest our eyes, it's actually good so that you have much more time to consolidate your thoughts, think of your loved ones or even plan out things to do!
One take home message is when we are communicating with anyone, be it friends, relatives, children, we should not meddle with our gadgets. Only after that, we then use it. It will show mutual respect to one another and we have self control on ourselves. This will make the world a better place to live in. But please don't disconnect yourself from the online world. It will make you a weird person totally!
Take care my friends...
Nowadays, everywhere we go, we are just like busy people with the phone! Really! And I don't really think that we are much more connected in terms of people-to-people relationship. We are just more connected to Facebook, Yahoo news, Candy Crush etc. I just feel that we aren't that close to the friends we were in the past. It's the truth :(.
Disconnect - It Helps
Both Eve and I have tried. And it's possible.
What we did is to switch our smart phones to silent mode and we do not touch it in front of our children when we are spending time with them. If we keep connecting ourselves to the phone, we are disconnecting with our children during playtime. It's not wise at all. We limit ourselves and use it when it's appropriate.
For example: Why bring a child to library if we, parents, are playing the phones, and the child is reading the books? So weird right? Is it too busy that spending 30-40 minutes with the child is too difficult? I have seen and I do not feel it's right. Soon, the child also wants to play the phone in the library.
Hence, we are trying and make ourselves 'offline'. And we actually have much more time for ourselves!
Play time
During playtime, we will just have 100% concentration (well, at times try to have 100%) and attention to our children. Talk to them and look them in the eyes. They will feel it, whether we are listening to them or not. And luckily, our house do not have any television because it will definitely rob us with family time.
At the playgrounds, I will just play with them and occasionally take good pictures of my children. That's it. I won't be checking out on other work stuff, or other Apps. It's THEIR play time and I need to be both physically and mentally present. And it's much more fun to see how much your children has grown. Note that children are smart and they know whether you are really playing with them! :) Don't deny the quality time you have with them.
Meal times
Also, during meal times, we do not even touch or display the phones on the table. Only my mother-in-law will place it because hers is the old Nokia handphone. The children are not interested in it. Ha. Have a meal with humans, not phones. I have a friend who shared with me that when her family members eat dinner, they will consolidate all the iPad, iPhones, Smart phones etc into a bag. And no one is allowed to touch it until dinner's over! So cool right?
Once a while, they want to play our phones after their meals. It's alright. We will set 10 minutes alarm and they will happily play it and return back to us after that. It's not that we will 100% control it.
Public Transport
The first thing one got on the bus/train, 90% of them will whip out their gadget. I used to be one of them. And now, I don't. I will whip out a book instead. At times, I will think of my family, my children, the food I want to eat etc. It's more like self-thinking and I feel it's much more self-satisfying this way.
I'm not sure about you. However, I used to get 'hooked' as in keep touching my phone every 1 minute. After I checked my email, I closed it. After 1 minute, I checked my phone for any Facebook updates. Read finish and I closed it. After 1 minute, I checked my phone again for yahoo news. And I closed it again after finding that there is no news at all. After 1 minute, I checked the Facebook again. It's so tiring and quite meaningless. It's just straining your eyes and the unknowing anxiety gets you no where.
Hence, I have put a stop to this. And I can see what other people are doing. Either they are Candy crushing or Facebooking or even watching movies. It's so standard. And they kept looking and playing the gadgets until they have reached the station. Expats or tourists, on another hand, doesn't seem to have this behaviour! This is quite amazing. When I'm in Taiwan, it's not common to find it.
I have also saw young children looking at the smart gadgets THROUGHOUT the journey! It's really straining to their poor eyes and the parents allow it. If taken away from them, the child will fret or scream. My children used to have this withdrawal syndrome from playing the phones. That's why both Eve and I didn't want to happen again. And setting the 10-minute alarm works and we have done it for over 6 months!
Walking
It's quite fun now to walk without any gadgets on your hands and pockets. I get to see the nature much closely, and even appreciate the sounds and air I breathe. Now I don't put the phone in my pants because of the radiation and it's quite uncomfortable actually. I place it in my work bag or pouch if I'm going out.
I used to walk and see my phone. And many people still do these days and they don't really look at the front actually. It's quite dangerous. Even students are also doing that. Anyway, who am I to say. However, I am glad that I have managed to stop this 'walk-and-also-see-your-phone' thing for myself.
I will only take out the phone when someone is canvassing in front of me, such as credit cards, donations etc. And I can escape from them! :)
Toilet
Oh, I tell you. I still do this when answering the big nature call. And it actually extends my time in the toilet. And I only exit the toilet once the video is finished. Ha. I'm still trying to cut down on this part! :) I just feel that it's quite optimising to use the phone when making your big business in the toilet.
All in all, I feel that we should try to disconnect ourselves from the online world for awhile. Be it to save battery or to rest our eyes, it's actually good so that you have much more time to consolidate your thoughts, think of your loved ones or even plan out things to do!
One take home message is when we are communicating with anyone, be it friends, relatives, children, we should not meddle with our gadgets. Only after that, we then use it. It will show mutual respect to one another and we have self control on ourselves. This will make the world a better place to live in. But please don't disconnect yourself from the online world. It will make you a weird person totally!
Take care my friends...
