simplify the technology
Hey, we are back together! Is it snowing where you are? Just rainy and cold here, but I am still thankful to enjoy this wintry weather, especially if I have nowhere to be! I have not been immersed in this dreary cozy weather for a few years, so moving to this climate makes my soul happy. On to minimizing! Moving here has turned my attention to minimizing, especially with all the attention to it on social media and literature. Our next aspect is technology!
I am grateful for the technology that we have. I am able to talk to my sisters’ faces although we live hours apart. I am glad I can order groceries online and pick them up instead of the old-fashioned hauling them into the store while they cry, fight, and trip through the aisles. I am happy to send a quick text to someone without bothering them with a phone call at work. I love reading other peoples’ ideas and sewing help online. It is fun to find enormous amounts of information the second I want to know. Truth be told, we actually need technology to survive in life with paying bills, using coupons, buying gifts, registering for events, and more!
Funny thing, we are the most connected we have ever been in history and yet the most lonely! This is super sad! I see it in our world, though. Facebook depression is a thing. Feeling embarrassed about the lack of likes on a picture happens. Paralysis by information exists. Did you know we can only handle so many decisions a day, so when we get to a point, decisions become too overwhelming and we can make poor choices instead of wise ones. Decision fatigue exists! Know what I am talking about? Time to simplify this part of life! Allow technology to serve us instead of the reverse. The following are a few suggestions:
delete apps. Apps are helpful and games are fun! They are not all bad but they are all not necessary or productive either. Sometimes they can go and we are better for it. It is possible to have access to so much “stuff” that we use none of it because it is too overwhelming and we can no longer keep track of what we have!
turn notifications off. I have turned off notifications on every app I have to avoid feeling the need to clear the number bubble above the app picture. It prevents me from mindlessly wandering around the internet world and realizing an hour has gone by when I could have spent my time better elsewhere. I could spend my time more wisely with living people! It has been a life-changer that prevents me from spending my time looking at my phone rather than speaking to my family, spending time with God, or simply being creative with my mind, and living LIFE for real.
clear social media. Keeping up with people is great but there is no need for an overabundance of apps for it. Pick a few, or just one, and go with it. We can only do a few things well, and social media is the same. It is more enjoyable without so many options to keep up with! Talk about fatigue!
clear the desktop. Too many icons on a desktop can be overwhelming, as silly as it sounds. Delete unnecessary files. File pictures on hard drives. Keep school work on hard drives when completed.
pick an email account. Keep it simple. It is way difficult to remember an email and passwords for fifty accounts. Keep the important ones that are used most frequently and let the others go.
unsubscribe to unnecessary emails. Email dread should not happen, but most people feel it. Unless it is related to you in this stage of life, get rid of it. If I unsubscribe but want to remember a website or store, I put it in my favorites on my computer so I have access but will not be inundated with unnecessary emails.
narrow down favorites in web browser. Pick a few essentials and move on. Remember, too many decisions leads to fatigue and we have no need for that! Keep a few in each subject you refer to frequently and skim down the rest.
clean up phone contacts. No need to keep contacts you can’t remember, and no need to keep that contact from high school you, in reality, will never actually call.
It is also helpful to keep a list of usernames and passwords from coffee shop accounts to store accounts. It makes life a lot easier when trying to remember a password to that online store you once ordered from five years ago.
Clutter is chaos and robs us of peace. The enemy is a big source of distractions and chaos! It is so easy to keep us from the important matters in life. It keeps me from my quiet time and from paying attention to my family. Sometimes I use my phone to play sweet lullabies and rock my wee babe at nap time, but sometimes I leave it in another room so I can take in the moment and remember what it feels like to hold her before she is no longer little.
Clearing and simplifying can feel like a weight lifted and add a bounce to your step. I hope you feel motivated to simplify some technological aspects of life. What are some ways you have found to simplify your world of technology? I would love to hear your ideas! Have a happy day!
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10
Hugs,
Charis
