Even before splashing water on face upon waking up, I unlock my phone and check Facebook, see comments on TFI and on my wall. I check Twitter and Google News before Im out of bed. I read websites while traveling, eating and walking on the road. If I can lay my hands on it, I will also buy a Google Glass and become a Glasshole, or maybe buy an Oculus, so that I can read while running on the treadmill. I watch TV and The News Hour as if my life depended on it - when I am at my friends place, they often push my jaw shut, and duck to avoid if I am gesticulating too wildly. Books are easy to carry around on my Kindle, so no break there, either - The New Yorker, Slate, a few novels, Harry Potter, PG Wodehouse, Charlaine Harris, Kurt Vonnegut, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett... And I am not even counting the amazing conversations I have with some fantastic friends online - who are spread all across the globe, so time zone problems are another source of sleep deprivation... There are also great content creators like Washington Post, Economist, Slate, Le Monde and the rest of amazing writing that I have convinced myself I MUST read. Sigh - so much to read, and hardly enough time. ~~~ A lot of you wrote nice things about us yesterday. If you are anything like me, you probably spend a lot of time being keyed in to whats happening around the world and in the lives of your friends, too. Thanks to cheap smartphones and tablets, we are linked 24/7 to events and knowledge of things happening around the world. Other might call it curiosity and inquisitiveness and willingness to learn. I call it my data fix, my information addiction. Please stop being an addict - it is bad for us. I have been struggling with depressive phases for the past few months, and couldnt figure out why, till I read a piece on Pychology Today. I wont bother you with all of it, but here is a disturbing sentence borne out by research - Excessive screen-time in general is associated with depression and other psychiatric disorders,and screen-time disturbs sleep –a major issue with adolescents. Furthermore, a recent Harvard Health newsletter discussed how light-at-night from electronics and even energy efficient lightbulbs disrupts sleep rhythms and harms health, highlighting the ever-growing influence of technology on mental health. Please, for your own sake - limit your exposure to bright screens as much as you can outside of work and studies. It may save your life, and at the very least your eyes.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 14:02:36 +0000