The Struggle Is Real

The Inspiration

It has been 5 years since we have taken a vacation as a family.  We have been to the beach, to Missouri to see relatives, and to the lake many times.  We just have never been to the mountains together as a family.  Amanda, Aiyana, and I are pretty active people in our family unit.  There aren't many days we miss workouts in a year.  Colorado made many opportunities for us to explore and get some exercise in the process. Two days prior to the start of this blog journey you are about to read, Amanda, Aiyana, and I had just done a 6+ mile hike to see a waterfall in Ouzel Falls.  It was cool, it rained, a very different experience than climbing Deer Mountain.  The day we decided to tackle Deer Mountain, it was going to be hot and muggy.    

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That morning, Bailey decided to go with us.  Initially I felt as though this was going to be a piece of cake for her.  She surprised me a couple of months ago tackling a half marathon without having run even 5 miles total at a time before attempting it.  Never even trained.  Completed it.  Crazy. I had no worries for her other than maybe a bit of breathing problems with the altitude. 
Starting out she and Aiyana took off, Bailey dropping her iPhone without even noticing.  I put it in my pocket and let them progress ahead.  They got a ways ahead of Amanda and I, and I have to be honest, I didn't think it was going to be as long as it was.  By midway, we were all panting a bit, but Bailey was struggling (see right).  

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Closer...

Breaks were a necessity in this climb.  There were times I thought Bailey might give up.  But we encouraged her along the way.  By the way, she still didn't have a clue she had dropped her iPhone at this point.  One of the benefits of this climb was that it leveled out a bit at the end before a hard short climb in the end.  Below is a video of that approach.

It was at this point that I thought, "this would be a great blog post!" Her progression up the mountain and the imposing struggle she went through gave me the thought of having her climb a similar "mountain" but in the process of a digital detox. 

The Digital Detox Challenge

Today, we have endless cable channels, unlimited varieties of entertainment options, and countless ways to communicate with each other, all of which has led to this constant tsunami of information.  I can remember when I was young that my choice to communicate was a home phone or driving to the person's house. Today the internet has changed how we communicate; we always stay connected. Technology is not bad.  It is how we use it that can be problematic and questionable.  Technology makes things exponential, and the pace of digital information in this mobile device age is fast and furious. For all of us today, the new "up-time" is really downtime.  The climb up Deer Mountain gave me the idea to present Bailey with a challenge to do a digital detox and journal her progression through the day.  She didn't know when we did the intro video on Sunday, I decided to tell her Monday that this was happening Wednesday.  Below is a great article that identifies what happens to us when we do a digital detox.

What Really Happens To Your Brain And Body During A Digital Detox

We feel guilty that we're constantly plugged in. We sense that our smartphones are making us less focused, that constantly checking our email and Twitter is making us less productive, and more disconnected from our real lives. But what do we really know about how our devices are affecting us?

As you can imagine, Bailey's summer day starts pretty late.  My instructions for her was to journal her experience on paper every hour and do two reflection videos, recorded by Aiyana.  There would be no access to Internet, TV, or devices for the entire day.  Here was her experience:

As you can tell by the written notes below, things went well initially, but as the day progressed, she felt emotionally challenged and disconnected. Looking over these, it made me think of my own daily journey.  I seem to always have a fractured attention span, constantly looking at the next digital notification.  For me this is exacerbated by my Apple Watch.  I think it keeps me from looking at my iPhone, but in reality it gives the outward perception that I am preoccupied and uninterested in face to face interactions, meetings, etc. 

Bailey completed her digital detox in one day.  In hindsight, the thoughts that went through my head were more about what does this constant digital interaction mean to sleep? Our smart phones, tablets, and multiple screens have invaded our bedroom space and am sure negatively impact our quantity and quality of sleep. I think we have a deep fear of missing out, and interacting constantly produces a feeling of connectedness and power. This exercise was good for Bailey, and good for me.  Here was her final reflection video:

In Conclusion

For Bailey, I am sure we will do this again.  As we rely more and more on technology, we forfeit some opportunities to memorize "how" to do things. YouTube teaches us just about everything on the fly.  Technology is not bad; it is how we use it at times that becomes questionable.  I will give you one example of something that I personally continue to do but with technology.  Note taking.  I used to write in Moleskine journals pretty religiously.  It helped me memorize and organize my thoughts.  Then I moved to electronic notes.  I typed them out and it didn't allow me to retain nearly what I did when I wrote them down.  But with the introduction of digital inking, I get the best of both worlds.  I guess what I am trying to say is, be purposeful with technology.  We should make sure we practice self control and enable technology to work for us and not us working for it.  

Common Sense Media is an amazing free resource for parents out there who are struggling to keep up with this ever changing social and technology mixed environment.  We are fortunate in Omaha Public Schools to have our very own Lead Teacher for Digital Citizenship in partnership with Common Sense Media, Keegan Korf.

Technology Addiction

Are today's kids addicted to their screens? Here are some tips to identify problematic media use and how to make the most of technology without losing control.