I’ll admit it. I’m old. I was born in 1974 (I know, the 70’s!). I am a proud member of Gen X, the last great generation. But Mike, why are you stirring the pot this early in the article? It’s easy, because it’s true. Gen X is the last generation with one foot in the old world one foot in the new world.

We grew up without a lot of the technology that we have today. Technology in this sense being the internet, phones, generally “devices” that are everywhere these days. (I’m old also because of my excessive use of “these days”) When we were younger, we played outside, rode bikes, drank from the hose, and came home often to empty houses while our parents worked. I remember when I got my first computer, an Apple IIe and my first home video game, the Atari 2600. That was the beginning of the end for me. I had all A’s in 1-7th grade. My parents thought I was “gifted”. Joke’s on them. After technology game into my life, addiction followed and with that addiction came lethargy, weight gain, and mediocre grades. There was nothing I would have rather done more than sit on my ass playing the latest game and eating pizza. Does that sound familiar to any of you parents out there? Sure it does.

We live in an addictive society. Companies depend on these addictions to sell us products and make money, I get it. Addictions are actions that you perform despite the fact that there will be negative consequences. Alcoholics drink despite the risks of DUI or job loss, sugar addicts like myself eat and eat despite the weight gain and affects that has on our lives, porn addicts continue watching no matter what it does to their personal relationships, and smokers continue to smoke despite the health concerns. Those are just a few examples. The biggest and most perverse addiction we all have these days (there I go again) is to technology.

I know I know, we all need technology. How many times have I looked at my phone and wonder, how in the world did we live without this thing? Sure there are tons of benefits like GPS, Google, buying things online, a world of information at our fingertips. I use technology all the time in my voiceover work. How easy it’s made it to record at home and email audio all over the world. Digital recording is something I’d never give up. We can use apps to market ourselves to people all the time.

But…

How often do you find yourself endlessly scrolling on TikTok or Instagram and before you know it, hours have gone by? How many times do you retrieve your phone from your pocket for no reason than to check the same apps you checked 5 minutes ago? Most of the time, you don’t even realize it you’re doing it. It’s muscle memory at this point. Keeping your phone on the table at a restaurant because Heaven forbid you might miss something going on.

This brings me back to my generation. We didn’t have these distractions when we were younger. We actually learned in school and talked to each other. This technology came later for us; I got the internet while I was in college. The generations now have no chance. They’ll never know a world without an iPhone. My kids are so completely addicted to technology that they struggle in school. I struggle to help them because of my own difficulty with it. The problem I have is the same as my problems with food in the past. You don’t HAVE to smoke or drink, but you GOTTA eat, so why not enjoy eating something that’s bad for you. Technology is so engrained in our lives that we need it to function. I need it to market my business. Can you imagine sending out physical mailers to companies these days? Right in the bin they go. Being able to showcase my voice abilities on social media has been a vital part of my promotions. Like all things however, we need to make better choices when it comes to technology. I had to have gastric bypass surgery to force me to make better decisions when it comes to food. To some, that’s a drastic step. To them, my 108 pound less of a person says it was what I needed. I couldn’t have done it any other way.

For technology better decisions, I suggest these steps. Put your phone in another room and walk away. How many times have I grabbed for my pocket while writing this, looking for that security blanket? Set time limits for social media. No one needs to be on there screaming at each other that much any way. We have to retrain our brains to get back to a healthy place. For those in the younger generations who don’t know how good life could be without technology, that’s where you need to listen to us old folks. When we say let’s go outside, let’s go. We have only one life. Break that grip of endless screen time and use technology as the tool it was made for.