By Erick Let’s face it – we are advanced but we are not healthy in the world of tech. And ever so often we need to remind ourselves of the most basic things we need to stop doing to be healthy – both physically and mentally.
These are habits I had to learn the hard way so you don’t have to. I mean, you have to quit them before they bring you down.
1. Phones Immediately Before or After Sleep
Keep your phone away – avoid any screen time atleast 30 minutes before bed. It’s not just the blue light, it’s the need to be disconnected before bed so your mind can rest. Free of all stimulus before bed. Get a good night’s sleep, which is one of the most important things you can do for your health.
Avoid screen time 30 minutes after waking up. To give your mind the time to wake up on its own, mindfully, and not react to any notification or post. You must not start your day reactively.
2. Checking All Notifications
If you have to keep notifications enabled for an app, it should be very important. Like, if your mom messages. Then also it will be useful if she calls on another app and not WhatsApp – so you can disable WhatsApp notifications.
Disable notifications for all apps. Disable. Grouped notifications are still notifications. That email can wait to be checked, messages can wait to be read. As far as possible, natively in the app reduce the number of notifications (for example if you use LinkedIn, you can “see less of” specific notifications that are shown on the app.
iOS users can “add to schedule summary”.
3. Upgrading Your Phone Every Year
Your phone will last 3 years unless you smash it.
It just will. If it stops working in a year despite careful use, you are within the warranty period and get your defective phone replaced. If it lasts most than a year, it will last atleast three years. This I’m calling Techinform’s Law.
Aside from the obvious financial benefits, holding on to your phone a little longer reduces e-waste.
Most phone brands also have a program to replace the phone’s battery itself if the battery is wearing off very quickly.
4. Use AI for Every Damn Thing
How many times a day do you use Gemini? Be honest.
I used Gemini to generate the image of this post. I’m okay with that, but not with AI writing my posts. I’ll admit once (when ChatGPT was new) I used AI to write for me, and felt awful after a while. Now I write myself because I want to own my art and hone my craft in a way that stays with me.
When I need information, my default is still Google Search. Not because I’m old-ish, but because it’s more difficult to verify information in AI mode.
And never, never every use AI to generate or edit videos.
5. Sharing Your Password
The only password you should be allowed to share is your Netflix password – although with Netflix’ crackdown on password sharing this might no longer be possible.
You can’t use biometrics for everything, so passwords are still in vogue. And never share your password, for anything, with anyone. Not even your partner.