Our Turn
Phil and Jeffry both break it down between weekdays and weekends. Phil is probably connected the least of any of us. Approximately six to eight hours of his day are spent connected? while on the weekends? he tries to be “less digital and more analogue.” For Jeffry, it depends on whether listening to music is considered being connected. If it is, then he’s always connected. If it’s not, then he’s connected about half of his days. But for the rest of us, we’re always connected and always “on.” Damien says he is always connected to his phone and tablet unless he’s sleeping, yet he only turns his computer on in the daytime. That matches with Christopher as well as he says, “I wake up connected; I go to sleep connected.” Charnita reports that she, too, is connected whenever she’s awake, noting, “just 10 years ago, I never thought I’d be so dependent on them.” She keeps connected through her smartphone, tablet, Xbox One for media streaming, and SmartTV.
Derrik explains that he has his 5X in pocket at all times to respond to anything, but most of the day, he’s at his desk with his computers. Judy says the only time she’s not connected is when the battery on one device is dead and she has to wait for the other device to turn on. She jokes that those are the “worst moments of my life.” Trevor is right there as well, responding, “Sadly, all the time.” And I’m now even connected while I’m sleeping. I am literally on my iPad from the time I am out of the shower until the time I go to bed, and my phone is right there for those few times I’m not on my iPad. Then when I’m laying in bed at night, I check social media and email one last time, play any open games on Words with Friends, and check the weather for the next day. I do the same thing in the morning the minute I wake up, while I’m still laying there. And now I also am connected at night. I started using a sleep app that measures my sleeping patterns, so my phone lays right next to me in bed measuring my sleep.
Your Turn
But we’re all tech people – we not only write it, we also live it – so it stands to reason that we’d be so connected at all times. But what about you? Are you connected at all times like many of us? Or do you try to block out times to not be connected like Phil and Jeffry? How much of your day are you connected to your electronic devices? Chime in in the comments section below. Image Credit: Duncan Harris via Wikimedia Commons
