Digital Overload: A SAD Way to Live

What a SAD way to live: letting the digital overload of Screens, Algorithms, and Devices take over so much of our lives. If you spend an average of just two hours a day on your device—a conservative estimate for most—you will have given up a staggering 10 years of your waking life to screens by the time you reach age 80. Many people spend double that. That’s 20 years.

Yes, our devices are amazing, but are they worth giving up so much of our time on the planet?

Clearly, there are tradeoffs. Technology is great because you can text your spouse about the grocery list, connect with friends, and buy things at the click of a button. But what about binge-watching, doom-scrolling, validation seeking, comparison scrolling, Pavlovian notification checking, clickbait chasing, impulse buying, and rabbit-hole falling? How much time have you spent on those?

Some days, we just need to turn the quiet up. -Dr. SunWolf, Professor, Santa Clara University

And how dependent are you on your phone? These days, there’s even a term for it: “nomophobia” (when you fear being detached from mobile phone connectivity, i.e., “NO MObile PHone PhoBIA”).

Think about how you feel when you’ve been on your device for a while. Frazzled. Dull. Lifeless. Mopey. Exhausted. In a nutshell, probably worse.

The Value of Screens and Devices

You can of course derive great value from technology and devices. You might use educational apps to learn a new language. Take online courses to advance your career. Attend virtual meetings to save time. Use video calls to stay close with distant relatives. Use health apps to track wellness goals. All good.

But there are also many risks and downsides to using screens and devices so often.

The Downsides of Digital Overload with Screens and Devices

Mounting research connects heavy screen use with a host of potential harmful consequences, including:

addiction
increased anxiety and depression
reduced attention spans
reduced cognitive function
eye strain
trouble maintaining focus
exposure to disturbing or harmful content
reduced time outdoors
sedentary behavior
sleep disruption
social isolation

What About Algorithms?

As with screens and devices, so it goes with algorithms. An algorithm is essentially a set of invisible instructions that tells a computer what to do or show you next, based on your behavior (clicks, view time, etc.). When YouTube cues up a string of related videos after you watch one, that’s the algorithm at work.

The algorithm isn’t designed to serve your best interests. It’s designed to keep your eyes on the screen, because more time on the platform means more advertising revenue for them. In other words, they’re selling your attention to advertisers. They’re monitoring and monetizing you.

Imagine walking into a control room with a bunch of people hunched over a desk with little dials, and that that control room will shape the thoughts and feelings of a billion people. This might sound like science fiction, but this actually exists right now, today…. Right now it’s as if all of our technology is basically only asking our lizard brain what’s the best way to impulsively get you to do the next tiniest thing with your time, instead of asking: in your life, what would be time well spent for you? -Tristan Harris, Executive Director, Center for Humane Technology

The Benefits of Algorithms

Of course, there are many benefits that can come from algorithms. For example, you can use them to do (or help with) many things, including:

solving crimes
analyzing huge data sets (e.g., monitoring power grids for failures, detecting early signs of cancer in medical imaging)
automating boring or repetitive tasks
identifying students at risk of dropping out of school
developing vaccines

The possibilities are remarkable. But there are also dangers that are easy to miss.

The Insidious Effects of Algorithms on Our Lives

In his book, Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity, English writer Paul Kingsnorth notes that even the words we use to describe the tech we use every day (e.g., the web, the net) are revealing: “These are things designed to trap prey.” They trap us with the promise of dopamine hits from likes and the hope of finding that super-cute cat video.

Author Cathy O’Neil calls a certain class of algorithms weapons of math destruction:

The math-powered applications powering the data economy were based on choices made by fallible human beings. Some of these choices were no doubt made with the best intentions. Nevertheless, many of these models encoded human prejudice, misunderstanding, and bias into the software systems that increasingly managed our lives. Like gods, these mathematical models were opaque, their workings invisible to all but the highest priests in their domain: mathematicians and computer scientists…. I came up with a name for these harmful kinds of models: Weapons of Math Destruction. -Cathy O’Neil, Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy

Here are some ways that algorithms can be harmful:

amplification of bias and discrimination (e.g., in criminal sentencing, hiring/screening job candidates, housing/renting, insurance rates, loan applications, university admissions)
manipulation of consumers and voters (e.g., giving people only information that supports their preferences or preconceptions, or taking people down “rabbit holes” with conspiracy theories)
spreading of misinformation and false narratives
intensification of polarization
erosion of privacy
distortion of your self-image (e.g., body shape).

Another issue with algorithms is that they’re often mysterious. Sometimes even their programmers don’t fully understand them.

Though they’re very effective at many things, algorithms often miss the nuances associated with complex endeavors, leading to unforeseen consequences. Consider when they’re involved with decisions about teaching students or caring for sick patients.

What’s more, the errors associated with (or caused by) algorithms are often magnified due to the scale that technology facilitates. According to journalist and author Hilke Schellmann, “One biased human hiring manager can harm a lot of people in a year, and that’s not great. But an algorithm that is maybe used in all incoming applications at a large company… that could harm hundreds of thousands of applicants.”

What to Do About Digital Overload

What does this mean for you? How can you derive the benefits of technology without succumbing to digital overload? Here are five things you can do to reduce the damage caused by excessive use of screens, algorithms, and devices:

1. Set boundaries around your device use

Example: no screens for the first and last hour of each day. This would give you time to ease into your morning with coffee and a book instead of emails, and wind down at night without the blue light and mental stimulation that can interfere with sleep. Also, track your average daily device time and take action when it’s ballooning.

2. Create screen-free zones in your home

Example: keep devices out of the bedroom so it remains a space for rest and connection. Establish a no-phones-at-the-table rule so meals become a time for talking instead of scrolling.

3. Calendarize offline activities

If screen time is preventing you from engaging in hobbies, reading, exercising, cooking, meditating, or spending time outdoors, develop a system to help turn the tide. Example: block out an evening each week for your hobby. Take a short walk after lunch every day. Set aside Saturday mornings for reading with your coffee.

There are two keys to this approach. The first is to develop habits and routines that make it easier to do things you enjoy instead of defaulting to passive digital consumption. The second is to get outside much more. Journalist and author Richard Louv laments what he calls nature deficit-disorder, which he defines as “a diminished ability to find meaning in the life that surrounds us.” He explains that it’s not a medical diagnosis; rather, it’s a simple way to describe the growing gap between us and nature.

There’s no WiFi in the forest, but you’ll find a better connection. -author unknown

4. Turn off notifications

Frequent pings and buzzes fragment your attention and create unnecessary urgency around trivial things. Action: disable all notifications except calls and texts from your favorites list, so you’re not interrupted by every new email or social media like while you’re working on a project or having dinner with friends. (And just because you see a notification doesn’t mean you need to address it now.)

5. Create a digital detox routine

Example: designate every Sunday as a screen-free day to recharge and reconnect with loved ones and the natural world.

Conclusion: Defeating Digital Overload

Sometimes our use of technology masks deeper issues. Are you using tech to avoid problems at home or to numb your pain? Do you resort to screens and devices instead of developing a rich inner life?

It’s now painfully clear that even though we’re deriving great value from these products, we’re also paying dearly for them in terms of our precious time, wellbeing, and sanity.

How about you? Is it time to take your life back from the SAD three (Screens, Algorithms, Devices) so you can spend more time living, breathing, connecting, serving, loving, and thriving? I suspect you know the answer. The key is keeping your focus on what really matters—and counting the cost of trading it away for the digital abyss.

Here’s to living well and deploying our devices to serve our own needs and not vice versa. –Gregg

This article was originally published on Gregg Vanourek's LinkedIn.

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