Sure, our devices are great. They offer more options for information, communication, and entertainment than ever before in history. And that’s part of the problem: too many options. Studies show that too many options on anything result in stress. Here’s a simple example: You are having dinner at a friend’s house and are offered pie with or without whipped cream for dessert. Pretty easy to decide compared to being on a cruise ship and being offered one hundred desserts from which to choose. The more from which you have to choose the more your mind requires evaluation, comparison, judgment, and decision making. That’s stressful. You get the idea. Options are distractions and take you away from yourself. Too many options are like a drug. They seduce you with the promise of a better life. In reality they simply pull you away from any connection with your inner life and your true self. Without realizing it you become starved for that essential connection with yourself and that starvation pulls you deeper into the addiction with your devices.
Stay tuned to this series on device addiction. I promise you there is a light at the end of the tunnel: having devices and using them and still connecting with your essential self.