Drowning In The Noise

So you're trying to update your Facebook status while managing your Blogger account but you've just got to reply to your fans on your MySpace page and there are so many messages you want to read by the 865 people you're following on Twitter! Stop. Take a breath. You're losing control. Before you resume your hyperventilating, you can regain control of your life. It's simply about taking a step back.

Bhamini Rugnathji, a Cape Town-based psychologist, believes it is important to acknowledge the world we're living in before we let it take control of our daily lives. 'We live in a digital world. Access to information is so much easier and acceptable now than ever before, and by the looks of things, it's set to evolve even further.'

TECHNO TROUBLE
What is most important, says Rugnathji, is being able to recognise the reason you are feeling so overloaded, overwhelmed and out of control. Not only are you accessing reams of information from the Internet; with the invention of social networking, you are also putting yourself out there where others can have constant access to your digital life. If you can admit, says Rugnathji, that the reason you're feeling like you're on a never-ending rollercoaster is because of your constant access or addiction to the digital realm, then you're on your way to taking that much-needed step back to reality.

Updating your Facebook status every 10 minutes and tweeting what you just ate for lunch, in between your regular web browsing, is enough to leave you feeling detached from your regular life. Sitting for hours dawdling in front of your computer often interferes with your daily functioning, and can easily create an unbalanced lifestyle where you choose technology over real-life interaction, says Johannesburg psychologist, Dr Tanya Robinson.

It's all too often you see a couple out for romantic meal and one of them is on their Blackberry quickly checking an e-mail or updating their Facebook status, says Robinson. 'This is devastating to social interaction,' she explains, and warning bells should go off if you're this addicted to your favourite websites.

COMING UP FOR AIR
'The key here is balance,' says Rugnathji. If you feel you are being sucked in by technology and its infinite information and feel this is negatively affecting your wellbeing, re-balance your life by setting boundaries, she advises. 'Make meaningful choices that are going to get your life feeling more balanced and healthy.'

Make changes to your daily habits. If you check Facebook more than 15 times a day, make a conscious decision to log on only five times a day. You don't need to completely change your routine, but adjust a few things so you feel less overwhelmed and out of control, says Rugnathji. 'Slow things down to a pace that suits you and try to keep yourself in mind.'

Allow for specific times when you can browse websites, check e-mails or visit Facebook, says Robinson. Be disciplined when it comes to technological interaction, she says, as it can easily lead to problems in other areas of your life. 'If you see you are not able to control yourself, don't go there,' says Robinson. 'Rather keep yourself busy with something more constructive.'

Rugnathji agrees. If letting go of technology is initially difficult, speak to friends, family or anyone you feel comfortable talking to about how you feel. 'Sometimes bouncing ideas off others clarifies things in your own mind.'

Author: Lindi Brownell