Today is supposed to be a book review of chapters 5 and 6 of Daring Greatly. I haven't even read them (well, I read them a few months ago, but not this week). So, that is postponed. I'm in the fantastic IWP again today, and we're getting so much out of it, but it's really leaving me little energy to do new stuff, too.
Today, I wanted to begin to share about my inquiry work that I'm doing through IWP. I'm interested in achieving balance.
In all areas of my life, I want balance:
- Watching my caloric intake and also enjoying life and celebrations through the meals I share with others.
- Being a couch potato and getting the exercise that is so important for my mental and physical health.
- Balancing negative thoughts going on in my mind and turning it around to see positives.
- Stopping writing on my blog so I can go do some reading. (I'd choose this blog over virtually everything!)
- Doing the just right amount at work as to not burn myself out, and balancing that with the just right social calendar.
- Spending quiet time being an introvert and also getting out there to be with my family and friends, too.
- Using technology just enough so that I can document and share the important moments of my life but also being mindful of just living those small moments.
In this last category, I find myself off balance all the time. I'm always wired in. I'm always looking at a host of SM outlets: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bloglovin' and more, including Periscope, which I don't even know how that one works. I'm asking google stuff all the time (which has been done so much, it's now an acronym among my family and boyfriend - GTS - Google that *hit). I'm looking up music and videos and watching netflix and reading my friends' blogs and emailing and.....it's never ending.
I'm a digital immigrant, a 30-something, Master's level educated adult and I have problems with balance in this area, which gets me thinking about how we teach our kids and students about balance in this tech-savvy world.
When I began thinking about this, I ended up on this page, the American Academy of Pediatrics, who recommends kids under 2 have no screen time, and that children and teens have no more than 1 to 2 hours of screen time. They say bedrooms should be screen-free and that the TV should be turned off when families sit down to eat.
I know all this, and I find myself breaking these rules all the time.
So what I want to know - what are the consequences of too much screen time? How can we help ourselves achieve balance and how can we teach that to our children and students? What's the just right amount of technology in classrooms?
I've been collecting some research, but need more time with it. It's a work in progress, but one that is important to me as I think about my health and well-being, and that of the people I work for, my students.
Care to weigh in? Leave me a comment below!
Michelle...what an awesome post...I agree with you that I am too trying to achieve balance in my life as well. I have a little girl who needs my attention. I have a house that needs my attention. I have laundry that needs my attention....and oh yea, a husband who needs my attention as well. So, I am trying to say that as soon as I walk into the house, no screen time. So, making dinner as a family, talking at the dinner table, reading books, playing matching games....no screen time. (unless it is a recipe I need to look up :) The screen turns on for professional and person use. :) But, I still need to remind myself that I need to allow more time with my husband so we can grow as a couple as well.
ReplyDeleteAs far as kids with screen time, Emma's ped. just told me that we should be limiting screen time to 2 hours a day for a 2 year old...so I am assuming it might go up a little bit as kids grow up, but I agree with you...one to one devices require kids to be hooked onto those screens sooooooo much, and honestly I am unsure if that is a plus or a minus. :/
It is an interesting topic, and I can only imagine there will be more research as the years go on.....
First of all, girl, give yourself some grace. From what I can tell, you are a go, go, go type of girl. So breathe and do something edifying..... read, or Netfilx (without floating through all your other options), or something else that is good for you.
ReplyDeleteOkay, in response to the consequences of screen time, what I see the most in my life is the feeling of disconnect and that disengagement that is talked about so much in the Daring Greatly book. I see myself being lonely for children who are in the same general area as me and sometimes in the same room and instead of CONNECTING with them, I put them off once more so I can finish a blog, or check an email or post on facebook.
It's a wise person who wants to bring more balance into their life. An idea (that I plan to try to implement, too...): On waking in the morning, choose one thing to do today that will move you closer to balance in your life. Consider the area of greatest need / importance. Possibilities: Read a book for ten minutes, call your sister, walk around the block, take a hot bath just before bedtime. When you've made a choice, check in with your heart and solar plexus - are they calm, peaceful? If so, you know you're on the right track. What do you think?
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