A Healthier Relationship with your Technology

In this day and age, we need to always be connected. We need to answer our emails, immediately update Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to increase likes, followers, tweets etc. At least this is how it can feel. What is more, we can quickly get sucked into a world of cat videos and photos of people’s food, leaving little time for getting out into nature, or see friends. 

We don’t like it, but we know this cycle all too well. Both of us are self employed so we rely on the internet and our phones to run our businesses. Irene works in Brighton as a web designer and she starts her days by listening to a podcast on her phone while eating breakfast, then sitting down to a day at the computer, and then some evening entertainment on Pinterest and Instagram. But as a result she was getting back pain and RSI in her wrist.

I (Hedvig) am a permaculture teacher who has set up online platforms for students, hold diploma tutorials via Skype and write a blog to share my findings. At some point earlier this year, I was waking up and checking my phone first thing in the morning, last thing at night and most of the time in between.

Why? Because it can be a great way to connect with friends who live in different countries, people from our Permaculture Design Courses and others who inspire us. We can connect with people we have never met, and help them to use permaculture in their lives.

When Irene and I started working together on HIP Permaculture, we wanted to redesign a new culture of how to use our phones to do what needed to be done, to free up time to do other things. So we set about applying permaculture design on how we use tech in our lives.

From this, one of the design aims was to limit our access and reduce temptation, and we found some things worked really well. Here are our tips:

Irene’s Tips

1. Schedule computer free days

I started with computer free Fridays. I would still do work by doing things like brainstorming on paper, making physical models, mapping out work plans or meeting up with others. 

2. Take regular breaks

When I have a full day at the computer, I set a timer to ring every 25 minutes (The Pomodoro Technique). This is a reminder to get up, move around and stretch. 

3. No Facebook / No email

I don’t have a Facebook app on my phone and I don’t check emails either when I’m away from my computer, unless I’m not near a computer for days!

I am more productive when I am online these days and I have less issues with my back. I’ve developed new offline ways to work with clients that are both fun and unusual for a web designer. I’ve had great feedback from clients who have found this less daunting than online stuff.

_{Designing a website offline}

Hedvig’s Tips

1. Switch off your wifi when not using it

I started doing this when I was living by myself. This is particularly helpful as it helped me kick the habit of checking my phone all the time.

2. Switch off notifications on your phone

If you can’t switch off your wifi, you can switch off the distractions. I was constantly distracted by beeps and pings, which interrupted my thinking. Change the settings on Facebook and emails, for example.

3. Check your emails and social media at set times during the day

I try and check twice a day. I check when I have time to actually answer the emails, rather than just keeping up with them. If you need to, add a note to the bottom of your emails saying ‘I only check my emails x times a day and if there is something urgent call me’.

4. Manage social media posts 

For my business social media accounts, I use an app to collect interesting links and then sit down once a week to schedule when I want them to be shared.

The results have been that I am now more efficient and I feel less guilty that I am not answering my emails. I have freed up headspace for other things. I feel like I have gained more time to do things that are really important for my well-being, like going out for regular walks, having time to read in front of the fire and also to meet up with friends. 

Hedvig Murray and Irene Soler are the founders of HIP Permaculture (www.hippermaculture.com) that aims to create useful and beautiful products to inspire people to use permaculture.

Further resources

Project Wild Thing: Getting children back into nature

Letting in the Wild Edges by Glennie Kindred

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