As amazing as Amazon and Netflix are, and trust me, I definitely think so, based on how much I binge watch on Netflix and stress shop on Amazon.
These two companies have also played into and helped to create a society of people that have constant access to everything at their fingertips and with the press of a few computer keys.
I think these websites and dating apps such as Tinder have all worked together to give people so many options available all the time that now we have become a society of impatient, nervous people with short-attention spans.
It’s even hard for me to write this article without stopping every five to 10 minutes to check my phone and mindlessly scroll through Instagram or check people’s Snapchat stories.
It’s hard having literally any entertainment or material item so easily available to us.
How do we not let that influence how we view the world? We’ve grown used to the feeling of having everything we want as soon as we want it.
But there are ways to indulge in all that technology has to offer us today – in moderation.
These are a few tips to help you remember to stay grounded and to take your time and be patient.
Shopping in person limits you
It’s convenient to go on Amazon and shop for everything and anything you might need, or not need, from the comfort of your own home.
However, it is also much harder to restrain yourself from spending if you are solely shopping online.
When you have to get up and go to the mall, you begin to realize more clearly how much time you physically spend shopping.
It’s a chance to step back and realize you may be going overboard on the amount of time spent spending.
Also, it’s very hard and unrealistic that you go to the mall and find everything you were looking for.
But when shopping online, there are so many options.
If one website doesn’t have the outfit or book you were looking for, it’s very easy to go to another website and find whatever it is you were on the hunt for.
This ability to easily buy whatever you want online plays into this attitude that we want everything done and given to us so quickly.
Limit screen time
I’ll admit that I have a problem. A binge-watching problem.
I will literally spend hours and hours on my laptop avoiding my work and responsibilities to binge whatever new season of a show has just come out on Netflix.
After watching movie after movie and show after show, I’ve realized that not only was I being unproductive but I was also getting headaches that affected my sleep schedule I’m not saying that watching television is evil or terrible for you, but when it is done so frequently and without a break, it doesn’t have the most positive effects on a person.
When we limit our screen time to a few hours on the weekends or for a bit every other night, it is easier to see it as a treat or a time to actually unwind and relax instead of a time to just stare at a screen mindlessly.
Also utilizing the screen time notification on your phone allows you to have an actual number to connect with how many hours you are spending on your phones and on what specific apps.
Once we have an actual number connected to how much time we are spending on our phones, it is easier to create goals and to figure out how much we want to cut down our screen time.
Get out from behind that screen
It’s easy to hide behind your screens and to become more aggressive and impatient versions of ourselves.
A lot of the time the things that people say and post on social media do not accurately reflect who they are or how their lives are going.
It is easy to make a move on a dating app, demand things from companies and complain about restaurants rather than being upfront and patient in real life.
I think that it is important to only say something online that one would not be scared or embarrassed to say to another person in real life.
Technology and the internet has made it incredibly easy to disconnect from our patience, humanity and empathy – but that doesn’t have to be the case.
By giving people grace and trying to understand things from their perspective we allow kindness and understanding to seep its way into a forum that is not usually filled with such things.
When we put our phones down and try to make meaningful connections in real life, I think that we are reminded that other people have their own stuff going on in their lives and we all deserve to get and have a little more patience to one another.
Technology has made it so easy for us to be impatient and expect everything we want immediately.
But there are many easy ways to unplug and to not rely on technology as much.
Technology does not have to control our expectations and treatment of people and the world around us.
When we spend our time behind screens and not out in the real world, we continue to enable ourselves to rely more and more on technology and we become lazier and demanding.
Amazon, Netflix and other companies have used technology to bring us entertainment, shopping and more right into our homes, which is great. But we shouldn’t forget to look up past our screens and take in the world all around us.