If you know me, this might sound funny coming from me: I encourage people to get away from screens of all kinds, computer, TV, phone and otherwise, as often as they can.
I actually follow this advice. For instance, the main reason I don’t have an iPad of my own, outside of the expense, is that between my Mac and iPod Touch I can do all I need to when it comes to electronic stuff, work or play.
My play, thankfully, takes me away from screens frequently. As I write this, my body’s recovering from playing hockey this morning.
My new Fitbit activity tracker tells me I’ve managed 10,000 steps on both days I’ve used it. I do that by walking to get groceries, do errands and, yes, set up the “office” in a coffee shop to get a change of scenery. (yeah, I know, using a Fitbit means I need to check a screen…)
Confession: last night, I was about 80 steps short of 10,000, so I walked around my small condo doing last-minute chores before going to bed. No screen involved until the end.
I wanted to share this small insight thanks to an article titled Surge in ‘digital dementia’ published by the Telegraph. It’s about how years of electronic device usage seems to hasten the arrival of dementia. Read the article. It will probably give you pause for thought. That’s what it did for me.
Once you finish the article, look outside your window. If it’s nice outside, go enjoy the outdoors. If it isn’t, read a book. Want to contact a friend? Visit, or pick up the phone, instead of hanging out on Facebook.
Whatever you do, take some time away from your screens every day. One day, your brain may thank you.