Let this sink in; the average person spends an average 8 hours and 41 minutes a day on electronics. This is more time than the recommended amount of sleep! Unfortunately, this is affecting our health more than we think it is between our sleeping habits all the way to social habits.
There have been studies done that people keep their phones on when they are sleeping and that their phones wake them up when they are sleeping and they proceed to check the notifications (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2989952/... ) This sets us up to not get a restful night's sleep because our brain will not shut off and keep expecting your phone to go off. I know most people use their phones as an alarm clock, I know I do, but there are two simple solutions. The first option is you could actually buy an alarm clock and turn off your phone at night. The second option is you can still use your phone as an alarm clock but turn it on airplane mode, or if you have an iPhone, turn it on nighttime mode so you still get the notifications, your phone just won't make a noise or vibrate.
Another way that electronics, in general, are intruding on our sleep patterns is that most people bring them to bed and still use them in our bed until we fall asleep, and I used to be guilty of this one. This is a bad habit to get into because it is sending signals to our brain that you aren't going to sleep yet and it can make it difficult to fall asleep in bed. In addition to this, when you do just try and go to bed right away, your body will not be tired because it is still expecting that time on your electronic device. A solution to this is not bringing any devices to bed with you. Instead, you can spend that time winding down on another piece of furniture such as your couch and then when you get tired, go to bed. This will make it much easier on your body to fall asleep in your bed when you want. You can also leave your devices on the other side of the room and if you use them as an alarm clock, it will force you to get out of bed in the morning and start your day in a timely fashion, and it will not make you feel rushed in the morning if you do so.
Another way electronics are consuming our lives is in a social way. I know when I go out anywhere whether it be a restaurant, many people are on their phones, small children are on their tablets and no one is communicating with each other. This honestly really bugs me because when you're out with your family or friends, you should be spending time with who you are with. As a result of this, most people do not know how to have a proper conversation with anyone and it can result in awkward staring and not having a clue on what to talk about. An extremely simple fix to this is just put down the electronics and focus on building relationships with others. I promise you that whoever you're talking to will still be there when you're done with whatever you're doing and that game you're playing will still be in existence.
So go out there in the real world and try to cut down as much as possible on the use of your electronics. I am sure those strange people you live with and everyone you see will thank you. Go and have an actual face to face conversation, pet a puppy, go on a nice walk outside in the REAL outdoors and enjoy the sounds and sights. And enjoy this quote from Albert Einstein:
"I fear for the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots."
-Albert Einstein