The Rise of Digital-Zombilisation: What You Need to Know?

The Hidden Costs of Our Digital Addictions

How many of you can relate to this ?…

Image by Freepik

or this?

Image 1 and Image 2 by Freepik

or these?

Image1 , Image2, Image3 by Freepik

If you could relate to any one of the above images, you probably fall into the category of the digital zombies of this era. Yes, ZOMBIES!!!

Why Zombies??

Just like a zombie is an imaginary creature supposed to be walking mindlessly under the influence of a magic spell, that’s how we digital zombies nowadays walk aimlessly unaware of the surroundings under the influence of this eerie device- “Mobile phone”

Image created by Bing DALL-E

Morning…Noon…Night….Day in…Day out..every moment this device keeps us under its influence. The moment we wake up, we involuntarily look out for our phones. Gatherings..outings…dinners..meetings….this device always wins to keep us glued to itself. A little scroll, a quick game, just a little browsing…that’s where it starts to hours of tossing over apps.

But how is this evil device affecting our lives?

Do you find it difficult to remember birthdays nowadays? Remembering a phone number seems like a task. Staying overloaded with thoughts and a never-ending to-do list is normal? Do we fail to empathize with someone next to us and rather choose to be ignorant? Do we behave like human bots??…. All this has been gifted to us by the excessive use of our digital gadgets which is altering our brain wiring. Let’s see how:

Image by upklyak on Freepik

1. Overloading Brain: Information!! Information!! Information!! This device is loading us with information 24x7, 365 days, filling our brains with all the not-so-required data. We switch on the data of our mobile phones and within 50 seconds: Beep!!… News, Beep!!…Offers…70% off, Beep!!…Group messages, Beep!! Beep!! Beep!! Very little useful info is lost within the big bag of useless data confusing our mind and body to feel busy all the time
2. Causing Mental Laziness: Now what would be a better world than this? For any questions we GOOGLE, without giving our left brains a jerk to recollect from its reservoirs, for phone numbers, or any reminders we have our devices at service. Such easy lives..!! but what’s the cost of such lives? We all know any new data fed into our mind or a new activity we learn, creates a pattern in our brain which makes it stronger and smarter but these devices are starving our minds of its fuel and depleting these patterns.
3. Damaging sound sleep: Using a smartphone or tablet at bedtime interferes with our sleep. Melatonin is a hormone that the body produces to signal “its time to sleep”.But the blue light from our devices’ screens leads to a reduction in melatonin levels which confuses the brain to stay wide awake and thereby reduces sleepiness ultimately throwing our sleep-wake cycle into a whack.
4. Killing real relationships: Nowadays people have 1000 Facebook friends, and 500 Instagram followers but no real friend to talk to in times of need and no one to follow in times of despair.No one is ever alone but still so alone. That’s social media!!

Now enough said about the problem, what’s the solution?

Try “BFF” :

LEVEL 1:Break the Patterns

• “This meeting is useless..where’s my phone?”
• “Ohh!.. I am getting bored. Let me check social media”
• “What a monotonous party..###” Need my phone
• “I don’t like these people…let me chat with someone on the phone”
• “#?#? don’t know #?# feeling what. I need my phone”

These are patterns that have become regular cues for our brains to reach out to our phones and scroll through aimlessly. We need to break free of these patterns and train ourselves not to get carried away with our phones but rather connect with the living beings around us.

LEVEL 2:Fasting..Digital Fasting

• “I won’t use my phone for 2 hours before sleeping”
• “Won’t touch my phone after going from office.Will rather spend time with family”
• “Let me go for a digital detox this weekend”
• “I would not check my phone during meals..”
• “Let me do something creative” Turn off your phone for that time

Just like we relax our digestive system by food fasting, we need to relax our brains with phone fasting. So just turn on the airplane mode, switch it off for some time, or do whichever rule seems doable to you and sit without mobile phones for some time in a day to re-calibrate your brain.

LEVEL 3:Find a home for your mobile phone

• “That 3rd inner pocket in your bag”???
• “That corner shelf”???
• “The side wagon’s first drawer”??

Anything that is at least 10 feet away from your bed. Give your mobile phones a home and make sure you drop them safely there before sleeping on general mode with the internet off so that you know if an important call pops up.[Some excuses may come up here that I need my phone beside me in the morning as I wake up with its alarm.”Go buy a traditional alarm clock. It would be a style these days” ]

Try the above mantras. Whichever level you already are at, try rising above that. If these don’t work for you make your own for your mind’s health.

Make rules for your digital devices and don’t let these smart devices take over your smartness. Let’s be the flag hoister of an anti-digital-zombilization moment!!

It’s time to detox & reconnect with your inner selves. Image by the author.

I hope this page could add some spark to your day 🙂 🙂

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