My Name’s Sarah and I’m a Technology Addict

Hello everyone! I hope you’ve been having a great day so far. Mine got off to a fabulous start with a gorgeous berry smoothie. I still don’t have any spinach (I don’t know how I’m surviving quite frankly), so this isn’t a green monster.

In the blender went:

• 1 banana
• cup frozen summer fruits
• cup oat milk
• tablespoon milled flaxseed
• 2 tablespoons pea protein isolate

I topped with some peanut flour sauce (peanut flour, water and honey) and a tablespoon of muesli. I made the sauce a little bit thin, but it tasted lovely – I just need to reduce the amount of water I use next time.

I’m only just getting into smoothies really, but I’m starting to see the benefits. They are so quick to make and the flavour possibilities are endless! They also make a brilliant start to the day – I felt light and energised. I was definitely ready for a snack 3 hours later, which was fine, but I would perhaps add some oats or more cereal into the mix if I wanted it to keep me going for a bit longer.

Today I want to discuss something that I think most bloggers will suffer from – an addiction to technology.

I’ve never been much of a techie. In fact Peter gasped in amazement that I was even able to set up my blog, post everyday and manage it without too many hitches (WordPress is mostly very easy to use, so it’s not such a miracle).

I declared that I was never going to get a smartphone because all I did with my phone was make calls and send text messages. Oh, and I definitely couldn’t see the point of Twitter – recording the minutiae of my life in 140 characters? No thanks! I did have Facebook because I was at uni in 2004 when it first came out and it was a great way to stalk random boys acquaintances.

I’ve changed my tune now though. Ever since I started my blog at the beginning of the year, I’ve been sucked in and I’m now the proud owner of a technology addiction. It all started when I discovered Google Reader – fantastic, but so annoying at the same time. I very quickly got obsessed with reading every post that popped up in my reader and if I don’t read them for a day I end up with over 100 unread items. Every day I discover new blogs, which all provide a fantastic contribution to the community, but it’s getting more and more difficult to read them all.

Then I changed my mind about smartphones – I could read posts on the go on the Google Reader app! Once I had a smartphone I thought that I may as well get Twitter. I’m thinking about quitting my job just so I can read through all the posts I follow and fully participate in Twitter.

Of course I am joking, but I think I need to learn to put my phone away every now and then, turn my laptop off and live life. My phone in particular is intruding a little bit too much, to the point that I wake up the middle of the night and start trawling through Google Reader and I can’t stop scrolling through my Twitter feed at work. I really think it’s time to stop these bad habits, so I pledge to:

1. Put my phone away from my bed at night, so that I’m not tempted if I wake up.

2. Only look at my phone during breaks at work.

3. Put my laptop away at least an hour before bedtime.

Do you think that you’re addicted to technology?

What strategies do you have for switching off from the on-line world?

Oh yes – and follow me on Twitter if you don’t already @picnicsarah