Technology is ruining your life!

Whoa! Wait a minute! Why would you say that when SunRiver IT is a technology company? Actually, we are a customer service company that focuses on supporting the technology for Nashville area businesses.

As you get to know me and my writing, you will learn that I tell a story in my blog posts. Stories are good because like the books we read, we can relate to characters and their stories in our own life.

Just yesterday I was having lunch with my friend Kenny. As we were walking to our trucks to go back to our offices, I mentioned that we should get together this weekend with our wives for dinner. He said that would be great except this weekend they weren’t making any plans. I thought that was a little strange so I asked him why. Ken then told me about how he and his wife take one weekend a month and create what I will refer to as, a technology free weekend. He went on to explain that they don’t use the computer, cell phones, Facebook or even television from Friday evening to Monday morning over this special weekend each month. He said it allows them to reconnect with one another on a more “human” level.

You can only imagine how intrigued I was when I heard this story. On my way back to the office I thought more about it and how I could implement this in my life. I have been in the world of technology for close to 30 years and disconnecting even on vacation has always been tough for me. I decided to try a small experiment last night. For 12 hours from 5pm until 5am the next day I did not use any technology or internet devices. That’s right, no iPhone, iPad, or laptop…no internet or email for 12 hours. Let me tell you the first 3 or 4 hours while I was still awake were pretty challenging, but I did it. I went 13 hours with no technology.

When I woke up at 5:45am, I waited until 6am to check email on my iPhone. To my surprise there were only 3 relevant emails. That’s right out of 59 emails I got, only 3 needed me to respond at some point. Nothing was of an urgent nature. This weekend I am going to start by taking one full day away from technology. If you want to know how it goes, send me an email.

You may be saying, thanks for the story, Stu, but how does this affect me?  We at SunRiver IT support the technology in your business. We also want you to be able to sleep at night and enjoy time with your family. You can’t enjoy that time if you are staring at a 4” – 7” screen on a mobile device all the time. You might miss your child scoring a goal in soccer, getting their first hit in baseball or even worse, them taking their first steps.

Not only can you gain some quality time but you can avoid, or improve, the symptoms of “Text Neck.”  It’s a real thing and is becoming more common due to how often we are looking down at our small screens.  So, put the device down, relax, and take some time with your family and friends. Because at the end of the day, SunRiver IT has your technology covered 24 x 7 x 365. We are here to give you precious time back so you can focus on what is most important to you.

If you want to gain time back and don’t want to be distracted with your business technology, give us a call at 615-646-2121. The entire staff at SunRiver IT is here to help you and your Nashville area business.

Thanks for reading,

Stuart Selbst

sselbst@sunriverit.com