Moderating Work, Technology, and Family... is it possible?

Pic taken from HERE

In an earlier post, Shelle and I discussed the merits and demerits of technology.  Both of us are unabashed tech heads—I mean, we do spend our time blogging obviously—and in the comments that followed the post, Shelle wondered if there was any way to moderate technology, work and family together successfully giving time to each equally.  She didn't think it was possible and dared me to write about it.  Never one to back down from a challenge (unless it involves cilantro or glitter) I accepted.

The biggest problem of the modern age isn’t too much technology, it’s that we have too many choices.  Things used to be simpler when there were five, maybe six TV channels, video games didn't require 20+ hours to finish, and there was no internet with its limitless amounts of time wasting potential.  Obviously things have changed quite a bit.  There are hundreds of choices and countless ways to fill one's hours.  TV, movies, Facebook, Twitter, blogging, Farmville, YouTube....  Oh yeah, not to mention quality time with the family, oh, and there's that thing that I need to do in order to pay for it all—work.  As far as I know, they haven't figured out a way to add more hours to the day.  So Shelle is right to be skeptical that one can't juggle it all. 

But I believe that you can. 

When my son was born, I very quickly learned a valuable, yet obvious lesson:  time is precious.  And I felt like I suddenly had much less of it.  But technology was there for me, to comfort me and help me through this trying time.  The fact that the world was becoming more “on-demand” became an advantage.  The playlist on my DVR was not just a to-do list of the media I wanted to consume, but it showed me which shows I really wanted to watch.  I found that there were shows I truly loved that I would watch right away.  The rest would settle to the bottom of the "Now playing" list and collect dust.  As my hard drive filled up, I began to realize that I didn't really need or want to be watching was much TV as I had been previously.  I became a pickier viewer.  Not only did I enjoy TV more, but I had a bit more time.

Being a consumer of media today means one must decide what to consume.  I love movies, but I'm not going to waste three hours on something that I know I'm not going to enjoy (which is why I’m confident that I won’t be seeing the next Transformers movie.  I'm sure you'll tell me all about it, Shelle.).  I’m lucky to have a lot of friends on Facebook and Twitter, but I’ve gotten over feeling bad about not reading every single status update or tweet.  This also gives the added bonus of being able to have a real life conversation with my friends without having to constantly say, “Oh yeah, I read about that.”  I can’t read every single blog post available, so I must pick and choose.

It’s not only about choice, but it’s also about compartmentalizing one's life.  There are pockets of time where I will escape to my study to check Facebook.  Or I will blog late at night when everyone's asleep.  I will sneak my Blackberry out of my pocket to check Twitter while the kids are playing in the sandbox.  But you better believe that when they need a push on the swings, the phone's back in my pocket and off my mind.

Living with so many tech choices is about moderation.  It's about organization.  It's about choosing the things you want to entertain you and knowing that in this world that we're living in, there's no possible way anyone can access it all--even without work or family.  It's also about ebb and flow.  Some days I'm not on the computer as much.  Some days I watch less than a half hour of TV.  Sometimes my wife and I decide that we'd rather spend the evening in front of our computers than hanging out.  But other nights we'll spend all night talking to each other.

So I don’t agree with Shelle that it can’t be done.  I feel like I do it every day.

 Daddy Geek Boy