091: Tech Addiction and Detox

How many hours do you spend on your phone per day? Did you know that our screens are actually changing the way our brains work, including our attention spans, our expectations and most of all, our capacity to feel happiness?

One of the biggest factors in happiness is having a sense of meaning or purpose and in making progress toward that. But thanks to technology, for the first time in history, we’re consuming more than we’re creating.

This isn’t an accidental byproduct of technology… we’re actually being manipulated by companies who have their own bottom line in mind over the health of our planet.

Here are a few stark facts:

• 10 years ago the average attention span was 3 minutes. Now it’s 45 seconds.
• Multitasking results in a 40% loss of productivity
• Experts recommend spending 25 mins to 2 hours working on a project at a time. If you’re spending less then you’re killing your concentration
• It generally takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to return to work following a distraction

Our guest today is the perfect person to speak on this topic. Brian Solis is a tech data analyst who has studied the effects of emerging technology. When he started to realize the profound effects this technology was having on his own brain, he knew he had to do something to stop it.