My Ongoing Battle: Achieving Balance in Tech and Life

My Ongoing Battle: Achieving Balance in Tech and Life
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

It's such an exciting time to be alive in this evolutionary stage of technology as it infiltrates every aspect of our lives. But along with the amazing benefits, I find myself in a daily predicament of trying to balance the connected life while living in the present moment, which is very important to me. I've talked about how breath work and yoga have been my go-to tools for finding balance ever since I launched a business and became a mom twenty years ago.

Technology has brought out the multitasking monster in many of us, myself included. It has made doing one thing at a time feel almost stupid. Why just watch tv when you can live tweet? Why just walk down the street and enjoy nature when you can walk and text or scroll your Insta feed? Why focus on writing an article when I can open another window and see who is live streaming? It's important to have awareness about balancing new technology with old school simplicity.

As an entrepreneur who launched a beauty product business in 1993 by utilizing the pre-tech methods of pounding the pavement and making phone calls, I have a unique perspective of both the benefits and challenges that new entrepreneurs face today. Tech has changed the way we build relationships.

Since diving into social media six years ago, I've been on a journey to find my own happy medium at the intersection of technology and a healthy lifestyle. I love social media and deeply appreciate the reach and accessibility of the people who are active and engaging. The ADD part of me also loves the endless links to content that I can weave and bob in and out of quickly.

It's a daily struggle for many to find the balance, but we're ahead of those who don't have balance at all and may not even see an issue with that. I've seen it firsthand in my small business clients. Digital overload leads to sleep deprivation, burn out, disorganization and overall crankiness.

My First Business Experience with Tech

My first taste of technology as an entrepreneur was in the late 1990's when my client, Bed, Bath and Beyond switched from faxing purchase orders to issuing them electronically. This was a big shift in my organized chaos. I had no choice but to enter this new frontier. No more paper pushing and I really enjoyed my piles of paper and stuffed notebooks that were neatly labeled and shelved. It took a little time to get used to the EDI system, but I quickly saw and enjoyed the efficiency. Plus, BBB had a very accessible IT guy who could be reached by phone. Seriously, he would answer a call. It was a nice blend of old meets new. I'm a creature of habit, but I'm also pretty agile and very curious.

My Introduction to Social Media

Years later in 2010 when my book, Your Idea, Inc. was published and the recession was in full swing, my publisher's marketing budget dedicated to helping me promote the book was zilch. I had been paid in advance and I was plenty happy about that. They fulfilled my dream of seeing my book on the shelves in all of the brick and mortar bookstores, remember those? My publisher's best advice after that was to join Facebook and Twitter and 'get social.'

Once again, I was thrown into a new technology that I knew nothing about but I was intrigued. I read some books about social media but just as with becoming an entrepreneur, the best way for me was to figure it out on my own.

Soon enough I found my sweet spot in social media. Hello, Twitter! Patience was important though, as it's a process of building relationships, not a platform to just push out promotional info. I began to strategically network and book speaking gigs and meet like-minded people. I even connected with some social media friends IRL at conferences. It's that balance thing again; professional relationships don't seem completely real when they're only virtual. The face to face meeting is still very important.

I've found over the past 20+ years, that I need balance. I crave it. I love technology, but I also enjoy being unplugged and undistracted. It requires setting boundaries and priorities.

Technology moves fast...or slowly, depending on if you're an early adapter or a hold out. It's been said that a technology takes about thirty years to fully integrate into society. I've been able to see this almost to fruition in certain business aspects through my entrepreneurial life.

In my personal life, I'm more of a late bloomer and a creature of habit. I'm not fully connected in the Internet of Things space. I still enjoy reading 'real' printed books, magazines and newspapers. I'm not interested in the smart refrigerator that tells me when I'm low on green juice supplies. I also have not purchased virtual reality products or ordered laundry detergent or personal care staple supplies with the Amazon Dash button.

Entertainment & Tech

It's fun to attend industry conferences and see what's coming down the pipeline. I recently attended Variety's Entertainment and Technology Summit.

There were several panels with tech innovators, thought leaders and disruptors within the entertainment industry. It's an exciting space to be these days and those who are doing it best are the innovators who know what consumers want and find a new way to deliver it.

  • A big topic of the day was advertising because like publishing, this space is going through major transition. Advertisers may have big budgets, but the options are different now and the analytics can be complicated. There was interesting debate about our tolerance for ads since we can forward through or block most of them. No debate about the fact that our time is valuable.

  • Many platforms are offering up ad-free products. YouTube Red will soon find out who is willing to pay for uninterrupted music and viewing for $9.99 per month. Advertisers need to find a new, less intrusive way to reach customers.
  • Live Streaming was also top of mind. Facebook's Monica Austin said it was a big focus for their platform and their team had been on Live Stream 'lockdown.' She said that live stream videos receive 10x the amount of comments. We like the interaction of live streaming.
  • The business models in entertainment are evolving with so many options for consumers. Subscription and membership based business models may not be strong enough alone, there likely has to be ancillary revenue generators. As consumers, we tend to bounce around subscribing and unsubscribing.
  • Virtual Reality is growing at a record pace and advertisers are learning how to embed their ads in a new experiential way.
  • YouTube phenomenon Michelle Phan spoke about how she disrupted the beauty industry and she's become a major entrepreneur with her ipsy venture. As platforms change, she's kept her finger on the pulse of where to go, which brands to collaborate with and how to generate revenue through her own ventures.
  • We also heard from Chelsea Handler. She's not only very funny but she's also trying to make a difference in the world too. She's set a new bar as the first talk show host (& woman) to have a global platform and fresh, not so formulaic talk show format, thanks to Netflix.
  • Are We More Or Less Efficient?

    With all the tech at our fingertips, you'd think our lives would be much more efficient but I'm not so sure. We still only have 24 hours in a day and we have endless content to consume. So many incredible choices of shows, podcasts, viral videos and articles on every single topic under the sun and we still need a good amount of sleep to remain healthy.

    Finding balance with tech and life all comes down to time management. We have to be aware that we are being pulled in so many directions. We need reminders several times a day to be sure that we haven't gotten sucked into the digital wonderland.

    I recently read about the new Bullet Journal, an old school, paper filled planner. I'm a big believer in planning, although this style may be a bit too detailed for me. But it's a sign that what's old is new again and apps aren't always the best solution. Balance.

    Tech Today:

    • Television is still a medium, not a large medium, more like a small medium.

  • User generated content and live streaming are where it's at. Digital creators are today's celebrities... and millionaires.
  • We need to have rituals for (several times) daily 'tech checks' to be sure we're not turning into a multitasking monster. Multitasking has been proven to be detrimental and even harmful. Try focusing on one task at a time. Be present.
  • Being connected to devices 24/7 is a new way of life that can't be sustainable.
  • As I try to find my happy medium, I take solace in my yoga and breath practice to keep bringing me back into balance. Find your easily accessible go-to way to unplug and find quiet.
  • At the end of the day, I'm a sort of hybrid human. I like to get off my laptop, curl up with my old fashioned book, maybe turn on the tv, but before long...I instinctively reach for my iPhone and begin to tweet about what I'm watching. During a commercial, I'll check Instagram to see what everyone else did all day, which events I missed and what people ate for dinner.

    Eventually, when my vision is blurred and I'm feeling ashamed of my addiction to tech, I unplug, close my eyes and breathe deeply. I let it all go. I clear my brain, my heart, my soul. It's a nightly digital detox ritual. I say goodnight to my family and then the next day, the cycle starts again. Lord, help me. I'm just trying to find my tech/life balance in this amazing world we live in.

    Popular in the Community

    Close

    What's Hot