There's no denying that modern technology makes many aspects of everyday life much easier, from the ability to telephone people whenever you want, wherever you are, to vacuum cleaners that wander around your home of their own accord, picking up dirt as they go.
But as new communications devices - from smartphones to tablets - redefine the way we communicate over long and even short distances, it can be easy to spend longer than intended staring at a screen and tapping buttons that don't even really exist, except as coloured-in pixels.
So, how do you get back in touch with who you are as a person, without losing touch with the people you know online? There are a couple of simple steps to take, and you could make a bit of money out of them too.
You can sell a spare iPad online, and return to having a PC or laptop for when you're at home, and a smartphone with internet access for when you're on the move - a tablet doesn't really replace either of those things, but equally it doesn't really represent a totally new way of interacting with online friends either.
If you really feel that you need a tablet, consider options like Microsoft Surface, which comes with a detachable keyboard - and, therefore, has the potential to truly replace your iPad and your laptop in one fell swoop.
The important thing is to find devices that do everything you need them to, but which you don't feel overly compelled to use for hours at a time for no particular reason.
You may feel strange and somewhat abandoned the first few times you do this, but you should soon find that you miss much less than you expected - and it's always easy to catch back up - and, as sad as it may sound, people won't miss you as much as you expect while you're away.
Getting back in touch is easier than you think, so don't feel too daunted by it - but the first and biggest step for many people is to leave the iPad at home, to put temptation out of reach.
But as new communications devices - from smartphones to tablets - redefine the way we communicate over long and even short distances, it can be easy to spend longer than intended staring at a screen and tapping buttons that don't even really exist, except as coloured-in pixels.
So, how do you get back in touch with who you are as a person, without losing touch with the people you know online? There are a couple of simple steps to take, and you could make a bit of money out of them too.
Corral your tech
First of all, get rid of some devices. If you're finding there are not enough hours in the day to use all the gadgets you currently own, it's worth considering cutting down on the total number of different devices you spend your day using.You can sell a spare iPad online, and return to having a PC or laptop for when you're at home, and a smartphone with internet access for when you're on the move - a tablet doesn't really replace either of those things, but equally it doesn't really represent a totally new way of interacting with online friends either.
If you really feel that you need a tablet, consider options like Microsoft Surface, which comes with a detachable keyboard - and, therefore, has the potential to truly replace your iPad and your laptop in one fell swoop.
The important thing is to find devices that do everything you need them to, but which you don't feel overly compelled to use for hours at a time for no particular reason.
Get offline
As painful as it might sound, the best way to get back in touch with your real-world friends - and spend some time with yourself, 'unplugged' from the internet - is to literally get offline, switch off your laptop, tablet or smartphone, and spend a bit of time without obsessively looking for new texts, tweets or phone calls.You may feel strange and somewhat abandoned the first few times you do this, but you should soon find that you miss much less than you expected - and it's always easy to catch back up - and, as sad as it may sound, people won't miss you as much as you expect while you're away.
Touch base
Finally, make contact - real face-to-face contact - with the people you've found yourself increasingly distracted from. That could be the people in your own home, friends in your town or city, or long-distance acquaintances for whom the internet has become a surrogate means of 'meeting'.Getting back in touch is easier than you think, so don't feel too daunted by it - but the first and biggest step for many people is to leave the iPad at home, to put temptation out of reach.
