Integration of Technology

Our theme in December is Integration and one thing that kept coming up in conversations is technology, and how the integration of it in keeping with a spiritual life — whatever that looks like — can be difficult.

Technology and spirituality do not sit well together at first look, especially smart phones and social media and all of the bad habits they can bring into your life.

So we wanted to share a light touch look at this — and talk about good habits and use of technology for our members.
Many of you are self-employed or small business owners and the technology at our fingertips now can be invaluable for you if you can use wisely.

1. Set limits
   This can be on screen time or specific apps. If you need something for work then use it for work and log off afterwards, don’t get sucked in to the scroll, apps are built to keep you there.
   Setting a limit is key for this, over time you’ll become more focused and efficient.
2. Delete apps from your phone
   Remove any time sucking apps from your phone. You could still access from a desktop or laptop, or download it again when you want it (it never takes long). This will remove the mindless habit, you will have to make a conscious choice — which is always good.
3. Have screen free time before sleep
   This is another simple one but is so important. Stay away from your screen for at least an hour before you intend to sleep — and keep those phones out of your bedroom, checking work emails at 11pm is never a good idea.
4. Make technology work for you
   Find the things that make your life easier, not harder… one thing I highly recommend is using a shared calendar with your family/household and/or workplace. Colour code different people and you can see at a glance what everyone is doing.
   Use the reminder function on your phone — this is one that I can see directly helpful for BrightSky members. We also get asked for reminders on events, something we can just cannot do, but why not set an appointment reminder on your calendar?
5. Use Social Media positively
   There is always so much negativity towards social media — which we totally understand, it can be a very triggering place — and it is heavily controlled by the companies that own each channel.
   However for BrightSky it has been integral to us finding so many of our members and enabled us to grow with very little marketing budget and that is amazing.
   If you harness it well it can be beneficial, and you can find real community.

We would love to hear from members on how they use technology positively and what they find difficult… and we can take this conversation further!