Mindful Tech
Book

Mindful Tech

How to Bring Balance to Our Digital Lives

David M. Levy
Yale UP, 2016
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

David M. Levy, a professor and former Silicon Valley technology staffer, shows you how to slow down your digital life and connect mindfully. He presents a series of exercises to help you develop greater awareness of your use of digital media and to cultivate healthier, more productive habits. By observing and paying attention to your mind and body when you use email and other digital applications, you can identify potential triggers of distraction or distress. Levy helps you make appropriate changes and his compelling anecdotes might echo your experiences with email, texting and multitasking. getAbstract recommends Levy’s manual to busy people who seek calmness and better methods for using digital media.

Summary

A Happy Medium

Many people yearn for a happy medium between the “Fast World” of hyperconnectivity and the “Slow World” of contemplation. Today’s digital devices allow you to connect 24/7 across time and distance, but they can become noisy distractions. Only you can decide what deserves your attention and how to find that happy medium. Being more aware of how you use technology allows you to learn new approaches and make positive changes.

When you engage online, most of your attention is going outward, as when you type an email or conduct a search. Slow-loading web pages might make you frustrated. You may become upset if you can’t immediately think of the right words for your email or text message. But wait – instead of feeling stressed, direct your attention inward; focus on your breathing and posture.

Practicing a Craft – Online

Learn to focus on your tasks the way that professional athletes, musicians and artists focus. Writing emails or posting to Facebook is no different than any craft requiring purposeful training.

Practicing a craft online has four major dimensions:

  1. “Intention” – Act with purpose and...

About the Author

Professor at the Information School of the University of Washington David M. Levy also wrote Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age.

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