Technology: A Slow Living Deep-Dive
"Look beyond books, podcasts and movies and find time to focus on what slow living means for you."
Carl Honore
Is slow living anti-tech? Is it possible to have an intentional relationship with tech, when virtually all of our interactions use some form of it? And what about kids? How can we show them what mindful tech looks like if we are still struggling to find out for ourselves?
In today's episode Ben and I dig in to one of the most requested topics for this season of the podcast - our relationship with technology. Or more specifically, in a phrased coined by Ben (and repeated at least ten times this episode) what is the impact of connect-tech on our well-being and slow living at large?
We've spoken before about our tech strategies and boundaries but as our work has shifted and the kids have grown, our approach has changed over the past couple of years and I think it's important to talk through the good, the challenging and the uncharted waters so that we can all realise no-one has all the answers and no-one is walking around feeling like they've got it all sorted. In this episode we talk about:
- The elephant in the room – is slow living anti-tech?
- How we make technology work in a way that feels slow
- What we actually mean when we talk about tech
- The mindset we adopt when managing our relationship to connect-tech
- Tools we use to develop and maintain tech boundaries for ourselves while working
- Other ways we manage tech use with the kids and ourselves when not working
- How important it is to be a role model when it comes tech (and how challenging that can be)
- Whether we feel good about our relationship to tech or if there are things we're still working on (hint: yes, there are many things we're still working on).
I then have a wonderful chat with Sara from Season 4 who shares not only some of the shifts she's made since we last spoke, but also some of the feedback she received from family and friends in her community as a result of our conversation back in 2019. We talk about lifelong learning, finding awe and the ways Sara is supporting her community through her slow living efforts (not always in the ways you might imagine).
Sarah also shares some of the discoveries she made on a recent trip to Italy (pre-Covid-19 obviously) where she walked her way through Umbria, away from social commitments and technology. We talk about awe and tilting and prioritising downtime, and how to let go of the guilt that some of these things often bring out in us, being so counter to the norm of busy-ness and rushing.
I hope you enjoy the episode and walk away with some practical ideas on how to change your relationship with tech, or how to reframe what slow living means to you.
Enjoy!
Head over to iTunes to subscribe to the show and play the episode.
Or you can listen to the show directly, simply by hitting the Play button above. Enjoy!
——
Things to Check Out After Today’s Episode:
- Season 4 Episode 5: When slow becomes fast and no is hard to say
- Episode 9: Carl Honoré Talks Technology, Good Slow and Getting to Know Your Butcher
- Operation Ouch
- Mythbusters
- Mythbusters Jnr
As always, thank you for listening.