did you know that according to the U.S. department of commerce, 90 per cent of all the worlds existing data has been created in only the past
two years? The effects of information overload are being felt. Each week I work with clients who openly admit that 'they are addicted to their cell phones, so they can check up to the minute info that includes texts, emails, articles, social media sites, games and cloud services.
Here are some rather disturbing facts to be aware of:
According to Statistics Brain Research Institute, our average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 an astounding 8 seconds last year. In comparison, the average attention span of a goldfish is nine seconds.
This shift in attention deficit reportedly costs the U.K. £1.6 billion annually, where the stress of office life has workers
checking emails 30 times and switching between electronic gadgets 21 times an hour!
Mounting evidence continues to show that over-exposure to the Internet, particularly at addictive levels, rewires the mind. The author of the book called "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains" goes as far as claiming the web
actually causes brain damage.
A China-based research team ran MRI scans on 18 college-aged students who fit the description of "Internet addicts." Results showed several parts of the addicts' brains had shrunk up to 20 percent, including parts of the brain tied into Executive Function Disorder - a kind of new ADHD diagnosis flagged by teachers, parents and counsellors as an
inability to create and finish a plan.
Here is what Dagmar Morgan, an elementary teacher at Country Garden Private School in Newmarket Ontario had to say. "We have started to see it for the first time in early elementary students. They're living in a different world from even a few years ago with technology moving forward so quickly. There's a lot of pressure on kids, and I think ti's shutting
them down functionally."
SO WHAT CAN WE DO?
Get off your computer, tablet or phone or any other electronic device for significant times of the day. Get involved in social activities and I'm not talking the virtual kind either but rather the REAL kind where you actually talk to people face to face or get involved in events and hobbies that don't involve
you or your kids having to be on the Internet.
Still not sure what I mean? Okay let me give you a few ideas: Rollerblading, skate boarding, bicycling (no not on the Wii but a REAL bicycle in the REAL outdoors),hiking, camping, fishing, bird watching, swimming, volunteering, sports, martial arts, meditation,
yoga, running and gardening would be a short list. The important matter is to get involved in activities that are not always reliant on the Internet and thus stimulate your brain and invigorate your mind in healthy ways.
Events, articles and other great resources below. Read on and please share with your friends and on your social
media sites. Thank you.
