Take Back Your On-Line Life

We go on-line to do a simple task and find ourselves getting drawn into a large pool of distraction. Can we salvage some of the time we tend to lose on line? Our gadgets can be addictive, never far from us, calling us with their beeps and whistles. We need to recover time by regaining control. Meditation updated July 2022. Interval music is "Through the Clouds" by Jordan Jessep/Pond5

Transcript

Dear friends,

Welcome to this meditation which aims to help you take back some of that part of your life which you spend online.

Life is short.

When we are younger we don't realise just how short it is.

But as we get older and look back over the years we realise that time really does fly.

We ask ourselves how can it possibly be that this person we knew as a baby is now a grandfather or a grandmother.

Yes indeed,

We see then that even the longest life is very short.

And when it's over what do you think our friends might have to say about how we spent our time?

Hopefully they'll have more to report than the fact that we responded to our emails and text messages by return or that we always kept right up to date with the news online.

But have no fear,

This is not an exhortation to return to some imagined golden pre-digital age.

We are where we are.

The past is not all that it is made out to be when we only look at it through rose-tinted spectacles and this digital life can be wonderful in so many respects.

But before we get into the meditation proper let us first bring ourselves into this present moment as we spend just one minute reconnecting with the breath.

Let's see if we can become aware of the wonderful gift of our existence in the here and the now.

By breathing in and being aware that we are breathing in and by being aware of our breath as we breathe out.

One minute to come into the present before the meditation proper.

Music Music Music Welcome back.

An opening thought.

This is a variation of a prayer from Paul Stephen Doddenhoff.

For these next few moments,

Spirit of Life,

We let go.

For these next few moments,

May we let go of our anxieties,

Our fears,

Our anger,

Our self-doubts,

Our regrets,

Our petty grievances and our distractions.

May these next few moments light our way to peace and serenity.

How often do we go online to do a simple task?

Before we know it,

We find ourselves getting drawn into a larger and larger pool of information and distraction.

Not to mention the ever-present call to update this program and to update that app.

Every second thing we come across seems like a good idea.

Another extra for the ever-growing to-do list.

Something to do,

A film to see,

A book to read,

A home improvement idea.

You know how it goes.

With newspapers and TV online,

The news comes at us from across this ever more interconnected globe,

Hour after hour.

We are exposed as never before to an inundation of information.

Much of this inundation concerns events over which we have no control.

Even so,

These items still distract us and they interfere with our ability to work on the things which are within our power.

Let's spend one minute now reflecting on how we manage to lose track of time when we fall into this digital black hole,

This bottomless cavern of information.

Welcome back.

Now there are benefits to our being online and connected.

This ability to link up with others is a potential source of immense good.

How many good causes and bright ideas have been brought to a successful conclusion through online cooperation.

Through the internet,

People are coming together who otherwise would never have known one another.

Valuable projects can be brought to a successful conclusion which involve the cooperation of thousands of people who never meet one another in the flesh.

But still as individuals,

We have to ask ourselves this question.

How much of our online time is spent in actively doing what we can for the causes which are near our hearts?

If you are like me,

I suspect that much of what we see and hear online goes in one ear and immediately falls out the other.

Information streams through without giving rise to any constructive action on our part.

Just ask yourself how much of your daily browsing can you recall even 10 minutes afterwards?

And how useful has that been?

Let's spend a minute now examining our daily online routine and see if we find any indication of a problem requiring a solution.

Tara You Welcome back.

I have experimented with different ways of coping with my own tendency to spend too many valueless hours looking at screens.

I've tried the idea of a tech-free day once a week and found it impossible to manage.

What day do you pick?

So many of our everyday tasks involve online activity.

From diaries to weather forecasts and checking timetables,

Not to mention meditation apps.

All of this makes the idea of a weekly tech-free day impossible for me and I imagine maybe for you too.

Then there was the idea of a half-day tech-fast each week.

Not much better.

There are apps which act as a reminder of how long you have been online.

These are useful.

They even offer the opportunity of automatically cutting you off.

This would be fine if you only had one device but apps like this do not operate manageably in a world where we each have portable as well as fixed devices.

The solution that I offer to you and to myself is simpler.

Old-fashioned you might say.

It doesn't require online help and it operates over multiple devices.

The idea is that you would simply fix in your own mind what you consider to be a reasonable amount of online time for your day.

I'm talking here about leisure time rather than work time which might of necessity involve being online.

So I mean time devoted to the news,

The checking of our social media and general browsing.

Emails are of a different order and they need to be replied to according to their own importance.

Having fixed that maximum browsing time then use a simple cooking timer or a screen alarm to notify you when the limit has been reached.

You can split the allotted time into multiple shorter sessions if you wish.

But remember Parkinson's law.

You know how it goes.

The work will expand to fill the time available.

So keep the time as short as makes practical sense.

This fixing of a time limit will have the effect of concentrating your mind.

It will help ensure that the time you spend online is spent as usefully as possible.

So now down to business.

Let's take one minute,

Sixty seconds to allow you to work out in your own mind whether or not this idea might work for you.

And then give a thought as to how you might put it into effect beginning even today.

If not today,

You might start tomorrow.

Welcome back.

I hope this meditation has given you some food for thought.

I hope it will gain you some valuable minutes,

Hours or days in spending the wonderful gift of time that makes up your life.

If we need to,

We can always earn more money,

But there is nothing we can do to gain ourselves more time.

So we must use our time wisely.

Before we end,

A thought from Seneca,

The Roman philosopher who lived around the time of Christ.

This is one of his quotes on the shortness of life.

So in conclusion,

May you be successful in your effort to reduce the amount of your time spent online in a mindless way.

May your online activity be a worthwhile contribution to your life and to the lives of others.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you for sharing this very important reflexion. I like how you approach this in a very down to earth way. Very powerful Thank you.

Namaste! Two times a week I unplug from social media (Instagram / FB).
It is empowering. I still have a google habit! My new goal is to remember all the important answers are on the inside, search and you will find!

Great guidance and wisdom

Very helpful. Thank you!

Much needed advice and wisdom💜🕉💜

Thank you for your compassion and practicality, Tony.

This meditation helped me to be more mindful and focus on my intentions for the day.

Thanks for the reminder 🙏 I found that not going online at all until mid day greatly helped me. It gave me a whole productive morning 🙏😊 (but sticking to it is not always easy 😁)

Wonderful message Tony. I’m so less attached to my digital devices than I used to be. I do use my phone because I now have cell reception and can take calls but I leave it in a room and walk away quite easily. I’ve even forgotten it at home many times.
With kids, grandkids and an elderly aunt, not to mention the many 80 year (and one 91 year old) olds who rely on me for computer help.
I’m extremely grateful for this app Tony, because it brought me you and my dear friend/mentor Ian.
I’m full of gratitude for that.
Namaste Tony.
💕💋🌸🐾🙏🏼🌷🦋🙏🏽💜🌟

Hi Tony. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this matter. Its good to know we are not alone. You gave me a few important ideas to think about. Thank you. God Bless.

Right on time as I’m really trying to redo my time management. Thank you 🙏🏾

I will Plan mich more my online time🙏

Great ideas for cutting back on spending "mindless " time on line. I've put it to use from day one. Today I listened again as a refresher. I highly recommend.

Useful thoughts to ponder. Thank you!

A good reminder not to squander our precious time

Thank you. Food for thought. Had been thinking about my checking the news habit and you have helped me see that I don't want to continue it! As you say a waste of precious time . Namaste

Sobering thoughts on time wasted online.

Really a great insight to a larger problem in my life and those I love .

Thank you my friend. I was praying earlier this morning and you provided me the answer. Love you!

Thank you Tony! This was a very helpful meditation. I am going to try your suggestion. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. It's disturbing just how difficult it is to even attempt a tech free half day.
Namaste. 🙏