Tag Archives: Tech

(Re)finding your Groove as a Cyborg

Hello again everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful hiatus over the holidays, particularly with your tech. There’s no better time to shut off your devices than when you’re with friends and family! The holidays are also a good time to receive or purchase new tech as gifts, and I’m sure many of you – like me – got some great new tech in your lives. I’m here to try to help you get back into your grove of Switching Off, Unplugging or finding your personal mix of being connected and still living your life.

New tech is always exciting. My first point of advice when getting new tech is to learn everything you can about it when you first get it. Read the manual, do all the setup. Don’t let it sit in its box, and don’t just jump right in. I want you to know everything there is about your new tech so you can avoid the frustration of it not working later in your life. There’s nothing more time consuming than malfunctioning tech, and I would wager (although I’m not a wagering Cyborg, generally) that most malfunctions are user errors. We can avoid these potentially time-consuming and emotionally hazardous pitfalls of tech use if we know all there is to know about it in the first place!

Once you know your tech and have become familiar with it, don’t be afraid to use it. Technology has a purpose, so don’t waste it! Get the most out of your new tech, but always remember to do so with moderation. The tech exists to alleviate pressure or to create solutions in our lives many times by making things easier for us, or encouraging us to do and be better. Let the tech help.

The most wonderful thing about our tech is that most of our devices are entirely customizable. Keep yourself in mind when you are adjusting to your life with your new tech. Keep your Balance, maintain your Mindfulness and above all Put YOU First! If a few months down the road you feel as if your tech is once again taking over your life, don’t be afraid to Rethink it!

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Switched Off – The Beginning

Hello Readers!

Although I’ve been very good at living my life as a Female Robot, I’ve decided to return to offer you new advice. As your Human-Cyborg Relations guide, I’m hoping to give you tips and tricks on how you too can live your life as a Functioning Cyborg in a busy world. The world is full of distraction. We can amuse ourselves with multiple social media accounts, blogs, videos and Buzzfeed is one of my favorites too – do you know which Disney Prince or Princess you are?

Anyway – I’m here to tell you that I get it. The world-wide web is a wonderful place. Many of us work there. Tech lets us be connected all of the time. Being connected all of the time for those of us that love to absorb the world around us is wonderful. All things wonderful though – aside from love – should be taken in moderation. Many of us struggle with the ability to be connected to those around us, even ourselves. For some, finding the ability to be connected isn’t just Unplugging, it is Switching Off.

The Difference Between Unplugged and Switched Off

The differences between Unplugging and Switching Off may be subtle, but the main factors here are those that Unplug do so knowing that they have the ability to plug back in at any time. Being unplugged means you’re mobile, your phone may not be at the dinner table with you, but it is somewhere in your purse or pocket. Unplugged gives a balance between our digital lives and our physical ones. Being Unplugged means you can multitask and still find alternatives to tech, or you set your tech aside a few minutes per day – you are a Cyborg, a functioning techie in a world that pulls you both ways. Being Unplugged is about relaxing and finding harmony; switching off is about being free.

Those that take the time to Switch Off are the ones that shut their digital lives off completely. Switching Off allows for many people to turn their physical lives back on. Cyborgs may find Switching Off to be particularly difficult – “How can I NOT have my phone for a day?” They may ask. Switching Off means that you’re admitting to not being connected. You will not be connected because the here and now is what is important. Instead of having their phones in their pockets, Switched Off Robots may go so far as to shut them off completely for a day, or not even bring them! Being Switched Off means that you don’t NEED the tech. You are enough. You are powerful, connected and part of the world as you are.

The benefits of each type of thinking are important. In the next few weeks, I’m hoping to explore Switching Off and how powerful being a Female Robot that takes a day off can be.

The Keys to Switching Off

The keys to being Unplugged as you may have guessed are Mindfulness and Balance. Shutting Off can be more powerful than that. Shutting Off can be an honest and open admission that being Unplugged is too difficult or it can be a way to empower yourself over your technology “I don’t need you today.” Switching Off is powerful because it requires not only the Mindfulness that being Unplugged requires, but it asks of you even more. It is asking you to put YOU first. The ability to stand free of the imaginary constraints we impose on ourselves because of technology. Being Unplugged is an active state of Mindfulness, Shutting Off lets you throw off that constant state of understanding for the one decision of saying “I matter more today”. The most important thing in Unplugged is Balance. The most important thing in Shutting off is YOU.

The Power to find You

Whichever way is best for you – being Unplugged or Switched Off – becoming more mindful and more connected to yourself is a journey worth taking. Do your best to not only take the advice of a Happy and Functioning Cyborg and Female Robot that takes great pleasure in Shutting Off, but be willing to find the way for yourself. I’m here for advice and guidance. You’re here for you. Making yourself a priority is the most important aspect of improving your life. If you take only one thing from this blog, I hope that it is the knowledge to know that more time spent on yourself is never wasted. Find the power to find YOU. Just Etre – Just Be.