Get your face out of your device

There are so many times that I have watched someone that doesn’t look where they are going because they are spending too much time looking at their device. The latest was on the subway and there was a guy that was walking back and forth on the subway and all he was doing was looking at his device. Well, he ended up getting off at the same stop that we did, and there are electronic gates that let you leave the station and the one he headed for was out of service. Well because he had his face in his device he was immediately stopped because the gate didn’t open for him. He wanted to quickly go into the next gate area, which is where I was, and I let him know that he had to “WAIT”. When you are in areas where there are lots of people or things that can impact your movement, get your face out of your device and make sure you know your environment.

This is just one of many situations that I have seen while commuting or even while in the car. There are too many times when I have seen someone start to cross a road because they think that the traffic has stopped, to only find out that they are the ones that are causing the issue. People have to remember that when they are walking where there are others around them, they need to pay attention to their surroundings and not think that everyone is going to jump out of their way because they are busy on their device.

Being away of our surroundings is something that is very important because you don’t know who around you might have challenges that you cannot accommodate if you are not looking where you are going. There are so many with limited visibility or mobility that making sure you are aware of your surroundings is very important.

Our devices have started to take over our lives, and we need to understand that we need to look up when we are moving around because we need to see where we are going and what obstacles are in front of us. It was bad enough when people were talking on their devices and walking, and they didn’t see beside them now with all the various games and chats that are available it has made moving around with our devices so much more of a distraction.

So next time you are moving around with your device, and you think about having that chat or play that game, remember that you need to get your face out of your device so that you don’t hurt yourself or others because you were distracted. If I chat is that important, maybe stop for a couple of minutes to have the chat, and then you can continue where you were going.

Our mobile devices/network connection

I know that a lot of people use their mobile devices for everything. Imagine if your service is down, and you can’t do anything. As I am writing this, we are currently dealing with an issue with the service provider that we use. Now here is a list of the things that are affected when things are down.

1. Phone
2. Texting
3. Email
4. Internet
5. Debit/Credit
6. Apps
   

Phone

Imagine not being able to make or receive any phone calls. This also means that even trying to make a 911 (emergency call) cannot be done. Yes, the emergency calling is the big issue, so hopefully the system will be back up soon.

Texting

For a lot of people, texting is how they communicate with each other, so that means that all of those conversations are going to be delayed for a while today.

Email

If your network is down, that means that you aren’t going to be spending or receiving any emails. For businesses, this is a major impact because that means that work cannot be completed.

Internet

So, when your internet is down, there is a lot of work that cannot be done. If you are working remotely, that means that you aren’t going to be able to connect into the office to get your job done. The office might not have internet either, so even if you were in the office, you might not be able to do a lot of what you normally do. For a lot of people, they also store everything on the internet, so when there is a problem it means that they cannot access anything. I am one of those people that store lots of things on my own system. It means that when there is an internet issue, I can still access  

Debit/Credit/ATM

As the debit and credit systems rely on networks to process transactions, it means that these services are also down. So, for everyone that has got into a routine of paying everything with a credit or debit card, it means that you aren’t going to be able to go and get your morning coffee less you have some cash.

Apps

Now as a lot of the apps use the network to connect and provide information it means that they are also down, so even if you have an app that you use to pay for things it is also down.

Overall

So yes, it means that if you are someone that replies on some sort of network to do your job, it is going to be a challenge to do it. It also means that if you can work without a network connection, you are going to have time to do the work that you want to do without all those interruptions. I am currently sitting and working on some writing and must admit that it feels nice having some time without all the other distractions and things that prevent me from getting the writing done.

If you are someone that can function when the internet is down, you are lucky, and you should enjoy this time because it won’t last for long but at least you have this bit of time to do the things you have wanted to do. If you either store everything on your computer or your job doesn’t require any internet or connection, you will be continuing like normal.

In today’s work we have become so dependent on having a network connection either through the internet connection on our computer/laptop/tablet or the network connection on our phone that when it is down it is making things harder to do. For some people it is a break from everything, and then there are those that are going to be having a hard time functioning until the issue has been resolved. If you have a chance, maybe it is time to go for a walk to just get that break away from those things and enjoy some time knowing that you can take this break.