“When the battery is about dead, it might be time to take a break!”

I don’t know about you; however, I must confess that I might have a problem.  In today’s world of electronic devices, I’m tethered to one all of the time.  iPhone, iPad, laptop, and likely others are my co-dependent friends.   Ask me to set them down and walk away for any period of time, and I begin to get a bit anxious.  It hasn’t always been this way; so, why is it now?

In my upcoming book, Whose agenda are you leading?, I share a few pretty crazy stories of how I believe God has used these devices to impact my life.  The mere fact that your reading this is likely due to the technology I’m referring.  Then, in some very special moments along the way, God has used others with a text, email, blog, etc to speak so clearly to me.  In fact, I wake every morning in great anticipation of seeing what devotionals are in my inbox that might connect and my having a sense God’s speaking directly to me.  So, there is a spirtual, faith-based aspect to my love/hate relationship with my electronic devices.

Beyond the spiritual impact, these devices have provided me with a vehicle for work that doesn’t required me to be tied down to one location.  While in my primary role of General Manager, Farm 360, I regularly am onsite at the farm, I spend numerous hours offsite for which I’m able to continue to be effective due to technology.  In fact, I’m likely more effective being offsite at times as it minimizing distractions and provides an ability of focus.

Then, my coaching practice wouldn’t exist without these devices.  With marketing, email updates, phone coaching, video coaching, and numerous others, I’m completely dependent on these devices.  For an example, weekly I video coach with a client in Spain who’s been a client for over 5 years now.  Another example is an advisory board which takes place with 8-10 like-minded business leader virtually every month.   It’s the gift of technology that make all this happen.

Oh, let us not forget the hours on social media staying connected to family, friends, my church, my business partners, acquaintances, etc.  Man, isn’t in nice to stay connected in this manner.  Not only the highlights; however, even the low lights.  For example, my niece was in an car accident this past week for which we were able to track along with her progress on social media.  Without technology, I may have not have even known about her accident.

By now, I’m sure you get it! I’m guessing you can related to me in many, if not all, the circumstances I’ve noted above.  One last perspective to look at is most of these devices I’m referring have batteries which must be regularly plugged in.  If you’re like me, you rarely pass up an opportunity to plug your device into the outlet to recharge.  If the battery level is getting much below 50% it begins to set off a bit of a panic causing a need to look for the cord.  Then, that 20% warning can really raise a panic; especially, if you’re not carrying around a little back-up battery booster.  My heart rates beginning to rise just thinking about it now!

Well, it might be time for a change on my end.  Here’s what I’m thinking.  When the battery is about dead, it might be time to take a break!  Stop and think about it a bit.  In today’s world, most batteries are designed to get a typical user through the day.  Normally, my iPhone can make it through an entire day assuming I’m not camped out on it.  Now, there are legitimate times with I’m using it as my primary phone line or video conference device that it won’t make the day; however, these are exceptions versus the norm.  Even in these cases, my statement might how true, “When the battery is about dead, it might be time to take a break!”

What if I stopped attempting to plug in my device multiple times daily, allowed it to start the day with a full charge, and take a break when the battery is about dead?  Or, what if I managed the life of the battery throughout the day such that I was only using the device one life cycle daily?  How would that change my day?  How would it change the relationship of those I’m around?  Can you relate?

Well, per the picture in today’s post, my laptop is already down to 61% and I’ve just started the day.  I can’t guarantee I’m committed to the concept; however, I’ll ponder it along the way.  If you can relate or have words of encouragement, I’d love to hear from you!

Have an awesome day!