how to live la vida low-tech, part 1.

Todd and I are pretty slow to jump on the technology bandwagon.  I mean, we're not Amish or anything, but we do tend to be pretty limited in our adoption of gadgets and 'tech' and electronics.  We have non-smart phones and ancient hand-me-down laptops.  We don't have a TV in our living room and we don't use tablets.  And you know what?  I'd unashamedly recommend this slower lifestyle to anyone.

I get it.  There's a valid and even beneficial place in our lives for current technology.  But we have to ask ourselves if we're allowing technology to be our boss, instead of our employee.  We have to ask ourselves if we're wrapping ourselves up too intimately in the 'good things' of technology, and meanwhile robbing ourselves of the best things in life - slow, deep, face-to-face relationships.  It is so very easy to get distracted.


Here are a few things I'd tell you to do if you're looking to protect the rhythm of a low-tech home life:

1.  Don't decorate like you worship your technology.

Why is it that almost every piece of comfortable furniture in our homes are set up to face a television?  This drives me crazy.  Every. stinkin. piece of living room furniture!  When you decorate, try to think of ways to maximize face to face interactions. 

Try to think, "If we had guests over, would we be able to see their faces without contorting ourselves in any way?  What would most naturally fall into my line of vision - a person or a television?"  If at all possible, don't even keep a TV in your most commonly used living space.

Currently, we have a basement family room with a wall-mounted TV, and our main living room where we spend most of our time is TV-free.  We haven't always had the luxury of two living spaces, though - in our last house, we didn't have two living areas, so we just didn't have a TV at all.  We watched Netflix on the laptop when we wanted to watch something together, then just put the laptop away during the rest of the time.  In our first apartment, we kept our living room TV inside a china cabinet that we kept closed when the TV wasn't in use. 

It's do-able if you get creative.

Try to get the TV out of your direct line of vision, and I guarantee you'll watch it less and talk to real people more.  (And possibly read more books.  And read your Bible more.  And generally get more done in the areas you say are most important to you.)

AND ALSO GET THAT THING OUT OF YOUR BEDROOM, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE.  Please do not make your husband compete with the TV for your attention and affection.  Even one time of him losing ground to the TV is one time too many.  And get it out of your kids' bedrooms too, while we're working on chucking TVs.

If you're counting at home, what I'm saying here is that one single out-of-the-way TV is plenty.

2. Use your technology communally.

Keep laptops and tablets in common rooms.  Don't get into the habit of making technology available in private corners of the house.  Everyone's better off when there's a level of accountability and community available, even while we're using some kind of device. You're able to see what everyone else is doing; everyone else is able to see what you're doing; and you're not under some delusion that you're being social when in fact you're simply on your phone in some empty room while you ignore the present people in the rest of your house.

Watch shows and movies together.  Invite people over to watch football games sometimes - but for dinner and TV-less chatting other times.  Check email next to each other during set times, and then be done.  Don't spend tons of time living separate lives on your phones or Netflix accounts.


Seriously do some soul-searching and ask yourself if your technology is actually helping you or robbing from you right now.  I think we could all - myself included - stand to grow in this area.  Tomorrow, I'll be sharing a couple more ways to set boundaries with your technology to protect a slower, less distracted home life.