Are We Too Reachable In Today's Age of Technology?

Setting boundaries when it comes to being connected

In an era dominated by technology, where we are constantly on our phones I had to ask myself if we are too reachable today? I had to think about how our parents and grandparents used to stay connected in the pre-digital era, where our accessibility was different and being hard to reach was the norm.

Before smartphones and instant messaging communication involved allot of patience. Letters took days to weeks to reach its destination, where the art of expression and communication had more value. Owning a phone was a luxury, missing a phone call meant relying on answer machines or waiting for someone to be home to call again. There was a sense of privacy and space in this time that I haven’t fully experienced as a Gen Z but still yearn for in today’s digital era.

Image: Mean Girls, 2004

As beneficial as it may be today to be connected to our loved ones in an instant especially for me living abroad, it has become very draining for me to keep up with everybody and everything. From multiple friends, family, work and school group chats, to constantly checking up on the notifications that are coming in, the unopened instagram dm’s and business emails I still need to reply to. To even my mom calling me everyday to chat and check up on me. I could spend 30 minutes of my day just texting back and forth with people. I feel like the line between work, school and personal life has become completely blurred and it gave me no choice to set boundaries to my family and friends. So I recently deleted my what’s app, I turned off all my notifications for all my apps, I made my iMessage private and I don’t share my phone number easily anymore. I even changed my phone number last summer when I went on a bus tour from Naples to Sorrento, I was getting phone calls and texts from the bus driver the day after saying how much he fancies me, he probably found my number on the list of the tourist information and it had me very furious and uncomfortable how he was comfortable enough to grab my number and contact me.

As a result I haven’t completely figured out the balance between connection and privacy as I am allot on my phone still, texting friends on and off, communicating with my dad through emails because he doesn’t have an iPhone though I have found a way to make it work by adding these boundaries. As the iconic Julia Fox said “I get to decide when I look at my phone, not the other way around”. I’m still reachable but I made it just a bit harder to be reached, call me only when you need me, pay those 30 cents to sms me and mostly be patient for my reply. We don’t owe anybody an instant reply or an instant conversation, I believe we have the right to control our accessibility. Let’s not forget the value of our personal space, in a digital world where we are so easy reachable, we can set digital boundaries and practice mindful consumption. Being connected doesn’t have to be overwhelming after all if you set these boundaries.