Many of us are technology fans using the latest gadgets and devices. Even though it might be fun or interesting to continuously look out for the latest gadgets and devices, it is important to reflect on the role of technology in your life. Various technologies and applications can help you become more productive and achieve your goals more easily. Yet at the same time these technologies provide an addictive playground to waste time while giving you the impression that you might actually be doing something worthwhile.

The first step when evaluating the role of technology in your life is to ask you the following two questions:

• Is the technology you are using right now helping you achieve your goals?
• Do I use technology as a distraction to procrastinate on other things?

No you might wonder why you see this question on a website that focuses on the latest BlackBerry smartphones and explores the countless ways to customize your smartphone to get the most out of it. The key point is that there is nothing wrong with using the latest technology and spending time to get the most out of your mobile devices. Nevertheless it is important to understand that technology is only a means to an end and that ultimately even the latest technology should not be used for the sake of using it but in order to simplify your life.

The essential point to remember is that you have to ensure that technology is working for your, instead of you working for technology.

Continuing the evaluation of the role of technology in your life you should start by looking at the different technologies you are using and see whether they work for your or if you work for them.

Mobile Phones

You probably carry your mobile phone around with you all the time – it has become the most intimate device for million of people all over the world. While there is nothing wrong to bring your mobile phone along one has to be sure that you are not constantly interrupted from your mobile phone. Especially mobile email and social networking applications are predestined to provide a constant stream of interruptions.

Consciously turning off your mobile phone will help you to focus on your goals instead of being distracted.

Computer & Internet

How much time do you spend on the computer and on the Internet each week? What would happen if you spend your time doing the things that really matter? Of course you could be sitting in front of the computer doing things that help you achieve your goals but very often time in front if the computer is just a substitute for sitting in front of the TV. It is ok to spend time on the Internet just for fun but you should track the time to prevent that time flies by and you end up spending the whole evening surfing random websites.

Another dangerous trap of the Internet is the availability of instant news and continuous update of the various news pages. While there are indeed many jobs that rely on knowing news the moment when they are published most of us don’t need to read the latest reports the moment that they happen. Evaluating your news consumption is essential and includes a conscious differentiation between the relevant news and the not-so-relevant news as well as an approach that deals with the not-so-relevant news.

Social Networking

Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn – these are just a few of the social networks that have seen a significant rise in recent years. While the benefits of the networks are clear, the dangers are mostly not that visible. The biggest danger is that you can spend hours and hours on these platforms commenting, discussing, playing games and communicating with friends and professional contacts which ultimately ends up as an amazing time waster.

When you are active on a social network you can quickly get the impression that you are doing something relevant for business or that you are actively working on your relationships with other people because you interact with all your friends. Unfortunately this is not true.

The efficient use of social networks will help you make new contacts, maintain existing relationships but surfing other people’s profiles or checking their friends and business connection doesn’t help you achieve your goals – it only helps your to spend time.

There are probably many other areas where you are using technology in your life for a certain reason which are not listed here. But you are the one who knows best what these areas are and reflecting on your use of technology will ensure that you have technology working for you instead of you working for the technology.