Are You Having Digital Seizures and Don’t Know It?

Are You Having Digital Seizures and Don't Know It? One Friday, Jeff Dockendorf sat in an emergency room asking his wife the same questions over and over: "What day is it? Did I go to work today? Where are we?" He'd lost his short-term memory. Jeff was later diagnosed with epilepsy, and that day gave him a new appreciation for his memories and a name for something that happens in all of our homes: the digital seizure. In this episode, Jeff explains what a digital seizure is: a technology-driven distraction, interruption or compulsive habit that breaks our awareness and keeps us from living, and remembering, the moments that matter most. He compares his own focal seizures to what happens when a phone takes over a family moment. Look for the four signs: the blank stare, the tapping, the "mm-hmm, okay," and the missing memory. The good news is that, unlike a medical seizure, a digital seizure is a habit, and habits can be mastered. In this episode: - Jeff's emergency room story, and what living with epilepsy has taught him about memory - The four signs of a digital seizure - How "a few minutes" of a phone game turned into a two-hour evening - Six areas of family life where digital seizures show up: social, emotional, intellectual, physical, financial and spiritual - Why our own tech habits are so hard to see (and what a crooked tooth has to do with it) - A simple one-week observation challenge for you and your kids This week's challenge: Watch for digital seizures in your home, starting with yourself. At the end of the week, ask what you noticed most, where it happened and who you were with. Write down your wins too, the moments you stayed present and made a memory worth keeping. Free download: Get the Week 1 Observation Log to track what you notice in the six areas this week. [link] Research mentioned: Pew Research Center, "How Teens and Parents Approach Screen Time" (March 2024), a survey of 1,453 U.S. parents and teens. 46% of teens said a parent is at least sometimes distracted by their phone when they're trying to talk to them, while 31% of parents said the same about themselves. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/03/11/how-teens-and-parents-approach-screen-time/ Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WbciWPQawSs?si=SBNtmnCdcgQtcr1b