Despite three in four Americans believing that they maintain a healthy tech-life balance, a majority of Americans can’t go more than two hours without checking their electronic devices, such as Macs, iPhones, and iPads, according to a Crucial.com Tech-Life Balance Survey.
In fact, one in four Americans becomes stressed by going longer than 30 minutes without checking their email or phone due to a fear of missing out. Additionally, one in five would sooner go to dinner with an ex-significant other than separate from technology for a month. The independent survey, which was commissioned by Crucial.com and conducted by GMI Research, found a disconnect among Americans when it comes to the perceptions and realities of their technology use:
Men go to great lengths to stay connected: While three in four men reported having a balanced or very balanced tech-life ratio, 84% of men admitted to having checked a mobile device while driving, in a movie theater, at a funeral or during a child’s play/recital. Additionally, one in five acknowledged that they would rather go without a car than give up technology for a week, and 16% would prefer a week without a shower.
Women are skeptical of tech’s role in society: Like men, women claimed their technological and personal lives are balanced, though one in three women said they feel guilty about the amount of time they spend checking their electronic devices. This sense of guilt among women translates to their take on the future of technology: Sixty-two percent of women predicted that technology will ruin humans’ ability to communicate in the future.
Millennials (aged 18 to 24) consume the most tech, but want to disconnect: Millennials comprise the most “connected” generation, with nine in 10 respondents reporting that they own a laptop or smartphone. While two in three millennials claimed to keep their tech-life balance in check, more than a third admitted that technology has been the cause of an argument with a significant other. It’s no surprise, then, that millennials said more often than any other age group that they wish they could go back to a time where people were not constantly connected (31%).
