Consumer technology has a disturbing habit of being reduced to gaming and entertainment as opposed to a more noble purpose. You don’t have to let that happen to your tech. If it is already happening, it is not too late to turn things around.
Someone took a smart refrigerator and turned it into a terminal for playing Doom. Is nothing sacred? Apple Watch, Mac Touch Bar — if it has a screen, someone has turned it into just another way to play a game. Unless it is a game console, your tech was meant for more than mindless entertainment. Here are a few things you can use your expensive tech for besides letting it devolve into a meaningless distraction:
1. Manage Your Finances
Your new iPad mini can do more than play Candy Crush. You can use it to get your next Western Finance loan. Lending institutions usually allow you to go through the entire application process online and receive your money by the next business day in most cases. That happens without you having to leave your couch or handle a single sheet of paper.
You can also do all your personal banking online, including depositing printed checks. That means if you want to deposit your paycheck, you don’t have to make a mad dash to the bank and stand in line every other Friday. You can do it in the break room between bites of your healthy salad. Whether it is balancing your budget or paying your taxes, you can manage your entire financial life on a device you already have. Now that you have done all that financial management, it is okay to reward yourself with one game of Candy Crush.
2. Manage Your Health
Some of the most innovative health tech integrates with the smartphone you already have. Many health-focused gadgets even gamify the process of taking care of yourself so that you stay motivated to do it on a long-term basis. It is a shame that some people will not manage their health well unless it looks and feels like a game. But if that’s what it takes for you, then repurpose one of your devices to help you do a better job of managing your health.
3. Manage Your Education
Your laptop is not just a way to help you through college. It can be your college. Instead of bringing your laptop to a university, you can bring the university to your laptop. Day by day, there are more accredited online universities from which to choose.
You can apply for admission, financial aid, enrollment to classes, and even attend all those classes from the device in your lap. If you can’t go fully online for the discipline you have in mind, there are hybrid classes that include minimal in-person coursework. Completing or enhancing your education is among the most useful things you can do with your tech.
4. Manage Your Creativity
If you want to be the next big podcaster, you can do the audio and video recording from your smartphone with no other hardware. It is possible to get very usable results. However, if you want to up your game and take it to the next level, you can get an audio interface that runs on bus power and allows you to connect a professional microphone.
You can make videos for YouTube, TikTok, and other sharing platforms. The next time you use your tech to consume interesting content, think about ways to use that same tech to make interesting content.
5. Manage Your Business
There are many businesses you can start and operate completely online with the help of the devices you already have. You can buy into a turnkey business opportunity. You can do some day trading if that’s your thing. You can find houses to flip.
There is no end to the businesses you can start and manage from your devices. You don’t need yet another gaming computer that robs your life of productivity and higher purpose. You can use that expensive tech for so much more.
Rather than using tech to get away and escape from reality, why not use it to help you manage and engage with reality on a deeper level? There is always time for entertainment. But you and your tech are capable of so much more.
