You, Technology, and Homemaking
We live in a world now where technology and automation is easily accessible. And personally, I really love it!
Some people worry that technology is going to take over one day. Others worry that it is continuously making us lazier and lazier.
True enough, every time I tell my friends about a new technology I got for my home, they would go on telling me about how lazy I am.
"Technology makes people lazy."
I don't agree with this. Actually, if it was the opposite, that technology makes us busier, I would agree to that. Since from what I've seen and experienced, we are constantly trying to use technology to make life easier that we actually forget to live.
Hence, I started to choose my items and technology carefully to be able to have more time to do and appreciate the things that I like. At start, I honestly thought that I couldn't afford it. But when I started cutting down on the excess things and really understood my needs, everything fell into place. A good example would be I would spend close to 500 pesos ($10) per day for my meals. When I started to cook my meals at home, 500 pesos would be for the whole week. The savings go into improving my home which leads me to more savings in the long run.
I use technology to give me time and somewhat manage my resources so I could make a home. What I have realized is that getting all the technology available is not the way to go about it. So here is a diagram to make it easier to understand. And so that I can say that homemaking is a science!
The Homemaking Model. I blatantly copied the Flow State Model of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (My Korean self had a hard time pronouncing this!)
When you leave everything to technology, then there is no actual living and enjoying going on. You might question yourself and your existence and start feeling hollow and worthless.
On the other hand, leaving everything for yourself to do, you will become overwhelmed and start neglecting the things that are important to you.
So to reach the optimal state of enjoyable functional living, we have to have a good balance.
The balance is knowing what is important to you and what you like doing. And the rest, you can leave it up to technology. By the way let's stick to the context of homemaking.
Here are some examples:
I like the process of cooking. So I made sure that the technology is built around for me to enjoy every single process of cooking. So I have none of the instant devices which shorten the cooking time. (Which I will write about in another post.)
I like making my morning coffee myself while talking (well, meowing) to Haru, my cat. So I didn't want a coffee maker. I got myself a small coffee grinder. And got a tiny kettle that is around 35 years old from my parents (surprisingly, it works with my induction cooktop!). Now you know I like going through the process of making things.
We woke up like this.
I like taking care of my things, specially my dishes and cutlery. So I don't have a dishwasher. Because I like washing the dishes. It actually has a calming effect when I clean the things that I chose wholeheartedly. (I know that someday I will regret what I said and I will be getting a dishwasher.)
The Kitchen Flower Kettle that is older than I am. It can hold 700ml of water at a time.
I hate food waste since it stinks up my place (I live in a studio unit) and pests are easily attracted to it. I must say, cockroaches in the Philippines are crazy huge. Honestly it's not the size I'm worried about. It is the fact that they can fly. So to avoid hell, I have a food waste disposer installed in my sink.
The point is, technology when used properly, won't take things to do away from people but it will enable people to do more and give time to what is important to them.
So ask yourself now. What will you make technology and things do for you? Or the more important question is, what are you making technology and things do that you should be doing yourself?
I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas! Some of you have been sharing your experiences with me, and I appreciate it and enjoy it a lot! Special mention to the people who reached out to me from Finland, Germany, and the Philippines! Thank you!
