When I flashback to my childhood and growing years, visuals of My brother and Me with our friends spending hours in the sun playing football, cricket and kabaddi still feels so fresh. 

Most of our weekends and playtime during the week would go visiting libraries, fun touristy places around the city, fun antakshri sessions with family and friends and so much more. 

I remember we had weekly quota for watching TV/movies, playing video games and both my brother and I managed to convince our parents to carry forward the balance or borrow from next week. 

One meal daily with the entire family was part of our routine; time not just to connect but also to laugh our guts out. 

We would yearn to bounce out of house to play and cycle with our friends. Writing letter to our grandparents and pen pals was always something to look forward to. 

As we grew, so did the world we stayed in. Technology with its fastening speed and benefits became a vital part of our daily routines; in fact replaced a lot of real time activities as well. Letters got replaced by Emails and Whatsapp; Trunk calls with Video and app calls; playground games with the virtual games…… and so on. 

We clearly started living in two worlds at the same time – REAL and VIRTUAL. Both these worlds have their essence and benefits and is essential for us to grow, learn and interact. So it was never about which world is better, it’s about finding our mix of both the worlds – Our Real-Virtual Balance.

Real World:

This world comprises of our real time experiences with People, Nature, Interactions, Study and emotions and so much more. We engage most of senses while doing real world activities with little or no use of technology. Examples – Playing a field game, Conversations with friends and family in person, Hobby classes, attending school/summer camps, activities in the nature, spending time with family over meals or outing….. The list is endless. Real world activities help us develop our self – socially, emotionally, physically, mentally…… in fact holistically through actual real time experience.

Virtual World:

Most people take this as a representation of the real world… using technology. We experience this world more with our Eyes and Ears. This allows us to create most of the activities from the real-world using technology, what differs is the experience. Virtual world uses imagination. Activities of the virtual world can be accessed easily, at your convenience, offers variety of media at a great speed. Examples – Interactive games, Social media, YouTube, Facebook, TV, Movies, Music audio and video. Excessive time spent in the Virtual world can lead to restricted learning/thinking, stress, lack of creativity and disconnect from social/real world 

Benefits of Real World – Engaging in experiential or Real-world activities are:

• Helps Physical and mental development
• Build and sustain relationships effectively
• Learn social skills
• Express effectively
• Build various behaviours related to people, problem-solving, handling conflict, leadership etc

Benefits of Virtual World – Use of technology can enhance learning in following ways if used in moderation:

• Access to an ocean of information at your finger tips
• Ease and comfort of learning at your own pace
• Connect with people across boundaries
• Faster mode of connection

Get Your REAL-VIRTUAL Balance right!

Do you see yourself spending too much time playing internet / app-based games? 

Are you skipping your hobby classes or time with friends on field to binge watch Netflix?

Do you find it difficult to stop looking at your mobile even while having lunch with your parents?

Real and Virtual worlds are both important and cater to different needs in our life. Their existence helps in our learning, Growth and Development, both personally and professionally. What’s important is to strike a balance between the two worlds. This balance will be different for each one of us depending upon are age, purpose, location or even gender; we should consciously fill our day with activities in a way that we can get the best of both the worlds. 

Finding our desirable mix or balance of REAL-VIRTUAL worlds will help us:

• Learn using the best of both the worlds – with people and through technology
• Maintain both physical and mental well being
• Build an effective relationship with friends & family and Technology
• Develop different intelligences using appropriate activities

Strategies to Balance the RW and VW

1. Commit to time schedule – Create and freeze on a daily or weekly mix of activities along with time you would like to spend on each activity. An interesting calendar (digital or on a chart paper) would help design and stick to your activities.
2. Monitor time spend / Check RW-VW balance regularly- While you have your calendar in place, it’s important to keep a regular check on the actual time you spend on each activity. For example, if you have decided to watch videos on YouTube for 45 minutes, ensure that you keep a tab on time by ways of alarms or reminders as well.
3. Put digital locks – If you tend to overuse technology, you can look at locking devices or access to the same. Treat this as a last resort, it’s always better to discipline your usage of digital world instead.
4. Award yourself- Time to pat your back if you stick to your Real-Virtual Balance, reward yourself with something nice – an extra game of football with your friends or some more time on social media. Pick your reward!!
5. Face your Consequences – If you make a plan and define a number of hours for various activities, then check it at the end of the day and if you have not completed your plan, take the responsibility and decide how you will amend it. Decide to not doing or doing less something that just entertains you. Pick your consequence!!
6. Get an accountability partner – A friend, teacher, parents, siblings, class mate, a personal diary, an audio/video recorder, or even a white board can help you to implement your plan. When you inform someone about your plan and your accountability partner asks you about the completion of your plan, then you have a better chance of completion your plan. Not everyone needs an accountability partner. You may choose one for yourself.

Now, it’s time for some action…

Discuss and share your REAL-VIRTUAL balance with us. How many hours would you spend in:

Real world (playing with friends, hobby classes, reading, time with family, studies etc.) :  ________

Virtual World (Watching TV/ OTT platforms, Social media, Surfing internet, Mobile games etc.) : ____

Put the following in the comments: RW : XX hours / day and VW: YY hours / day

Natasha Devesar

Driven by the purpose and value of MAD - to make a difference and help people realise their true potential.