Are Gadgets Holding Us Back?

by Alexander Tidd

Remember when smart gadgets were supposed to make life easier? That was the promise. Tap an app, and dinner is planned. Ask a speaker, and the lights go off. Get a text, and you’re reminded to bring snacks to soccer. But here’s the twist. Many parents are realizing that technology, while magical in some ways, is making them feel busier and less productive than ever before.

There is no denying that technology has brought some incredible perks to parenting. Groceries can be delivered in under an hour. Baby monitors now stream in high definition. Voice assistants can add diapers to your shopping list while you’re juggling a toddler and a meltdown. Apps help track sleep, monitor fevers, and find a last-minute babysitter when plans go sideways.

But for every new feature, there is often a new expectation. Instead of helping us disconnect from stress, many of these tools create a kind of digital background noise that never fully turns off. You check one app for a school calendar and end up doomscrolling through parenting advice that leaves you feeling like you’re still doing it wrong. You respond to a daycare update while making lunch and forget the pasta on the stove. In the rush to be efficient, we lose focus and time.

Notifications Are Not Productivity

According to researchers at the University of Michigan, the average parent gets hundreds of notifications every day. Even outside of work hours, phones are buzzing with reminders, messages, and suggestions. The constant pinging splits your attention and makes it harder to complete simple tasks. The more you rely on tech to remember everything for you, the harder it becomes to focus on anything fully.

This is part of a larger problem researchers have been warning about for decades. Technology that was designed to make us faster can actually slow us down. The effort to track and manage every little thing through screens chips away at our ability to be present, especially with our kids.

There’s also a subtle kind of guilt that tech introduces. When your device can tell you exactly how much screen time your child had or how many steps you took, there’s a new layer of pressure to perform. Parents are not just raising children. They’re managing a data dashboard. And the more these tools track, the more they whisper that you could be doing better.

Even worse, the habit of checking your phone constantly can lead to something called “phubbing,” which is when you snub the person in front of you by looking at your phone instead. When that person is your child, it can hurt their feelings and affect their emotional development. Kids want to be seen. They need to know they are more important than any screen.

So Why Do We Keep Using It?

Because some of it really is helpful. Parents working full time or raising multiple kids need shortcuts. Shared calendars, text alerts, and GPS trackers for when your child forgets to text can lower your stress level. Smartwatches help track sleep and exercise. And if an app reminds you to schedule a checkup or order lunch for school, that’s one less thing to carry in your brain.

The trick is knowing when to lean in and when to log off. Instead of trying to automate everything, it can help to pause and ask a simple question. Is this tool solving a real problem or just giving me another thing to check? When used wisely, tech can lift the mental load. But when every moment is filled with alerts and digital noise, it can feel like you’re parenting in a wind tunnel.

Try turning off non-essential notifications. Carve out device-free family time, even just for dinner or bedtime. Let some things be written down on paper. Try a real kitchen timer instead of using your phone. Keep parenting apps that make your life calmer. Let go of the ones that make you feel like you’re in a race.

Above all, trust that the most important part of parenting is not how many tools you use. It is the connection you build with your child. Tech might be fast, but presence is powerful.

In the End, Less Might Be More

We built a world full of time-saving devices but somehow created a reality where parents feel like there is never enough time. Smart tools can be great. They can help with groceries, schedules, and reminders. But they can also crowd out the simple joys of childhood and the quiet moments of parenting.

You do not need to optimize every moment. You do not need to respond to every ping. Sometimes the best thing to do is sit down, turn off the noise, and just be there. Tech can wait. Your kids will not.