By Nataly Kogan, Co-Founder, WorkItMom.com

Here I am, writing this while sitting on the couch next to my husband, during our daughter's nap time, "relaxing" together and catching up on Project Runway episodes we missed. I have a great excuse for why my laptop is here: If I get a bunch of work done now, I can spend the afternoon with my husband and daughter, playing outside in the snow. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the laptop is literally between me and my husband right now.

I'm a technology entrepreneur and technology - cell phone, laptop, phone - is a huge part of my daily life. I literally could not do my job if it didn't exist. My husband is also in tech and his job requires that he work on the computer and carry a Blackberry, which also functions as a phone. Our kitchen counter at times looks like a gadget store, with both of our laptops, phones, and Blackberries laid out on it. Sometimes this makes me laugh. Sometimes it makes me want to throw it all away.

But I'd be a total liar if I said that I use technology just for my work. I love to relax by watching TV. I love the Internet for the easy and quick access it gives me to news, research, and useful info like directions or movie listings. I stay organized using my Google calendar. I hate talking on the phone.  So email is my primary way of staying in touch with friends and family who don't live close by. I check my email too often. I read too much tech and business news online.  And I could definitely read more books if I didn't watch Criminal Minds on DVD.

I worry about the role of technology in our family's life, the way it often turns my relationship with my husband into one that's side by side versus interactive. Sitting together and working next to each other is a poor excuse for communicating and being together. Sometimes work has to get done and we don't have a choice.  Other times, I feel that we do it because we're used to it. Our daughter is three-and-a-half and we've not let her play with the computer yet.  But I know it's coming and I know technology will play a bigger role in her life than it has in ours. I worry about keeping her safe online, in the future.  And I also worry about technology ruining the quality of personal relationships she might have. 

So here are couple of things we've done to keep the tech in check:

- One night a week is computer-free. This is hardest for me, since I work 3-4 hours every night after my daughter is asleep, but I am trying to not break this rule

- Have a few meals a week when TV is not involved. Our daughter eats earlier with me or the sitter, and my husband and I have dinner around 8-9pm, usually watching a show together because neither of us has energy to actually have a conversation. But a few times a week we actually sit down for dinner, or like earlier today, for a quick lunch as a family.

- No computer or Blackberry or cell phone in the bedroom. I used to bring my laptop into bed with me at night, to finish a bit of work, but no more. Bedroom is tech-free zone.

- I am working hard on not being an email addict and not checking it all the time. (And I mean, ALL THE TIME.) My first rule is to not keep my email window open when I work on the computer. Yes, this sounds like a very easy thing to do but trust me when I tell you otherwise.

This essay was originally published on WorkItMom.com, an online community for working mothers.