Comment by memset
I think about this a lot! How did you overcome the compulsion? I quickly revert when I try to ween off any tech.
What do you do instead?
I think about this a lot! How did you overcome the compulsion? I quickly revert when I try to ween off any tech.
What do you do instead?
That’s why it’s important to have tech that serves you, like a dumbphone. You throw your smartphone away (leave it in your car, leave it at work, throw it in the deep end of your attic, etc), make it really inconvenient to act in these compulsions.
And then you just suffer through it for a few days. It gets better very quickly.
I wrote about my approach here: https://sjer.red/blog/2023/screen-time/
That’s a nice compendium of methods. I tried almost all of them, they all work to an extent.
I now use a smartphone again, as practicalities of life demand it. But I am switching to an old sluggish iPhone with a 4.X inch screen to hopefully put frictions in my use of it. I will see if that helps.
You can disable Safari in iOS. Search for “Content & Privacy Restrictions” in Settings. Then turn Safari off in “Allowed Apps & Features”. The app will disappear after a few minutes.
You can also turn off the Fitness app this way, even if you have an Apple Watch, and Car Play if you don’t like it for some reason, such as your car auto-connecting.
Delete the stuff you’re compulsively checking. Turn off notifications, so you need to make the intention to check things, rather than the phone calling for attention. Spend some time now trying to ween, but going told turkey. Go for a walk, leaving the phone at home. Leave it in another room when doing things around the house. Don’t take it with you into the bathroom. Get comfortable with boredom. Allow your mind to wander and see where it takes you.
Cal Newport’s book Digital Minimalism is pretty good for stressing the importance of spending time in thought without the influence of the internet, podcasts, audiobooks, or anything else. This used to be the norm for large sections of the day for people… now it’s rather rare.