This was such a timely blog to come across. My partner and I are also struggling with our social media usauge. Have tried uninstalling, gray scaling, and putting up usage monitors. Somehow things seem to magically reset in a couple of weeks even though I swear I don't even remember reverting. Will you consider posting an update in a couple of weeks about results and about what approaches worked best for you ?
excellent, thanks for that. Looks like reading Stolen Focus will be my first point of action. In the meanwhile I have changed my phone back to Grayscale yet again (15th time's the charm, right?)
Hi Mike, it has been a couple of months since your blog post and I have unfortunately lapsed back on bad habits and will be needing a reset again soon. Hope you're tracking better than I am.
I empathize with the point here. I’ve tried multiple experiments and the ones that truly stick are the following:
- remove the apps and use the browser instead
- grayscale is surprisingly effective at turning off an app once you get started
- help yourself by only putting apps in the home screen that you actually don’t mind using / retraining to in the initial days. For me, it was a lot more reading - News, NetNewsWire, Artifact (recent addition).
They still hit the slot machine dopamine hits of chancing on a good article but it’s fundamentally longer text to read.
Me identifico contigo, me encanta tu articulo y tu escritura cercana, te cuento lo que hago:
Cuando estoy hablando con personas el móvil pasa a un segundo lugar de importancia, no priorizo las llamadas, porque pienso que una persona que esta hablando conmigo se merece toda mi atención,
Hace ya muchos meses que desinstale Tiktok de mi smartphone, solo lo uso para llamar y WhatsApp familiar,
Lo que hago, cuando abro mi pc de sobremesa, solo dejo una pantalla, si estoy escribiendo, es solo eso lo que hago, como mucho pongo música suave, no me permito ni anuncios, ni nada de redes, porque es un agujero negro donde se va todo el tiempo.
Me funciona poner un cronometro analógico de mesa ya sabes, no vale que sea el del smartphone, por no caer en la tentación.
lo pongo en una hora, trabajo en lo que esté haciendo, cuando marca los 60 minutos me estiro camino, tomo agua, tal vez desayune, o lo quesea, y en 15 minutos vuelvo, y así durante la mañana, sin no veo señales en WhatsApp ni lo abro.
Tengo un reloj Casio de esos del bazar, para mirar la hora, y no tener que usar el smartphone, son trucos que me ayudaron a quitarme la dependencia de star con el móvil en la mano 24/7
Hice todo esto porque me di cuenta de que me faltaba tiempo para leer, y para descansar, hice de detective y vi que eran las RRSS, no tienen fin, es un pozo sin fondo, y cada vez se pondrá peor.
I identify with you, I love your article and your close writing, I tell you what I do:
When I'm talking to people, the mobile goes to a second place of importance, I don't prioritize calls, because I think that a person who is talking to me deserves all my attention,
It's been many months since I uninstalled Tiktok from my smartphone, I only use it for calls and family WhatsApp,
What I do, when I open my desktop PC, I only leave one screen, if I'm writing, that's all I do, I put on soft music at most, I don't allow myself ads or anything on the networks, because it's a black hole where people go all the time.
It works for me to put an analogue table timer, you know, it's not worth it to be the one on the smartphone, so as not to be tempted.
I put it in an hour, I work on what I'm doing, when the 60 minute mark is up I stretch out, drink water, maybe have breakfast, or whatever, and in 15 minutes I'll be back, and so on during the morning, without seeing any signs on WhatsApp or opening it.
I have one of those Casio watches from the bazaar, to check the time, and not have to use the smartphone, these are tricks that helped me get rid of the dependence on star with my mobile in my hand 24/7
I did all this because I realized that I lacked time to read, and to rest, I acted as a detective and I saw that they were the RRSS, they have no end, it is a bottomless pit, and it will get worse every time.
¡Gracias por compartir tus estrategias! Me alegra saber que has encontrado formas de reducir tu dependencia del móvil y de las redes sociales. Estoy completamente de acuerdo en que las RRSS son un pozo sin fondo y que nunca parecen tener fin.
Me parece muy acertado dar prioridad a las personas con las que estás hablando y relegar el móvil a un segundo plano. También es una buena idea limitar el número de pantallas cuando estás en el ordenador y utilizar un temporizador analógico para controlar el tiempo que dedicas a tus tareas. Además, tener un reloj aparte para mirar la hora es una excelente manera de no tener que recurrir al móvil constantemente.
Aprecio mucho tus consejos y estoy seguro de que serán útiles para otros lectores que también están luchando contra la adicción al móvil. Gracias por compartir tu experiencia y espero que sigas teniendo éxito en tu camino hacia una menor dependencia tecnológica. ¡Mucho ánimo!
Good article, I feel the same, and I am particularly concerned for the younger generations. Its a good observation that AI is only going to make this worse.
I make a conscious effort to avoid content algorithms, by using a feed reader (RIP google reader) to limit my content to things I have explicitly subscribed to and on Twitter using the "lists".
I feel this as well. I understand the feeling of addiction (I hesitate to say it’s not like drugs/smoking/drinking that cause physical damage to my body - but I fear the addiction is just as damaging to the brain). I digress.
I’ve been “researching” (thru my exceptional procrastination) and doing some informal customer journeys for what people are struggling with in the workplace and how applied improv (the other AI)?and the intersection of AI needs to be played with so not to cause further damage. And perhaps use it as a healthy super power. Anyway, this is just me blathering on more about the power of play and improv and feeling like im not DOING it enough.
Yes! Good point, Julie! I really should get back into more improv. It was a great meditation, and so grounding. Thanks for inspiring me to explore it again!
Have you tried dopamine detox? There are a lot of videos on this concept. I did camping once without a phone (well, I had it with me for emergency and maps). After a few days I felt wonderful, and the urge for playing with my phone was pretty much gone. I didn’t need that kind of stimulation to feel good. Over the following few weeks I was back to phone addiction tho…
Yes, once I locked my phone in a drawer for a week. It was a blissful week, but I got straight back into it once the week was over. I've tried so many different things, and nothing so far has worked :(
I LOVE this Mike and I feel every word of it. I wrote an 'anti app' article recently (with a different context), but what I've noticed about myself since then, is that I've reduced my time on my phone significantly, particularly when walking or traversing between locations. I'm much more aware of the surroundings, and sadly, the first thing I noticed, is how many people are deep in their phones as they're moving around. Your article is brilliant Mike. Yet again, you speak from the heart with incredible insights. Digital devices connect us more than ever, yet we've never been more disconnected.
Thank you Yas!! I love your article too – I hadn't heard of the Pear experiment, but that's super cool. (I would never have known about those fruits too in shopping trolleys, fascinating!) Yes, I see more and more people completely absorbed in their phones in public. Although I'm a hypocrite in pointing this out, since I do this from time to time. I'm hoping using my watch might curb this a bit.
This was such a timely blog to come across. My partner and I are also struggling with our social media usauge. Have tried uninstalling, gray scaling, and putting up usage monitors. Somehow things seem to magically reset in a couple of weeks even though I swear I don't even remember reverting. Will you consider posting an update in a couple of weeks about results and about what approaches worked best for you ?
Thanks Mandy! Yes, absolutely! And likewise, if you come across any good new tips, please share them here.
Mandy, I've started compiling some resources that people have sent me on the back of this article: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JgIIFn-aaVbQBtctgHpmAKhDuGauh0ujLvUYL4KUAKc/edit
excellent, thanks for that. Looks like reading Stolen Focus will be my first point of action. In the meanwhile I have changed my phone back to Grayscale yet again (15th time's the charm, right?)
Hi Mike, it has been a couple of months since your blog post and I have unfortunately lapsed back on bad habits and will be needing a reset again soon. Hope you're tracking better than I am.
I empathize with the point here. I’ve tried multiple experiments and the ones that truly stick are the following:
- remove the apps and use the browser instead
- grayscale is surprisingly effective at turning off an app once you get started
- help yourself by only putting apps in the home screen that you actually don’t mind using / retraining to in the initial days. For me, it was a lot more reading - News, NetNewsWire, Artifact (recent addition).
They still hit the slot machine dopamine hits of chancing on a good article but it’s fundamentally longer text to read.
Yes, using the browser is a good tip – what would work even better is if I could set the internet speed to be 1990s dial up for certain domains :)
Me identifico contigo, me encanta tu articulo y tu escritura cercana, te cuento lo que hago:
Cuando estoy hablando con personas el móvil pasa a un segundo lugar de importancia, no priorizo las llamadas, porque pienso que una persona que esta hablando conmigo se merece toda mi atención,
Hace ya muchos meses que desinstale Tiktok de mi smartphone, solo lo uso para llamar y WhatsApp familiar,
Lo que hago, cuando abro mi pc de sobremesa, solo dejo una pantalla, si estoy escribiendo, es solo eso lo que hago, como mucho pongo música suave, no me permito ni anuncios, ni nada de redes, porque es un agujero negro donde se va todo el tiempo.
Me funciona poner un cronometro analógico de mesa ya sabes, no vale que sea el del smartphone, por no caer en la tentación.
lo pongo en una hora, trabajo en lo que esté haciendo, cuando marca los 60 minutos me estiro camino, tomo agua, tal vez desayune, o lo quesea, y en 15 minutos vuelvo, y así durante la mañana, sin no veo señales en WhatsApp ni lo abro.
Tengo un reloj Casio de esos del bazar, para mirar la hora, y no tener que usar el smartphone, son trucos que me ayudaron a quitarme la dependencia de star con el móvil en la mano 24/7
Hice todo esto porque me di cuenta de que me faltaba tiempo para leer, y para descansar, hice de detective y vi que eran las RRSS, no tienen fin, es un pozo sin fondo, y cada vez se pondrá peor.
============================================================
I identify with you, I love your article and your close writing, I tell you what I do:
When I'm talking to people, the mobile goes to a second place of importance, I don't prioritize calls, because I think that a person who is talking to me deserves all my attention,
It's been many months since I uninstalled Tiktok from my smartphone, I only use it for calls and family WhatsApp,
What I do, when I open my desktop PC, I only leave one screen, if I'm writing, that's all I do, I put on soft music at most, I don't allow myself ads or anything on the networks, because it's a black hole where people go all the time.
It works for me to put an analogue table timer, you know, it's not worth it to be the one on the smartphone, so as not to be tempted.
I put it in an hour, I work on what I'm doing, when the 60 minute mark is up I stretch out, drink water, maybe have breakfast, or whatever, and in 15 minutes I'll be back, and so on during the morning, without seeing any signs on WhatsApp or opening it.
I have one of those Casio watches from the bazaar, to check the time, and not have to use the smartphone, these are tricks that helped me get rid of the dependence on star with my mobile in my hand 24/7
I did all this because I realized that I lacked time to read, and to rest, I acted as a detective and I saw that they were the RRSS, they have no end, it is a bottomless pit, and it will get worse every time.
¡Gracias por compartir tus estrategias! Me alegra saber que has encontrado formas de reducir tu dependencia del móvil y de las redes sociales. Estoy completamente de acuerdo en que las RRSS son un pozo sin fondo y que nunca parecen tener fin.
Me parece muy acertado dar prioridad a las personas con las que estás hablando y relegar el móvil a un segundo plano. También es una buena idea limitar el número de pantallas cuando estás en el ordenador y utilizar un temporizador analógico para controlar el tiempo que dedicas a tus tareas. Además, tener un reloj aparte para mirar la hora es una excelente manera de no tener que recurrir al móvil constantemente.
Aprecio mucho tus consejos y estoy seguro de que serán útiles para otros lectores que también están luchando contra la adicción al móvil. Gracias por compartir tu experiencia y espero que sigas teniendo éxito en tu camino hacia una menor dependencia tecnológica. ¡Mucho ánimo!
Good article, I feel the same, and I am particularly concerned for the younger generations. Its a good observation that AI is only going to make this worse.
I make a conscious effort to avoid content algorithms, by using a feed reader (RIP google reader) to limit my content to things I have explicitly subscribed to and on Twitter using the "lists".
That's a great approach, Chris! Yes, RIP Reader! (Though, I probably spent just as much time on that, tbh)
Great read! Ditching the feeds is a lifesaver. Thanks for sharing Mike.
I feel this as well. I understand the feeling of addiction (I hesitate to say it’s not like drugs/smoking/drinking that cause physical damage to my body - but I fear the addiction is just as damaging to the brain). I digress.
I’ve been “researching” (thru my exceptional procrastination) and doing some informal customer journeys for what people are struggling with in the workplace and how applied improv (the other AI)?and the intersection of AI needs to be played with so not to cause further damage. And perhaps use it as a healthy super power. Anyway, this is just me blathering on more about the power of play and improv and feeling like im not DOING it enough.
Yes! Good point, Julie! I really should get back into more improv. It was a great meditation, and so grounding. Thanks for inspiring me to explore it again!
Have you tried dopamine detox? There are a lot of videos on this concept. I did camping once without a phone (well, I had it with me for emergency and maps). After a few days I felt wonderful, and the urge for playing with my phone was pretty much gone. I didn’t need that kind of stimulation to feel good. Over the following few weeks I was back to phone addiction tho…
Yes, once I locked my phone in a drawer for a week. It was a blissful week, but I got straight back into it once the week was over. I've tried so many different things, and nothing so far has worked :(
I LOVE this Mike and I feel every word of it. I wrote an 'anti app' article recently (with a different context), but what I've noticed about myself since then, is that I've reduced my time on my phone significantly, particularly when walking or traversing between locations. I'm much more aware of the surroundings, and sadly, the first thing I noticed, is how many people are deep in their phones as they're moving around. Your article is brilliant Mike. Yet again, you speak from the heart with incredible insights. Digital devices connect us more than ever, yet we've never been more disconnected.
The article I shared is here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:linkedInArticle:7074234386388320256/
PS. I might need some training with navigating Substack......I resorted to sharing on LinkedIn. ;-)
Thank you Yas!! I love your article too – I hadn't heard of the Pear experiment, but that's super cool. (I would never have known about those fruits too in shopping trolleys, fascinating!) Yes, I see more and more people completely absorbed in their phones in public. Although I'm a hypocrite in pointing this out, since I do this from time to time. I'm hoping using my watch might curb this a bit.