Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

It might be a bit unorthodox and I would possibly get flagged for writing this but I found the ideas of Kaczynski on impact of technology on us very profound and thought-provoking[0]. I try to separate the "art" from the "artist" and do not condone his violent actions thereafter. But this idea has been around in various shapes where people debate if its true that techonology is evolving at a much faster rate than our minds can evolve to cope with its impacts.

It was very insightful for me to do an introspection of how I interact with techonology and broadly with consumerism and change some aspects of it to focus on what is really meaningful to me.

[0] http://editions-hache.com/essais/pdf/kaczynski2.pdf [1] audiobook: https://youtu.be/n5ITyifcYy8

I did it for about 3 months while backpacking around South America in 2007 (before smartphones). I occasionally use the internet via 'internet cafes' to send a few emails and to research destinations. I kept a hand-written journal every day.

His ideas are not original at all and he's no "thought leader"; the anarcho-primitivists had raised the same points a lot better and more coherently than he did. Just read the original sources, no reason to pay attention to a violent nutcase.

I didn't say his ideas were original, I said they were more coherent than you'd think. And sure, read the original sources, but I don't see the harm in reading Kaczynski himself, if only to see how a smart man went down the wrong path.

The "thought leader" thing was supposed to be a joke.

There is so much to be said here, depending on where you want to go with this. Maybe you don't need to go full tech-less and stone age yet.

You seem especially triggered by focus issues. What's taking your focus away?

Is it any specific website (I'm looking at you, ). How can you make it less convenient to use that website? Maybe log out every time, or block the dns, or flat out cancel your account.

Is it phone notifications, always pulling you away from the moment you're living? Disable or ignore them. It's pretty hard at first. The key for me was deciding when to direct my attention to my phone. I often put it in airplane mode and throw it in the backpack. Not having it in your pocket beeping all the time helps forget about it.

I quit facebook (and all other social networks, actually) about two years ago. I've been happier ever since. No longer comparing my (not so) hard life to that of others posting vacation pictures. Admittedly, I have recently re-created an account for work purposes. I made sure to unfollow every friend, so nothing is popping up in my feed. Nothing to look at, so I'm not spending time on facebook. It's still useful for one-to-one or group communications, but exposing one's life on it should be considered an offense...

Realistically, it's 2020. You can't get away from some tech, and probably shouldn't. Some parts of my sports actually do _require_ me to have a whatsapp account (damn you whatsapp for not respecting "do not disturb" mode!).

Also if you work in tech, well, no need to elaborate here...

Make it less convenient to waste time. Convenience is key. And turn off notifications/phones when you are busy on something else. Give your full attention to people you are talking to (and if they are on their phone, well it's their loss), other beings you are interacting with, the wind in the trees, or that movie you're watching. Whatever, but do one thing at a time.