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I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

nytimes.com

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Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#91

Post by trumped »

grecy wrote: post #3

I'm 37, and I have never really had a smartphone, because I don't want one. I know I tend to be addicted to the internet (I can't resit my laptop when it's nearby with wifi), so I think it's more healthy for me to just not have a smartphone than to resist temptation (like an alcoholic simply not going into bars). I'm a Software Engineer and I've never downloaded or used an "app" on a smartphone. I did buy a new Andro…

I did try to resist for a long time (about the same age as you), but I finally caved in a few years ago.... But I'm thinking of going back without a pocket computer because the mobile companies can't be trusted.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#92

Post by frosted-flakes »

smileypete wrote: post #41
honzzz wrote: post #26

How do you separate the enriching part from the addictive part? To me the problem is that my laptop and my phone are magical doors that lead to both smart people at HN and some niche subreddits/blogs that really make me think, change my opinion, make my life more interesting... and right next to it there are social media bubbles, overwhelming stream of news and insight porn that I can read/watch for hours anxious tha…

I'm coming to the conclusion that it may be best to somehow curate and control your own 'feed'. Eg for Youtube, block the suggestions and just rely on RSS from subscribed channels, or bookmark videos recommended elsewhere. What may also work well is to think of a topic that is really interesting, /then/ go searching for it on Youtube. Trouble is the suggestion algorithms also work to wear down discretion, as it seems…

For YouTube, I reccomend disabling watch and search history. That way, the only thing that shows up is from channels you're subscribed to or videos that are related to other vidoes you've "liked". If you want to remember a video, add it to a private playlist.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#93

Post by raz32dust »

legionof7 wrote: post #87
cyberferret wrote: post #84

I am amazed at how my brain's ability to focus on long term tasks has been diminished over the past few years. I used to be a voracious reader, but lately have struggled to read (offline) more than a few pages at a time. I won't blame smartphone usage entirely, but it certainly has been a large contributor to that. This year, I've begun a concerted campaign to reduce my phone time. The latest iOS screen time tracker…

Yeah, I've noticed this too. I used to be able to finish pretty long books in one sitting and be completely absorbed in them, but now I struggle to finish a chapter.

It could also be that you've grown older, and have more responsibilities now, so you just don't really have as much time in continuous blocks? I used to be a reader in my teens as well, but in adult life, with work, social life and the tons of other activities that I have access to, it just isn't a priority. Slightly older friends of mine who are married/have kids have even less time. So it seems like free time reduces throughout adulthood until around retirement/kids-go-to-college, and then starts increasing again.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#94

Post by iliketosleep »

shrimp_emoji wrote: post #83
SllX wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is discipline. That’s not the answer people generally like , but it is real and honest. I wake up at the same time every day, have the same routine every day, and have the same commute most days. To an extent, software has made it possible to chuck my own bad habits in the bin and start anew, but it doesn’t have a say in how I spend my time. I read Hacker News and comment here because I like to, but if I n…

>You are the master of your own destiny. You don’t have to spend time in any way that you don’t choose to, so you might as well spend time taking care of yourself rather than trying to figure out how. Fundamentally, I don't think this is true. I think free will is a meme. When you exercise self-possession to change your habits (insofar as you really did it consciously to begin with[0]), you're moving within a predefi…

How can we possibly escape Darwinism? Isn't it always present in one form or another? There will always be some particular traits will lead to better rates of survival in a particular society. In a world of abundance, discipline could be key - I have seen strong men destroy themselves through a lack of discipline. In a world of scarcity, those same men may have been heroic survivors. In modern society, we try to transform the selection process of Darwinism into something more abstract and therefore less noticeable to our primitive brains.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#95

Post by radicalriddler »

PavlovsCat wrote: post #75
PavlovsCat wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't preach as much as mostly take light jabs. "Oh, so what's new on Myspace? I am so hip to all this interwebs stuff", that sort of thing. They just give me a confused grin... I mean, what are they gonna do, unfriend me on a platform I'm not on? :P And I also had a few conversations about this topic, with smartphone users, and they were rather pleasant. It's difficult on the web, then it easily can sound arrogant…

Fine, so they can also downvote me so that I can magically realize what was so terribly wrong about comment, I forgot about that.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

> Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#96

Post by tramGG »

I got rid of my phone for 3 years and my employer (between failed attempts at startups) was appalled that I would even consider this. They became irate but eventually acquiesced. It's weird how much people can't understand how others don't want their addiction. This doesn't happen with heroin, or other drugs, just technology.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#97

Post by ChrisLTD »

davidscolgan wrote: post #50
honzzz wrote: post #26

How do you separate the enriching part from the addictive part? To me the problem is that my laptop and my phone are magical doors that lead to both smart people at HN and some niche subreddits/blogs that really make me think, change my opinion, make my life more interesting... and right next to it there are social media bubbles, overwhelming stream of news and insight porn that I can read/watch for hours anxious tha…

If you figure out a way to solve this problem, please let me know - as someone who works from home, internet distractions are the biggest thing that stand between me and success. I've heard the advice for writers of "turn of your wifi and just write without distractions". But, coding requires the internet in most cases. Hacker News is simultaneously enriching and distracting for me. Youtube is the source of all knowl…

One suggestion and one question:

- Consider using a tool like Dash to create an offline cache of docs so you can turn off WiFi and still program effectively https://kapeli.com/dash

- What freelancer community did you join?

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#98

Post by [deleted] »

tramGG wrote: post #96

I got rid of my phone for 3 years and my employer (between failed attempts at startups) was appalled that I would even consider this. They became irate but eventually acquiesced. It's weird how much people can't understand how others don't want their addiction. This doesn't happen with heroin, or other drugs, just technology.

[deleted]

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#99

Post by ericsoderstrom »

As a mindfulness-building experiment, I'll occasionally try writing down everything I do on a given day (before I do it). Even small things, like reading an article on hacker news, or responding to a text.

It's kind of the inverse approach to what is described in the article. I don't necessarily forbid myself from doing any smart-phone related activity. As long as I intentionally make some mental note of what I'm about to do before I do it. For some reason this seems to be more effective for me than the elimination approach.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#100

Post by frosted-flakes »

fuball63 wrote: post #24

I like the way the author talks about rewiring of the brain. A lot of articles like this focus on the social aspect of phone usage; anxiety and isolation. There are however more intagible but noticable affects. When I went on an international vacation and didnt buy a phone plan, I just turned it off at the airport and left it in my bag. I felt a strange clarity of thought and change in perspective about 3 days in. Wh…

You must have an old BlackBerry, because new ones are just like any other Android phone.
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