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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

#101

Post by tedmiston »

drivers99 wrote: post #25

There was a period a few years ago, where I went without a smartphone, and used a flip phone instead. (My iPhone 4 became too slow after upgrading iOS too many times, and before I got an iPhone 6.) Phone service without a data plan is a lot cheaper too. From the article: “A phone-free weekend involved some complications. Without Google Maps, I got lost and had to pull over for directions. Without Yelp, I had trouble…

I'm reading Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport right now which was the first thing that came to mind reading this article as well. For others that are curious, that book asks the question "Does the way we spend our time [particularly in the digital world] reflect our values?"

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Minimalism-Choosing-Focused-N...

http://calnewport.com/books/digital-minimalism/

IMO Cal's approach being driven from core values and encompassing all device usage resonates on a deeper level for me than the author's. That said, I haven't read yet the book written by the coach of the article author, How to Break Up With Your Phone. Looking forward to checking that out.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Break-Up-Your-Phone/dp/039958112X

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#102

Post by naasking »

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…

> But what if the space is only confined to "succumb to bad habits" for some people?

No person would be so constrained. The space of possible behaviours is simply too large, so you're arguing a moralistic stance from an unreasonable assumption.

Furthermore, free will and determinism are not at odds. Even if someone were fully constrained to act in only a single way, that doesn't entail they would not be morally blameworthy.

The mistake you and others who argue against free will make, is that you assume moral blameworthiness necessarily entails punishment. While this is often the case in religious beliefs, it simply does not follow without additional assumptions. Your beef is not with free will. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#103

Post by pcprincipal »

Another strategy to help ditch the phone - try for a few days rating each day on a scale from -2 to 2 and recording a few notable things about each day. I learned about this technique from Jim Collins, who shared it on a podcast with Tim Ferriss[1]. Collins says sorting the spreadsheet is especially useful because you can see patterns and learn what separates good days from bad days.

I bring this up in relation to this article because after three days of doing this (for those interested, [-1, 0, 0]), I concluded distractions are the biggest reason I didn't go [2, 2, 2]. My phone for me at least is the #1 cause of distractions - simply looking at it and seeing a notification can derail my train of thought. Setting it on Do Not Disturb and only checking a set number of times I'm thinking will be helpful.

One more thing here - knowing that I need to rate myself at the end of each day absolutely is in the back of my mind during the day, which I think is a positive.

[1] - https://tim.blog/2019/02/18/jim-collins/

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#104

Post by snarfy »

nickjj wrote: post #16

For developers or people who are on a computer a large portion of the day, I don't think the problem has anything to do with smartphones. A lot of those addictions (checking email, checking if someone engaged with one of your replies or content, etc.) can happen on a laptop or desktop workstation. The only difference is you're looking at them in a browser instead of on your phone. I never had a smartphone but I am a…

Totally agree. Actually I think were are worse in that laptops and workstations are more potent drugs than the phone ever could be. People will be glued to their phones in public, but we don't even bother to go out into public.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#105

Post by egypturnash »

DKnoll wrote: post #55
rjf72 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could simply think. We live in an era where there is a nonstop stream of information and at times it seems that people have adjusted to this by becoming more and more passive consumers of it all. I mean if you just consider the headlines you've read in the past week you probably have enough to occupy your mind for many months! And this is still 'driven' thinking, as opposed to more creative thinking on whateve…

We think from the moment we're born to the moment we die, whether it is conscious or not. There is a false premise in this thread that states staring idly at a phone screen means there are no other thoughts going through your head. Being deep in thought doesn't transport you into higher plane of existence. You still need somewhere to fix your eyes so you don't look like a lunatic on a packed commuter train where peop…

There are a lot of different sizes and kinds of thoughts. With very few exceptions I find that my staring-at-the-phone thoughts are small, fast thoughts.

When you get into the habit of filling every bored moment with whatever you can find in the phone, you start to lose the ability to stare off into space - maybe out of the window, maybe close your eyes - and let your brain put together bigger thoughts.

It doesn’t help that there are a lot of things on your phone designed explicitly to try and addict you to them, either. It can be hard to put down the phone even when you know damn well you’ve gone through everything interesting in whatever apps you’re addicted to.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#107

Post by maxerickson »

StanislavPetrov wrote: post #27

I still use a flip phone, even though its getting harder now that they are trying to force everyone to use smartphones. For example, ticketmaster is mobile only now (for NFL games at least). There is no option to get your tickets physically sent. No matter how hard it gets, it simply won't ever be worth the massive privacy implications to me.

Say you keep wifi off most of the time and don't use a lot of apps. What's the massive difference in privacy?

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#109

Post by TheCoelacanth »

ChrisLTD wrote: post #97
davidscolgan wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The trouble is that often the thing you are looking for isn't in the documentation, it's in some random Github issue.

Re: I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#110

Post by 1_over_n »

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…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique Pomodoro technique for the win. Just work for 25 minutes and then time box your procrastination for 5 minutes. Be disciplined and you will be surprised how far it gets you!
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