TL;DR. Can someone summarize this for me?
My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span
81–90 of 231 posts
Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span
#82> When I pulled up at a stoplight waiting for the light to change, I would instinctively reached for my phone (mounted on my dash) to check my email (personal + work), check ESPN, look up something on Amazon, etc. While pumping gas in the car, I’d whip out my phone while waiting. Stuck in line somewhere? Time for my phone. Waiting in an elevator? The phone. Riding the train? The phone. Going to the bathroom? Make sur…
I never developed phone addiction in this way because I always had mobile data disabled. I only enable mobile data when I need to sync calendars. That being said: on PC and too often check hacker news and similar sites: I'm trying out Krishnamurti's "observation": Can you catch yourself the VERY MOMENT you wish to go to some website (NOT after you already did: but when you wish to go: what kind of pressure/frustratio…
Will definitely check out "observation", sound interesting!
I feel like the next step after recognizing and slowing/stopping the problem is with filling that void with meaningful work. For this I recommend "Deep Work" by Cal Newport. I felt like that book gave me the tools I needed to not just stop the bad habit, but replace it with constructive ones
Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span
#83I went through what I'd consider my version of this with RSS blog feeds back in the 00s. It wasn't a problem with notifications distracting me, it was the constant feeling that I wasn't keeping up with the feed (and I wasn't). Took a while to notice the stress it was contributing to my life but eventually it dawned on me and I had to drop the RSS feeds all together to get rid of it (every feed was to important to cut). So I switched to a different medium (reddit + hn) where there wasn't that feeling of a feed to keep up with.
Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Schedule a time where everyone agrees to not use screens. Dinner is a good starting point but ultimately, whatever works. Practice conversing and talking. Socialising is a muscle, and smartphones (and other devices) are a crutch that lets us avoid using that muscle.
What about people who use smartphones for socialising? Staying in touch with friends, finding new interesting people, browsing local events, deciding where to meet, etc.
With the kind of friends who won’t leave you alone for 2 hours to focus on something important, who needs enemies?
Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span
#85There are some valid insights in this piece, but just a note of caution about the book by Johann Hari that he cites a lot. This Twitter thread unpicks a lot of issues with that book: https://twitter.com/DrMatthewSweet/status/147912591089697587...
Thank you for that Twitter thread. Unfortunately quite a lot of books end up with criticisms that feel like it undermines a lot - Gun, germs and steel and Why we sleep both come to mind as having inaccurate or misleading information.
Yes, Why We Sleep seems to have been particularly egregious.
Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span
#86I did a digital detox in July of 2020, I had become overwhelmed with Discord and Reddit moderation and trying to Keep Up. I burned out hard. I turned off all electronics for a month and uninstalled the apps and restricted my phone use to calls and responding to 3 close friend's texts at a set time each day--I didn't keep it on me at all. No video games, no TV, no watch or music streaming. I had my library of local mu…
How much did the benefits continue past the end of your detox?
Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span
#87At the risk of sounding repetitive, this can also be a classic case of ADHD. If you also resonate with the post, ask yourself - do you have issues planning and completing long projects? Time management and procrastination issues? Lacking motivation? (Dis)organization problems? (Bonus: frustrated with yourself/your progress!) If (like me) you say "damn that's a lot of things I have to a significant degree" then you sh…
Could it be that smartphones and TV can cause ADHD?
Before such electronic media, books were the main media, and inherently required and trained users to concentrate on one thing at a time for extended periods.
TV and smartphones do the exact opposite
Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span
#88The best thing you can do is FULLY TURN OFF notifications from any social media app (twitter, facebook, instagram, etc). Anything that would result in a requirement to swipe down from the top of the screen on android and look at a notification/popup and either slide it away to dismiss it or click on it. It's easy to do in android or ios. You should only see content when you specifically choose to open the app. This i…
It improves battery life too.
Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span
#89I forgot who, but someone influential said more than 10 years ago that browsing internet is like having intellectual squirt, which keeps us wanting more. I guess a phone with Instagram/TikTok/Twitter just make it worse. My counter measurement is surrounding myself with all kinds of books and articles and courses. Whenever I have the urge to go to Twitter, for instance, I'd ask myself why. Usually being aware of the urge is enough for me to stop the urge. Otherwise, I'd pick a reading at the moment. If I really worry that I may spend too much time reading instead of going back to work, I'd take a Duolingo class, which takes no more than 5 minutes.
Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Schedule a time where everyone agrees to not use screens. Dinner is a good starting point but ultimately, whatever works. Practice conversing and talking. Socialising is a muscle, and smartphones (and other devices) are a crutch that lets us avoid using that muscle.
What about people who use smartphones for socialising? Staying in touch with friends, finding new interesting people, browsing local events, deciding where to meet, etc.
Browsing through my distractions websites- HN, Twitter, Reddit, Dilbert - only take me about 15 minutes to note everything interesting. I do that thrice a day, and it’s more than enough.