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My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

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Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

#121

Post by eastbound »

rapind wrote: post #106
winternett wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now that app makers have realized we're muting our phones and disabling app notifications, they're doing them within the apps... It creates dependency and anxiety. The best way I've found to deal with the constant prodding is to simply leave my phone at home or in the car nearby whenever I want to enjoy a day or moment. It's a device I paid for, it shouldn't cause me stress. Google and Apple can easily set up reasona…

I recently find that anything on my phone or computer that tries to grab my attention, whether it's in an app or on a website, produces immediate annoyance from me. Even some genuinely helpful (but unnecessary) notifications. Popups, badges, dings, etc. I hear about how "people" get a dopamine hit from the dings or whatever, and meanwhile I'm basically the opposite.

Stress. Especially on Twitter, every news today starts with “NEWS ALERT!” + a boring news or analysis that everyone knows. It produces stress. The content of the news is always highly disappointing.

Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

#122

Post by phonescreen_man »

iratewizard wrote: post #60
codemonkey-zeta wrote: post #59

> 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…

For anyone struggling, turning the screen to black and white helps. Less dopamine per hit makes it easier to break those habits.

Interesting, Set it to find out for myself

Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

#123

Post by kzrdude »

oifjsidjf wrote: post #66
codemonkey-zeta wrote: post #59

> 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…

I'm wanting to do a phone & computer distraction free day per week. I just haven't gotten started.. of course.

Maybe disabling data on the phone will be a good way to do it! (I still need to keep it around at work hours for calls.)

Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

#124

Post by Aeolun »

iratewizard wrote: post #60
codemonkey-zeta wrote: post #59

> 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…

For anyone struggling, turning the screen to black and white helps. Less dopamine per hit makes it easier to break those habits.

Color filters under Accessability, for those on iOS.

Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

#125

Post by davchana »

iratewizard wrote: post #60
codemonkey-zeta wrote: post #59

> 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…

For anyone struggling, turning the screen to black and white helps. Less dopamine per hit makes it easier to break those habits.

I did that few weeks ago after reading a similar comment here on hn. It helped, phone was less interesting; but then monkey brain made it a challenge game to assume, guess & fill colors in screen display images. More brain taxing, I changed it back to regular.

Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

#126

Post by 10x-dev »

xerox13ster wrote: post #4

I 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…

In terms of developing software without distractions, I like to recreate airplane conditions.

I load devdocs.io in a persistent tab, get all the software I think I'd need for the day/weekend and turn on airplane mode. I don't need to Google everything - between devdocs, man pages and just figuring stuff out by myself, it can be very fun to code disconnected.

Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

#127

Post by christiangenco »

10x-dev wrote: post #126
xerox13ster wrote: post #4

I 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…

In terms of developing software without distractions, I like to recreate airplane conditions. I load devdocs.io in a persistent tab, get all the software I think I'd need for the day/weekend and turn on airplane mode. I don't need to Google everything - between devdocs, man pages and just figuring stuff out by myself, it can be very fun to code disconnected.

I've recently realized I'm uncharacteristically productive on airplanes. I did a deep read of the first 8 chapters of a book I've been meaning to read on my last long flight. I had every intention of continuing at the same pace through to the end as soon as I checked into my AirBnB.

The moment I got internet back at touchdown marked the end of my progress on the book. This was... four days ago. I think some airplane condition replication might be just what I need. I'm curious if I could go as far as to get some uncomfortable airplane seats and a simulated sky window.

I didn't know about devdocs.io—thanks!

Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

#128

Post by blindmute »

kristianc wrote: post #43

Although the attention span myth is one of those things that is taken to be almost idiomatic, there’s actually very little empirical evidence for it. There’s no such thing as an ‘average’ attention span, and even for those individual tasks it would be very much context dependent (where I’m sitting, what I’m doing at the time, my general opinion of the author, the mood I’m in). It’s a nice story, and it will invariabl…

There's simply no empirical evidence that you love your wife/mother, so it would be foolish to believe that you do. Until a study is funded there's just no way for you to know. Trust science

Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

#129

Post by thrown_22 »

iratewizard wrote: post #60
codemonkey-zeta wrote: post #59

> 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…

For anyone struggling, turning the screen to black and white helps. Less dopamine per hit makes it easier to break those habits.

I wasn't even aware that's an option.

If nothing else it might make late night usage of the phone much less disruptive to sleep.

Re: My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span

#130

Post by rlayton2 »

thih9 wrote: post #69
vorpalhex wrote: post #32

Earlier 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.

Ultimately, if you are using the smartphone for a deliberate purpose, that's probably fine. Looking up a recipe, contacting a loved one, reading an ebook.

The problem is when you are just "on the phone", not really doing anything, not anything you planned to do, and not really getting anything done. Even this can be fine, as long as you go "I'd like to see whats on twitter for half an hour", rather than just opening things up and doing them because the algorithm pulls you in.

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