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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

#171

Post by winternett »

eastbound wrote: post #121
rapind wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Eventually the overload will destroy itself... Hang in there!

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

#172

Post by winternett »

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.

Me too, these days the greatest days are the ones without crisis and when I don't need to do anything productive online.

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

#173

Post by aagha »

Due to this same feeling of losing control to my phone, I spent the most I've ever spent on Daywise [0] to manage my notifications.

I'm not checking my phone one quarter of what I was before.

Notifications throughout the day except for the very important things/people I deem are grouped for later viewing if I want to--I find at the end of the day I almost always dismiss most of them.

0 - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.synapse.al...

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

#174

Post by [deleted] »

Mezzie wrote: post #150
tester756 wrote: post #3

When I was writing my thesis I told myself to get separate room & computer without all those distractions like discord, hn blocked, etc. so I can perform context switch easier 95% of the work was coding and it actually helped me to sit for 1-3 hours per two weeks and do solid step ahead Unfortunely now I do not have such privilege to have separate room to learn :( I believe environment may make things way easier. Als…

Can you try to play something that isn't musical and note the differences? It might be easier than just turning it off. White/brown noise or nature sounds or something. > I do wonder whether there is some "distraction meter" for workplace - e.g 3 meetings a day (all of them with 2h gaps) + scrum + 5 emails that require at least 5 minutes of attention = not much can be done Cal Newport's Deep Work goes into this a bit…

[deleted]

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

#175

Post by sdze »

Following atomic habits for habit forming process: - If you have important stuff to do, put the smartphone away in another room for example. Out of sight, you won't notice anything missing.

To be honest, since introduction of Do not disturb by Apple iPhone, I am very unbothered during working hours.

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

#176

Post by waplot »

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…

No post body was provided.

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

#177

Post by bigpeopleareold »

I have not dedicated so much time to video games for years. It is probably the same response that some have to smartphones. For me, I saw my time being wasted on nothing. While I am good at wasting time, it was a particular thing I felt was hard to just timebox.

My vice instead is spending too much time reading or tinkering on my laptop in my spare time, even sometimes when I should be doing other things (probably like now :) )

I like the smartphone for things that are useful - primarily maps, a chat application with my wife, translating words between my first and second language that will absolutely plague me if I don't know the answer to and looking up some things on the go. That's good enough for me with that.

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

#178

Post by rhubarbcustard »

throwawayarnty wrote: post #148

Hackernews is also a huge source of distraction, but some people here won’t admit it.

It is but, for me anyway, it's a world away from Facebook, Insta and similar sites in terms of quality and usefulness. I do find myself opening my phone and having a quick look down the HN homepage listing but I'm fairly safe in the knowledge that anything I do read will of decent quality and have some benefit.

The other big difference is that HN doesn't got out of its way to make you consume more or want to constantly come back, that's not their business model.

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

#179

Post by mantas »

baby wrote: post #166
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…

> The crazy part is, not one single person I know thinks of it as a bad thing That's what gets me the most. We all have an insane addiction, yet nobody seems to be talking about it. It's completely socially accepted. Interestingly, a lot of weird things are totally socially accepted. Religion, alcohol, coffee, etc. (I'm a sinner who drinks but still, it's weird)

Religion/acohol/coffee makes a society work. One gives a common background for a community, another gives stress relief valve and helps mating, the third one lets people stay on the clock and focused.

Meanwhile phone disrupts all of those. Tears apart communities into online bubbles managed by algorithms, increases stress and prevents mating and shortens attention span and disrupts focus.

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

#180

Post by fprct »

It's not really about the smartphones, I think. They are just a symptom of much more fundamental behavior (which may or may not be problematic - depending on how you look at it).

All those 5-10 second breaks -- waiting for a light, waiting for an elevator... If it were not for the phone, what would you typically do? Focus on some random thought or two. Then snap out of it and carry on. The fact that now this is often not a random thought but random input from random app doesn't seem to change that much - pattern stayed the same, just now you can see it in other people from the outside, so it seems more profound.

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