Ah, tech addiction…
The biggest shock came early, with the realization that I finally have the energy to enjoy mundane things. Tasks like cleaning the house, or doing the dishes, are no longer so terrible. It’s difficult to overstate how much of my energy was wasted by simply using these devices – and how much wife approval factor this project has. And it’s been only a few weeks of this soft detox.
I even took a long, warm bath. I haven’t had one in some 20 years!
A few more things, lack of phone borough me
I am going through a similar mobile phone detox. I used to use two mobile phones for the longest time. I think I rationalized to myself that I need to be able to stay on top of the updates on iOS and Android to do my job properly. For the last year, I’ve shifted to enterprise software. I am using this moment to also reduce my own dependency on my phone.
I’ve combined this shift with:
- moving back to a proper camera for taking pictures and videos
- shifting to using more paper and pen
- not using my phone for the first hour since waking up
I am also trying to make some additional changes including “calling” people more often than texting. These are all habits that came naturally to me and I am working particularly hard to change some of these.
I also realized that I really didn’t understand dopaminergic systems properly. The reason why I am able to stick and even write this post without giving in to watching yet another youtube video / scroll through instagram is two, maybe three fold:
- My store of will power doesn’t get depleted first thing in the morning as I have to use it all / most to take my face away from the phone
- Some of these other things are harder but also release more dopamine when I am able to do them
- Once you realize how vacuous the phone hits are, you also start to enjoy to do the harder things that end up releasing more dopamine to your system
I am ever more convinced that this is one of the most insidious things our kids are going to face. I am mostly doing this myself to gain clarity, conviction and practice on how to do this so that I can make sure that i can help my son when he needs it.