First published: March 24, 2024 | Permalink | RSS

A dithered image of a clock tower atop a storage warehouse looming over a tree-filled neighborhood

Despite a very full schedule leading up to the Social Justice Hackathon, I have been really enjoying springtime this year. Some warm days where we were lucky enough to be able to clear out a lot near my house that had previously invited dumping. But also some last cold days that threatened this year's early cherry and magnolia blossoms, but was gentle enough to leave them alone.

Part of enjoying spring has been trying to change some habits this year. The tl:dr; is that I severely cut down on phone time by switching to a phone that is extremely limited: It only does calls, texts, music, podcasts, directions, notes, and a hotspot. This has helped to let me use my time better and be more intentional in spending time.

For the past 8 years or so I have used some shape of iPhone, and even for about 3 years before that I used some odd smartphone or other (often something I found cheap enough at the time). Until my first bike shop job, I would just let every notification bubble up to the surface on both my handheld and desktop devices. Every social media like (or worse just those "Your friend liked a thing you may like" ones that should not be a notification).

I mention the bike shop job specifically because I remember the moment it was pointed out to me that every time my phone buzzed I looked at it, even if I had just put it down a moment ago. Once it was pointed out I noticed it each time: the weird habit that now seemed so strange and obviously time-consuming. I started by turning off any "like" notifications and just leaving messages and comments for the social media I used at the time.

But of course, each new platform and client has its own settings. So moving to one or starting a new one means going through settings and unchecking almost every box except the ones that were about people specifically reaching out to me (you know, the actual social part). I have historically always turned off all notifications off on laptops and computers since they are the same as the ones popping up on my phone.

I thought this worked pretty well for a while, but then I noticed another weird habit I had: In a moment of boredom, I would just open Twitter and scroll two thumb lengths and stare at the screen for a few minutes, close it, then do it again. I also would do this for Instragram, just opening it and not really taking in anything about current events or my friends' lives. I would just scroll a little. In thinking about it now, the motion is not that different from using a worry stone.

I tried deleting those apps from my phone and using the web-browser versions instead which did an okay job cutting down on scrolling, but not really enough. I was still spending hours a day doing that and would really prefer to spend that time doing something else. Nothing specific, but just more active and intentional (or in some cases, sleeping). Ultimately I deactivated or deleted my accounts on each of those and really only use Mastodon for social media now.

I do love short-form video (RIP Vine) and I tried Tiktok for a few days but recognized quickly that it was a genuine attention-sink and that I could not handle that so it went away quickly. I do still enjoy YouTube and want to keep it (or at least the videos I regularly watch there), but the Shorts feature also just sucks hours from a day. To help my time, I use a browser extension to completely remove Shorts from the site.

One of the biggest changes has been switching away from iPhones entirely and using a LightPhone 2 which has an e-ink screen, and can only do calls, texts, music, podcasts, directions, notes, and a hotspot. While they are improving it a lot regularly, it is a little rough around the edges, though I kind of like that. It does not do email or web browsing so that is now just something I do exclusively from a laptop.

Without having social media or scrollable media on my phone I find myself reaching for it less and have taken to carrying an e-reader with me loaded with at least one library book. In the past three months I've read more books than I did all last year. I also find myself listening to more podcasts and music when I want some stimulation.

The podcasts app works like most: subscribe to shows, download or stream as they come in. The music app is much more like the early days of mp3 players: Put the tracks you want into a playlist and upload them. I tend to prefer listening to albums so I added a bunch of digitized albums I own into the phone and have been enjoying that. I do wish the interface made it easier to both upload, order, and select albums specifically, but it certainly does its job.

This is certainly not a panacea for giving me my attention back. I do find myself still getting stuck in scroll-holes (often before bed just clickig "one more" YouTube video), or over-analyzing my budget. But what's great is that I have genuinely retaken hours of my days back. And this has changed my relationship to notifications. When they aren't flowing in constantly on my phone, they actually feel somewhat useful, though I am still very strictly only wanting any that are people actually talking to me. No "likes". I have actually turned on some notifications on my work laptop even.

I also have needed to change how I take in news. I have subscribed to daily newsletters from local news orgs, and to RSS feeds of other news orgs and blogs I regularly like to keep up with. I do still feel a little behind on news (maybe a day or two?), but considering the other positive changes I've seen this feels like a fine compromise until I can find a way to get RSS feeds to automatically go to my e-reader.

I like these changes so far and am still trying to find a better balance between being connected to others but not being burdened by tech. I do not want to be watched, followed, or harassed by advertisers, scammers, and data brokers. I want to be reachable by those who need me. I want to be able to reach out to friends. I am the hand, not the tool. And today, this hand wants to go o a bike ride.

Thank you for reading!