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Do Not Disturb: How I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Slacker, Mar 4, 2019.

  1. Slacker

    Slacker Well-Known Member

    Not sure if this has been covered here in the past week, but worth a thread in itself.

    I’ve been a heavy phone user for my entire adult life. But sometime last year, I crossed the invisible line into problem territory. My symptoms were all the typical ones: I found myself incapable of reading books, watching full-length movies or having long uninterrupted conversations. Social media made me angry and anxious, and even the digital spaces I once found soothing (group texts, podcasts, YouTube k-holes) weren’t helping. I tried various tricks to curb my usage, like deleting Twitter every weekend, turning my screen grayscale and installing app-blockers. But I always relapsed.

    Eventually, in late December, I decided that enough was enough. I called Catherine Price, a science journalist and the author of “How to Break Up With Your Phone,” a 30-day guide to eliminating bad phone habits. And I begged her for help.

    Mercifully, she agreed to be my phone coach for the month of January, and walk me through her plan, step by step. Together, we would build a healthy relationship with my phone, and try to unbreak my brain.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/...A_2lZTt8oatFEjpLG9lJkZx7hUCulgJx4WR7WTb_esV9g
     
    lakefront likes this.
  2. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    I still have a flip phone, mainly because A, it works, and B, I don't want to become a slave to my phone like so many others. There are drawbacks, of course, but to me the positives far outweigh them.
     
  3. typefitter

    typefitter Well-Known Member

    The only reason I like a smart phone over a flip—the Motorola Razr was my favourite phone ever—is for Maps. Driving in LA, it's weirdly essential. I don't get people who are addicted to their phones. It just never had that grip on me. (I'm sure other people would say the same about my affection for pot or poker, so I'm not casting aspersions.) I just don't get it. But that addiction is real, and it ruins things. One of the major reasons my marriage fell apart was because my ex is addicted to her phone and social media. It totally changed her as a person.
     
  4. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    That is very true. Luckily I don't drive in LA, or generally have someone with me when I need that kind of app.
     
  5. swingline

    swingline Well-Known Member

    Why do you need a map in LA? Just ask someone from SoCal because all natives know the best way to get somewhere.
     
  6. CD Boogie

    CD Boogie Well-Known Member

    People who are addicted to their phones lack imagination, because are way better things to be addicted to.
     
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