Update on digital detox

Some time ago, I expressed my desire about leaving social media. It has been a success, well mostly. Other than a few hiccups here and there, I have been able to use 0 social media. I do use WhatsApp for work stuff and talking with family, but nothing further. The results have been mostly positive other than the fact that I have developed new ways to get addicted~ The smartphone. So today, (or should I say night? ) begins the second phase of my digital detox. I am reducing smartphone usage. After leaving social media, my phone usage had reduced drastically for quite a while. But since a few weeks I have observed that it is rising slowly and the main culprit is the browser. I have developed a bad habit of browsing the internet while idle. The thumb needs to move, right?

So to overcome this, I took a few steps. Right now. At 2 AM.

• I removed the browser from my home-screen, so every time I need to use it I have to go to the app drawer and open it.
• I removed all communication apps from my phone which were not an absolute necessity.
• From the communication apps that remain, I disabled notifications. No more psy-ops from the app developers to make me pick up my phone. (WhatsApp has already begged me once to enable notifications)
• I have decided that all my digital activities will be done through the computer unless absolutely unavoidable.
• Phone calls will be preferred over texting.
• Doom-scrolling is banned in this house. If I feel the urge to scroll, I will do five push-ups.
• I will get a satchel/bag of some sort to carry my laptop to wherever I go and prefer to use it over the phone for online activities. The action of opening the laptop to access the internet will make me think twice about my actions.
• A notebook will now be a much more frequent part of my life. All my digital notes will be transferred to said notebook by hand. (I have already transferred my expenses to a separate notebook since a month.)
• Frequent use of email over chat services to favor async communication.
• Will try to use grayscale mode on the smartphone as much as possible.

These are the points that I have planned to act upon. I wrote this post because I cannot sleep right now. If you are in regular contact with me over IRC or mobile communication channels, I will be much less available on there from now on. Seeing the above points, one might wonder~

Why won’t this guy just use a dumbphone? Well, that’s because smartphones have become an indispensable part of our lives and it is near impossible to live without one when you have a job. There is other stuff that I want to talk about, but I suppose this is nor the time or the place to do it~

See you soon!