mornings without the phone (regaining my mind)
Believe it or not, you will be OK if you don’t use your “smart”-phone to look up everything the minute you think of it, if you don’t have it by your bed at night and you don’t turn it on for a few hours. You might even regain a less-addicted, more thoughtful “smart”-you.
For the past few days I’ve been going “Cold Turkey” on using the “smart” phone as part of my morning routine: checking news, listening to podcasts, checking email, looking up things I’m curious about, etc.
It feels like I’m getting my own mind back.
I have spasms of “I have to look this up”, but I really don’t need to. They quickly pass, and I’m OK without knowing why the Crickets were not with Buddy Holly when his plane went down.
Sometimes you want to maintain control of your own stream-of-consciousness. Sure, it might be free association of ideas, knowledge and experiences that are already bouncing around in your skull. But they are YOUR thoughts. Not some advertising-induced, attention grabbing graphic-heavy distractions that some web-designer or marketing person decided you needed to see to drive “engagement” with whatever their schtick is.
It’s OK not to know. Get your own mind back. Break your addiction to the smart phone, for at least part of the day.
The first version of this was written in a paper journal with a pencil.
#44 of #100DaysToOffload take 2.1, https://100daystooffload.com/