I realized last week that I was spending way too much time staring at the tiny computer I bought from Tim Apple. I think that’s understandable: there’s so much doom and gloom to scroll through, so many memes to laugh at, and so many gacha characters to collect and train up, and this little brick of glass and metal makes blasting my mind with all of it every few minutes so easy.
It’s also such a waste of time, and I realized it was keeping me away from the more fulfilling activities I actually want to partake in, including but not limited to italicizing lots of words for emphasis.
Although hucking my iPhone into the nearest body of water would’ve been some Grade A catharsis, that shitbag is far too useful for keeping in touch with people, finding my way through the world, and getting into Red Sox games. Plus, I’d miss my Guy Fieri phone case. The iPhone had to stay, albeit in a more limited form.
So with a single thumb, I dropped a series of tactical nukes on strategic locations. Goodbye, reddit. So long, Twitter, and tell Elon I think he’s wasting his money. Toodles, Facebook and Instagram, and have fun collapsing under the weight of your own greed. I’ll miss you a little bit, Dislyte, but I can get more rewarding video game time elsewhere. There was a pile of other cruft, too – I hadn’t realized just how much useless garbage I’d loaded onto this thing.
What’s left? A few music apps. My exercise, meditation, and mental health tools. My stock trading app, because I have a gambling problem. Imperfect Foods, because getting funny-looking vegetables delivered to my door seriously brightens my day. Sports/concert/wrestling ticket apps. And an AR tool that tells me what the stars are when I point my camera at them, because I always want to know that when I’m out at night and I’m too dumb to read a star chart on my own.
I should note that I am still allowing myself one social media check in the morning and in the evening, via a laptop that’s basically a desktop because it microwaves my nethers if I put it in my lap. I want to know what’s going on with my friends and with the world (and shamelessly hawk my books – here, buy some!), but now it’s contained, and it’s always done in ten minutes or so. I can’t get to it unless I’m in that one seat, in front of that one device, using an interface that makes getting sucked in a lot harder. I have to actively stop what I’m doing and go over there, which is a bigger barrier than it sounds.
It’s still early days here, but I’ve noticed a few things and we’ve gone way too far into this post without a bulleted list:
- I am, of course, spending significantly less time on social media – but it also feels a little more fulfilling when I do, because I’m not getting sucked into the drama or scrolling through the same shit multiple times a day. It’s no longer something to look at just to pass the time.
- I’ve got less to ruminate on, which means I’ve been less unhappy and more productive. I still know the world’s a trash heap set atop an altar of capitalist bullshit surrounded by little dancing devils greedily plucking chunks away as an angry meteor careens down toward it all, but it’s not in the forefront of my mind so much.
- I really have found more time for the things that I enjoy. I finished reading a 500-page book in about four days; for context, the last book I read was about 350 and took me over a month. That’s how I used to read before I knew what a coronavirus was. I’ve also been able to put more time into some of the real video games I had been struggling to find time for. And of course, I’ve gained momentum on a few writing projects, including this sadly neglected blog you’re now reading.
- I feel less overwhelmed by the need to keep up with it all. That’s a good thing.
- I’m more present when I’m out and about walking, or even just when I’m in my own place. There have been more moments of thought and introspection as I’ve sought to keep myself occupied during those little gaps in action that would’ve made me reach for my phone in the past, which I think are productive – or, at the very least, more productive than reading a bunch of a strangers arguing about whatever dumb thing is happening that day.
As I conclude my rant about how this change has been beneficial, I want to make clear that this isn’t some “holier than thou” sermon: it’s meant as an example that could maybe inspire people who’ve become similarly frustrated with how they’ve spent their time, with a clickbait-y title so at least a few people might buy a book. There is wisdom in moderation, and in recognizing the places we’ve gone overboard in ways that are keeping us from achieving our goals. Heck, I can think of at least one billionaire who wouldn’t be paying out the ass for a silly social network full of bots if he’d recognized that.