#technology addiction

[lucyslenses]

rat race.

Shot with Nikon D100.

[dialdownthenoise]

i had to admit something to myself today. i'm a tech addict. and not in a fun way.

the past year, i bought a dumbphone and used it instead of my smartphone. that was already my last resort. ever since covid, i knew that i couldn't get off screens.

my 18 hour screentime was my worst day. that's right. only 6 hours in the entire day i wasn't looking at my phone. and that's all i slept.

i have to use a smartphone. as an adult in this modern world, it's impossible not to. my local bank has closed, the mail and laundry in my apartment are managed with apps, and i even need it for college.

as soon as i started using it again for college this year, i felt myself being pulled right back to using my phone all day, every day. every single minute, every single second.

i even noticed that when i was using a dumbphone, i just transfered my addictive tendencies to my laptop.

today, i still find it hard to put a screen down and be in the real world. it's depressing that i can't think of a moment in my entire day-to-day life i'm not looking at a screen.

I'm so over it.

so, join me as i take my life back. i may not be comfortable living without headphones and screens right now, but i will be.

you can watch my journey. it might just inspire you to make some changes in your own life too.

[the-healing-mindset]

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It's well known that having a cluttered environment can make it much more difficult to focus and to complete tasks. Not to mention the overall negative effect on our health. But what about that same clutter coming from a digital device?

We've all felt that feeling of being "burned out" after spending hours working on our computer or even just scrolling on our phones. It's even worse when we have to work with multiple digital devices at once. Each having its own little way of interfacing with the outside world. Draining.

Then, we find ourselves mindlessly scrolling on one social media app, then we switch to the next, then the next. What about short-form videos? Email? Text messages?

We do this to numb ourselves. To bring ourselves some form of comfort. Despite this, these activities are doing nothing but damaging our psyches. Slowly eating away at our mental healthy and capacity.

Interfacing with the digital world can be just as draining, if not more draining than interacting with the real world. I know it's difficult, but do your best to dial back from the screentime. Pick up a book, talk to a friend in person. Draw, write, make something with your hands. Anything to get yourself off the screens for a while.

[beepbopboopop]

BRING BACK IPOD TOUCHES

So we can have a flip phone and an iPod and keep our apps and phone/text separate so we can get a break from apps sometimes without feeling completely disconnected from the world

Also bring back iPods in general I would love to have a device with all of my music alone

We thought having it all in one device was the best and don’t get me wrong it’s nice and very convenient but I would buy an iPod nano in a heartbeat if Apple started making them again

[dragoneyes613]

A highly intelligent friend now in his grave, a secularist and man of the Left, once sat with me in a Chicago park as we watched a circle of young people silently consulting their phones, ignoring one another. Suddenly he commented, "You know, if I were the devil, I would invent iPhones." Coming from an atheist, it was a remarkable observation.

Marie Sullivan, Johnkassnews.com, January 29, 2023

[comradenidhogg]

I know everyone wants to say kids and people in general, but kids are especially chained to their phones and screens, but I am very surprised that nobody is mentioning how car-centric infrastructure and car-centric planning of cities, suburbs, and rural areas that are almost completely unwalkable (ie: very limited sidewalks or bike lanes so people can't even go anywhere without having to drive a fucking car and roads that are increasingly getting wide and nearly impossible for kids, elderly people, and disabled people to cross before the light turns back green because all the roads are filled with traffic, and places like stores, schools, libraries, and parks are so far from walking distance in suburban and rural areas that kids can't even go to these places without having parents drive them to these places) is a HUGE factor, and imo probably even one of the main factors as to why kids are on screens more often than ever, rather than socializing with their peers outside in public places.

And while car-centric infrastructure hurts everyone, for older people, I also think that the increasingly long work hours per week (like it's often going up to 50-60 hours per week of work for many people, if not most people) so a lot of people have very limited free time and energy to partake in hobbies to relax and find enjoyment in (especially if they have families to take care of and other duties they need to follow) and also the 24-hour news cycle that keeps older people addicted to phones as well (especially since the news is often, if not always negative and is constantly shoved into people's browsing time even when they try to avoid the news).

Like, it is not just phone companies, but a variety of systemic factors that are making people too attached to their phones.

[neon-slime]

i hate when articles about non-substance based addiction* always say

"try to limit your time on them. set a timer for 1 hour, then stop. it may be hard, but you gotta do it"

like i know you're gonna have to do hard things to deal with addiction but like. a criteria of addiction is trouble moderating your use??

i'm not spending over 6 hours a day on my phone because oopsie i forgot to sign out. i have a screen timer. you just have to hit "more time" and it goes away.

(i only specify non-substance based addiction because i don't have a substance based addiction so i don't know what the articles are like. i imagine they are equally condescending tho)

[insane-control-room]

tech addict