Introduction
Even amongst other millennials, I was online pretty early in my life. My dad
owned a company that sold PC's and did networking for schools in the early 90's, so I was surrounded
by computers from a young age. These devices were sources of great joy and wonderment, especially as
every year brought leaps and bounds of advancement! I'm not old enough to have been involved in
BBS's, but my introduction to the internet was via a 56k modem screeching its way onto the World Wide
Web. I remember my complete awe when one of my family members got a DSL connection that was
always online, no dialing required!
This completely positive opinion of computing and technology in
general continued up through my teens. The first whiff of something being wrong was with the then
prevalent issue of "MySpace drama" (I was not, at that time, aware of the myriad other ways technology
can be used to harm and subjugate people). Teens are notoriously petty and sensitive, full of emotions
and skin the thickness of a fly's wing. Of course having a sounding board with the barrier of a screen
was going to stir up unrest in a flighty group of people with poor coping skills. This was
nothing, though, compared to the impact of Facebook.
Impetus
Though I quickly picked up social media, I soon became frustrated with the
platforms. The chief issues I had with social media were privacy violations and massive data collection
("If the service is free, then you are the product."), purposeful incitement of
social/political divisions for the mere aim of driving up clicks, and the aggregation and curation of
web content in a way that hampers discovery and thoughtfulness. Nothing was there to serve the user,
only the shareholders. The user experience was already lackluster, but over the years, these platforms
became downright irredeemable.
Of course, the hook to keep you on these platforms is the insistence that it's
the only way to stay in contact with other people. How can we rely on such an inhuman service
to administer our human connections? No one needs these services, and in time I finally realized that
I don't need these services. I don't participate in social media, and it's
an improvement, but I feel like there's still something with a hold on me. It's not so much a problem
of flushing the enemy out from the shadows to identify the one, single barb causing all my technology
woes, but rather seeing that it's a net, a multitude of knots ensnaring me.
Intrusions
If I'm not on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, then why
do I still feel like my day is constantly being interrupted, my time being stolen bit by bit? When I
want to watch a show, I get ads. When I want to read an article, ads. When I want to listen to a song,
ads. When I want to play a game, ads. So many ads! How much of our economy is driven by buying
and selling ads, by buying and selling private data to directly target those ads? It honestly seems
like a pretty shaky foundation.
But is this really the only way technology, principally smartphones, intrude
upon our lives? The ads are one issue, but arguably more disturbing is the content of our feeds. Aside
from our own chosen content (in the form of subscriptions and follows), there is content chosen for us.
Even if you never log into a platform, what you see is curated to elicit certain reactions, and those
reactions are not positive.
Research has shown that seeking negative engagement will hook more users and for longer. To that
end, many entities ensure that the top videos and articles on a given platform are designed to enrage,
frighten, and shock. This sort of constant attack on our senses and sensibilities is
provably harmful.
Impulse
Let's pull back a bit. I've already talked about what is found on many online
platforms, and how that can harm us. But if it's so bad, why do I keep coming back to it. Why am I
so drawn to it? After years of checking my phone during every "empty moment," it's become more
than a habit; it's become a physiological impulse, an addiction. I feel compelled to
check my phone, even when I'm in the middle of doing something else, like watching a movie, playing a
game, or hanging out with friends. When I look back on this behavior, I'm frustrated and disappointed
in myself. I feel like I'm not giving my friends, or even the media I'm engaging with, the attention
they deserve, and I feel like I'm getting a shallow, abridged version of those experiences.
But again, if I'm left with these negative feelings, then why do I keep
doing it? Phone dependence can be
similar to drug addiction. If I forget my phone, I feel a very real dread, I feel it
buzz in my pocket, even when it doesn't, and instead of using it to find joy, I now have to have it to
"feel normal." These realizations are honestly scary, and of course, my first inclination is to just
ignore them and tell myself, "It's not a big deal. I probably use my phone less than most people,
even." Actually doing something about this issue is a pretty big effort, both in logistics and in
willpower.
Independence
My goal is to eliminate the dependence on my phone, what feels like an unwilling devotion. The first step, identifying the problem and readily admitting that it is indeed a problem, has been accomplished, but where to go from here? How do I break my phone's grasp on me? By breaking apart the phone itself. Not literally, of course (though I certainly feel tempted to do so at times). Rather, break apart the phone into discrete functional components: Camera, web browser, communication, calendar, media player, clock, and navigation. There are certainly other components that the smartphone can be divided into, but these distinctions serve my needs well enough (and are not set in stone). Lets take a look at each...
- Camera
- Take photos, share photos
- This is an easy one for me, as I'm already well in the weeds when it comes to photography. I have a cadre of cameras, as well as a little photo printer.
- The advantages are much, much better photo quality and usage experiences.
- Web Browser
- Browse the web, in all its webby glory
- Again, easy to break out of the smartphone, as I have a laptop and a desktop PC. The real challenge here is to get (back) into the habit of using them as the primary device for web browsing. Instead of impulsively checking something online, as the thought pops into my head, I need to save it for when I'm at the computer (a pocket notebook can help me remember what I want to look up).
- The advantages are bigger, better screens and better formatting compatibility (especially on sites that aren't owned by corporate monoliths), wider choice of browsers and features.
- Communication
- Talk, text, email
- This encompasses the actual phone part of a smartphone. And this is also what I will end up keeping the phone for. Unfortunately, I can't go full dumbphone, since I need to have access to emails and MS Teams for my job, so I'll have to have a smartphone in my pocket. What I can do, though, is hinder the functionality of the rest of the smartphone by using an older model. I've chosen an iPhone SE, 3rd gen. It's much smaller than many contemporary smartphones (thank goodness!), the camera sucks, and using some apps can be a bit of a pain (since many are not well optimized for a screen this size).
- Calendar
- Agenda, planning, days of the month (I can't be the only adult who still struggles with which months have 30 or 31 days, right?)
- For this, I've started using physical, paper planners. Have to buy one each year, but it's a fun and functional accessory! I just have to remember to have the thing on me, so a smaller sized planner is best for my needs.
- The advantages are that writing down important dates and appointments actually helps me remember them better, and it also gives me a chance to make use of the nice pens that I love so much!
- Media Player
- Music, videos
- Streaming media, whether to a smartphone or TV, is problamatic for several reasons. The most pragmatic consideration is quality. When an internet connection dips, so does the quality of the song or video, as the service buffers. But more philosophically, media ownership is on the brink of being a memory. Not only is streaming media infuriatingly inundated with ads, but the payment to view/listen is only a license to essentially rent. The hosting platforms have the ability (which has been exercised by plenty of platforms, plenty of times) to revoke that access at any time, no matter what you paid for it! I'm trying to buy as much of my media physically, as I can stand and can afford, but I'm also choosing only digital media that is DRM-free.
- The advantages are actual ownership, higher quality, and the joy of discovery by seeking out media, rather than choosing from a poorly curated pool.
- Clock
- Telling the time, setting alarms
- One of the most common impulses (at least for me) is checking the time on my phone. In general, I want to elimate that habit, as this is also the most common gateway for me to get sucked into some other distraction. My solution has turned into a fun fascination with watches. I like their design, the immediacy of use, and learning about the history and various complications they can have! I've also gotten myself a bedside alarm clock to wake me up in the morning.
- The advantages are engaging with a fun, little accessory and not having to worry about my phone being charged in order to wake up in the morning or stay on track throughout the day.
- Navigation
- GPS and turn-by-turn directions
- Did you know that you don't have to have active cell service on a phone in order to use GPS? I love taking trips on my motorcycle, but found it obnoxious (maybe even a little dangerous) to be interrupted by notifications pinging and obscuring the map. Now, I'm using my previous phone, without a SIM card, purely as a GPS device. Offline use requires that maps be downloaded ahead of time, but if I took a really long trip, I could always stop and download more maps over a wifi connection.
- The advantages are navigation without interruptions, as well as not having to worry about losing my only point of contact in an emergency if something happens to the phone mounted on my motorcycle handlebars.
Intention
The whole point of digital minimalism, personally, is to live with greater
intentionality. Rather than being swept along by a current of distractions and influence, I want to be
the one steering my life, and that all starts with being decisive in the little moments, day-to-day. I
choose how I spend my time, even if that means being bored. I don't need to fill every waking second
with entertainment; that sort of behavior is harmful. The groundwork of those choices is setting
myself up with alternatives, as well as creating purposeful omissions.
I'm not totally cut off from the digital world (though I do seem to have
a striking longing to go live in the woods, a la Thoreau), but I have defined certain boundaries.
I believe we have to see the digital world as accessing us at least as much as we access it (though
very likely moreso). In that paradigm, it is important that we erect clear and functional gates
that only allow access to ourselves when we choose. Autonomy is a keystone of digital
minimalism. How we live our lives, how we are influenced, how we are reachable should all be an
individual's choice, not a matter of circumstance.
← back