I have not yet written a sequel of a previous essay. So this is going to be my first attempt.
But first, why did I decide to write a sequel?
A few days back, I was watching a video by Angela Duckworth (author of the famous book ‘Grit‘) in a commencement speech. I will talk more about that later.
While watching it, a burst of current popped into my brain. This topic resonated deeply with me as one of my previous essays focused on humanity’s technological-induced transformation into zombies.
Of course, not every human has become a zombie. There are still a great number of sane human beings, who have not yet become slave of technology.
And there are many who are trying hard to reverse this phenomenon, becoming humans from zombies. But how could we improve chances for that?
This inspired to write a sequel of my previous post.
I am also not untouched by the ill effects of technology. The scrolling of social media and eye-catchy (and irrelevant) click baits constantly try to seduce me. Sometimes I fall into that trap and sometimes I save myself.
What I can share through this article is what I have learned from my experience and knowing /reading about other humans who have managed to remain calm and creative even in this agitated time.
The Prequel of This Essay
First and foremost, you must read the first part of this article to get most out of this one.
Willpower to Resist Your Phone is Almost Fruitless
Now about that speech I was talking about. One line from Duckworth was-
“Where you physically place your phone, just might be one of the most consequential decisions you make. And unlike some decisions, the choice of where you keep your phone is one you get to make over and over again every hour of every day for the indefinite future.”
That’s some strong lines. But if you truly realize the significance of this, you would appreciate my notion of zombie (Full speech if you want to listen).
Now, let’s say you decide to take back your life from the prison of screen addiction.
Where do you start?
From your phone. Why phone?
Of all the items you use each day, your phone maintains the closest physical proximity, a constant companion within arm’s reach.
Over the last two decades, research studies have unequivocally shown that willpower is overrated.1
Thus, resisting temptations like phone usage is extremely difficult just by willpower. As I mentioned in my previous essay-
“Millions of dollars are paid to thousands of Silicon Valley engineers, neurobiologists, designers, and others to create tech products so addictive that users should neglect everything else in their lives to keep scrolling their phones.”
If willpower is not enough, what else is more effective?
Creating a conscious barrier between you and your phone. Just from my personal experience, I have found several things to be effective in this regard.
Do Not Buy Expensive Phones
If you think something is precious, it is hard to create detachment from it (at least for most people). If you buy a phone close to $1000, you would try to justify that value by using it more often. It is like what is the point of spending so much money if you are not even using it more often.
Majority of people don’t need flagship phones. You absolutely don’t need all the fancy features of a $1000 phone. The reason most of us want to buy expensive phones is because of the signaling effect. Using an expensive phone signals higher status (this is true for most people, there could be some rare exceptions). This is often a subconscious process. When you are deciding which phones to buy, you are not consciously aware of this, but subconsciously signaling is at play.
What’s more, to bias your decisions towards buying an expensive phone, companies employ all kinds of psychological tricks. One of them is the framing effect.2 People don’t make buying decisions based on raw information or what they really need. The presentation and contextualization of information influence their buying decisions.
Let’s say there are three phones you have shortlisted to purchase.
- First one is $300 phone: It has most of the features you need. However, it’s advertised as having only essential features.
- Second one is $600 phone: It has more features that you would actually use. Marketed as the most balanced phone for everyday users.
- Third one is $1100 phone: It has way more features that you would actually ever use. This one is advertised as the most deluxe, ultimate phone for people who need more than average phone.
No one wants to associate themselves with average things. For people who would be absolutely fine using $300 phone, would most probably buy at least the $600. After all, who wants just basic thing. And people for whom $600 phone makes most sense would buy the $1100 phone after watching many reviews of $1100 phone where people have praised about the beauty of this phone (which further biased to buy the most deluxe phone).
It is difficult to keep a distance if you have an expensive phone (I would consider >$500 or >₹30000 as expensive). The moment you don’t see your expensive phone at your sight, chances are you get agitated about it.
Physical Distance From Your Phone
My routine with my phones is that when I come back from work, I randomly keep my phone just anywhere (on table, chair, book, rack, bathroom drawer). I have no fixed place. Most days, I almost forget about where have I kept my phone unless I really need it, like calling someone, picking up calls (which I am slightly lazy) or looking up something important. Unless the next day when I again go to work, I don’t care much about my phone.
This has benefitted me in the form that I usually get more time to focus on other stuff than my phone because I can’t see it in my immediate sight. The larger point is that by creating a physical separation with your phone, you can design an environment where you can better manage your temptations to scroll social media or internet.
As turned out, I found out there has been research on this as well recently. Some researchers found that when taking an IQ test, having your phone within sight, even if it’s face down, lowers your score. While keeping your phone in a bag or in another room, raises it. Every time you see your phone and fight the urge to look at it, you lose mental energy, making it harder to concentrate on what you’re doing.3
The most effective suggestion from this would be to keep your phone in another room or somewhere random (when you are at home) while you are doing something important or even discussing an important point with your family/friends.
By creating a physical distance, you are designing a suitable environment (instead of relying on sheer willpower) to resist the temptation to open those colorful apps and get lost for hours.
Use A Minimalist Phone Launcher
This has worked wonderfully for me and reduced my phone usage by at least by 50%.
What is a phone launcher?
A phone launcher is the user interface that controls your phone’s home screen and overall look and feel. It allows you to customize how your phone appears and functions. The phone manufactured usually has a default user interface that shows app icons and colors in a particular way.4
The default user interface is designed to make the screen addictive to users by showing icons in shape and specific colors.
Colour influences how you interact with different apps and can extend your screen time.5 Two scientifically proven ways to reduce your phone usage are to make your phone slightly less attractive by-
- removing the shape or icons of apps
- Viewing your phone in a monochromatic mode
You could easily achieve this by installing an external phone launcher that uses these principles.
I personally use the minimalist phone launcher in my phone. My phone looks like the following at present-
It just changes the look on the phone (you might dislike it, but that’s the point). You will instantly feel a reduced urge to use your phone unless you really need to. You can still customize what color you would like to keep or which font you would like to have.
Additionally, one more important feature I find useful is the app usage reminder. Every time you open YouTube or Instagram or any other social media app (again customizable), the interface will ask you how much time you would like to spend and once you reach that time, it will flash in front of your eyes or it can even close the app if you set it like that.
Just like engineers can design an addictive screen, they can also do the reverse. External phone launchers are one of those things to reverse phone addiction.
Old School Hobby in the New Age of Technology
I am such a big advocator of hobbies that I have written an extensive article on adopting hobbies. The fact of today’s time is that the moment we feel bored, awkward, or anxious, we reach out for our phones as if it has all the solutions. In fact, it is becoming increasingly common for people to ask chatbots’ advice on career, relationship, or any major life decision.
But interaction with chatbots on life advice can increase loneliness even more in the long term. After all, chatbots are not speaking from experience but from data.
Some studies show that teenagers these days spend up to 7-8 hours a day on the phone. That’s over 50 hours a week, equivalent to giving time to a full-time job.6 Maybe phone usage is becoming a full-time job. This leads companies to increase spending on ads and clickbait to capitalize.
The alternative to escape this mad trap is to slow down and explore real-world activities. I feel that real world activities are more addictive and fulfilling than virtual activities. But the threshold here is to explore and finding that activity which you will fall in love with.
If boredom is one of the main reasons for increased screen time, why not explore hobbies? Next question would be, what hobbies to pursue?
There are probably hundreds of different things to explore (a lot of which you may not have even heard of). If you ask someone older, you will find they used to have hobbies that are non-existent today. Make a list of all the hobbies you can think of and then see which are more suitable to pursue or explore for you. For my convenience, I made a customized list.
Eventually, most things you try would fade away because you would not derive any joy from them, but you might find just one or two things that stand out for you.
Pursuing hobbies is not just important for your well-being but also for your kids. Children learn by watching their parents, by mimicking them. If you find joy in a hobby, your kids will most likely mirror that enthusiasm and spend less time glued to phone screens.
I the hindsight, it seems trivial to talk about phone usage so much. After all, smartphones and other gadgets are an integral part of our lives. We are supposed to take advantage of them.
But the problem is that we live in a profit driven world, not people driven world. The aim of almost every living corporation is to make a profit out of you.
A phone manufacturer wants you to use their latest devise and spread the word around (so more people can buy). An app developer wants you to spend more time on their app so they can make more money. A social media algorithm wants you to expose to more eye catchy and irresistible posts, so that you scroll more and click on ads at some point.
Nobody except your closed ones cares about your well being (no matter how much you like that specific company). Technology is like possessing great power, but we need to be well-equipped to handle that power for channeling it for positive purpose. People who can take advantage of technology best are those who are in control of their own lives.
Unfortunately, there are way too many distractions today to be in control of your time and life. To avoid succumbing to distractions, you must seriously understand and actively counteract technology’s negative impacts.
When I say humans are becoming zombies, I am not presenting a satire, but trying to portray a serious reality that is in front of us. The best you can do is protect yourself and your loved ones from this pandemic.
