I’m addicted to screens. To checking stuff. To switching tabs. To notifications. To checking if there’s something new, despite no notifications.
I’m addicted to momentary escape from the real, the now. Even when the now isn’t the standard definition of ‘difficult’.
I don’t like it. I hate that I feel the pull when I’m speaking to my family, and I feel sad when I succumb to it and let it distract me from creating.
So i’m ending my addiction. I’m breaking free. The first step is acceptance.
I’ve done quite a few things to fight the addiction before fully accepting it. They’ve been varying levels of successful – Freedom.to, Brick and Opal help me use my phone less. Pandan guilts me into temporary breaks from my computer using data. Hundreds of journalling sessions on my ‘Whys’ give me things to move towards, as opposed to only moving against ‘The Suck’.
Now, it’s time to break free. Here’s v0.1 of the plan, to be developed as time goes on;
Brick until 10am every weekday, all day Sunday and most of Saturday
Opal on my computer and less than 8 hours/day laptop time
Daily check-ins on how i’m feeling about screentime and Consumption vs Creation
I feel like i’m pretty well versed in how to crack a phone addiction, but would love to hear how people have managed to break free of bigger screens – the ‘not good’ parts of laptop usage. I’d love to just use it to do my job, live my values (including creation, learning and building relationships) and working on projects. Right now that’s being disrupted by checking, browsing and the occassional dose of brainrot.
