Know How Kate!

I don’t remember exactly when my life moved online, but I do remember how exciting it all was when I could speak to my family from miles away with my Firefly phone, or chat with my friends by emailing back and forth after school. I recall how I could barely sit still in my seat while I pulled up Club Penguin or Minecraft, where I’d fulfill this seemingly never-ending need for creativity and new experiences with new people.

The sparkle has definitely dulled.

I think a lot of folks have the sort of brain capable of handling the allure of the internet, social apps, video games, etc. without losing themselves in it. As it turns out, I am not one of those people. Whether it’s scrolling on social media, researching topics on the internet, trying out a new game, or watching endless media content, I will find endless ways to kill time online. All of my time.

I know I’m not the only one hurting–through conversations with friends or seeing the rise in popularity of dumbphones, it’s become all to obvious to me that the prospect of an exciting, new life we could build online is not what it was cracked up to be.

Operating off the assumption that we’re all aware of the effects of technology’s shallow replacements for what humans need to thrive, I’ll skip the research and share what I’m doing to move offline!

1. I couldn’t find a way to use my phone in a healthy way, so I took an arguably drastic approach. Back in 2021, I sold my iPhone and moved to a flip phone (the Schok classic, which I’ll discuss in my next post centered around dumbphones) and an iPhone SE functioning as an iPod touch. I figured this would help me build healthier habits around tech usage when I was out and about, since an iPhone without service wouldn’t let me access my favorite, addicting apps on the go and the flip phone would make it too obnoxious to try. I still found myself on the iPhone/iPod at home way more often than I wanted to be, so I took it out to the desert and shot it.

_{RIP to my iPhone. I took it to Best Buy for recycling and told the employee I had dropped it. I don’t think he believed me.}

2. I wanted to get back into reading, a hobby (or at least, I think it’s a hobby?! There seems to be a lot of discourse on the subject.) I had always adored. My grandma gifted me a Kindle she no longer used, which I promptly bent in half. As it turns out, Kindles are not Nokias. My brother kindly gifted me a new Kindle for Christmas & I’ve babied it ever since.
3. To get work done and finish up my degree, I used a 2016 Macbook Air and later a 2020 Macbook Air. After switching to the flip phone, I soon realized that my laptop had become my new smartphone. After trying to wrestle my screen time down through parental restrictions (which were too easy to bypass), Chrome extensions centered around focus (also too easy to bypass), and discipline (beautiful in theory, wholly ineffective in practice), I’ve decided to switch it up. I bought a second hand computer and borrowed a monitor/keyboard/mouse from my generous boyfriend. He has also lent me his six-year old laptop.

The new set up is working beautifully. Instead of carrying my speedy, fun-to-use Macbook around from room to room while Youtube videos play (I don’t know when I convinced myself that working through an 800+ “Watch Later” playlist is productive, but… help!), I have a clunky laptop that is positively hell to use, and a completely stationary PC. While the laptop still allows me to leave the house to get work done, the unwieldly mouse pad and keyboard are expertly paired with poor RAM to make using the device absolutely miserable. It’s great! The desk-bound PC is easier to use but can’t be carried from place to place, enabling more focused work and the ability to break away more easily when it’s time to move offline (as opposed to a device that can be carried from room to room for “multitasking”). Along with work, it still lets me game with friends and siblings, a nightly habit I refuse to give up as along as it’s fun and largely social. In-person social activities still take precedence.

It could be argued–and, actually, has been argued to me many times–that instead of taking such drastic measures to dodge the addiction, I should just practice discipline. Focus. Aligning with my higher self.

Well, sure. I think that’s all great. However, I also believe in playing games I can win. If our devices/apps/games/etc. weren’t this heavily engineered to be this addicting, I’d be more inclined to agree. Instead, I’m aware of the fact that I’ve been fighting for years against teams of folks doing their best to keep me hooked on their product, and it’s not a game I want to play at anymore. I think setting myself up for success–while also practicing discipline and focus and whatever else might lend to a healthier lifestyle–is the way to go. If you can strong-arm yourself into cutting out the screen addiction, I support it! I do know my brain doesn’t operate that way, though.

Another point I’d like to hammer home is the importance of adopting new hobbies and ways of filling your time. Losing the screens when your life utterly revolves around them could lead to an unimaginable void, which you might desperately try to fill with even more unsavory activities. Instead, bring on the hobbies!

Volunteer, take a woodworking class, make a dish, pick up a side job where you learn new things every day, join a surf camp, play a board game, host an event for friends, paint your own wall art, fix a car, get your motorcycle license, participate in a triathalon, start a business (or a blog…. which is why you and I are here), ride a horse, butcher a chicken, go on dates, take up skiing, crochet a hat, start a club, read a book–or whatever else seems remotely interesting! Ultimately, ditching the screens to learn new skills, meet people, or move your body will make you a happier and confident person.

Side note: If it’s been awhile since you’ve read a novel, I always recommend starting with Percy Jackson or the Ashfall series. It doesn’t matter if you’re forty years old and entirely uninterested in reading a YA series. These books are written to be fun and captivating–serving as the perfect stepping stone towards other books. Work with your monkey brain, and build up your focus/resilience/work ethic with more dopaminergic activities!

If you feel that you’re on track with your screen time and getting what you need to get done in the day, stick to it. If you’re like me & you feel like you’re missing out on life because your screen is your best friend, let’s do something about it.

If anyone has any tips for bringing your life offline, share ’em here!

-Kate