I am always trying to create boundaries and guardrails to keep myself feeling more present and less distracted. It may be different for each person, and that's great. These are things I am doing that I think help me to feel more focused.
Do Not Disturb mode with Favorite contacts:
This is amazing. Calls and texts only come through from my "favorite" contacts. This is on an Android phone, but I believe you can do the same with iPhone. Everything else is silent. If I am expecting a call from someone not in my contacts, I just turn off this mode for a while. But knowing that most of the time, if the phone rings it's someone I actually want to talk to, is beautiful.
Data and Time Usage Trackers:
I added a widget to the home screen of my phone that shows the amount of time spent on the phone for the day. In my case it's the built in Android "Digital Wellbeing" settings app.
I also installed an app called Data Monitor and have a widget that shows the amount of mobile data I have used today. We have a minimal data plan, 1 GB shared between myself and my husband, and we don't have the wifi on all the time in our house, so it takes a concerted effort to minimize data usage. Those things are an inconvenience, but I actually like it, because it puts resistance on looking things up on the phone. It is remarkable how much data one little google search burns up. I think that just increasing the friction in usage can go a long way in improving habits. It's not that I want to google stuff all the time, but it's just so darn easy and available, which isn't always ideal.
Using a Separate iPod:
This may sound silly, but I use a separate device for podcasts. It is an old iPhone 5C with no SIM card. It is tiny enough to fit in a pocket, it works great even though it's got out of date software. All I use it for is podcasts, so I don't feel the burden of any distractions from my phone, it won't ring, it won't do anything except for play podcasts downloaded via wifi. It is a small detail, but the quiet provided by being able to listen to a podcast while still feeling distraction-free, is a helpful thing. I am doing my best to not use my phone, except when really necessary. I don't want my kid to see me on the phone all the time, and that's not how I want to live my life.
Using a Digital Camera:
Admittedly, I am not consistent about this, but I think it is a worthy goal. The mental calm that comes with a device that doesn't tempt you to check stuff is small, but cumulative, and I think it matters. I would prefer to use a digital camera than my phone, but am still building the habit of having it on hand for when I need to grab a picture when my kid is being cute. I should improve my storage, so it's handy to grab when I want it.
Streamlining Digital Habits:
Ruthlessly evaluate what each service provides and if it is a positive influence or something we can replace with a better option.
I deleted my Instagram account, so my only social media accounts are Facebook, Reddit and Mastodon. Facebook serves a purpose in my local buy nothing group. I would like to replace Reddit, but it is a handy source of suggestions and has a nice pregnancy and mom group. Honestly Mastodon is much more ethically decent than other social media, but it is questionable in its value to me at this point, so I may let it go one of these days.
Use a feed blocking extension for any social media. I like News Feed Eradicator. It replaces the main social media feed with a random quote, which is awesome, because the Facebook feed is a terrible hellscape of suggested posts and ads.
Obviously, I don't have social media apps on my phone. I turned off notifications to everything that isn't critical. Et cetera. All the standard advice.
It is an ongoing process, gradually recognizing what is not necessary and clearing it out.
More Inspiration:
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. Plus I enjoy his podcast - he's got good advice and inspiration and I am amused by how dry and snarky he can be.
Stolen Focus by Johann Hari
Ten Arguments for Deleting your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier
Due to a tragic accident, my old Google Pixel 3A is now pushing up the daisies. A new phone was not on my plan for this week, but I had the old one for five or so years, and had bought it used, so needing a replacement isn't a huge huge loss.
So yesterday I got on eBay, as is my usual method, and ordered a Pixel 8A, which will be here in a few days. I always try to get the smallest phone possible. The 8A is still too big, but it's what they had.
In the meantime I pulled out my very old iPhone 5C, which will text but not call for some reason. And of course I can't install any apps on it, because it's so old, so I am stuck with the basics. I actually love the tiny size, and it works well, (aside from not making calls).
So I am on an accidental digital detox. I don't have a horrible phone addiction, no social media apps, but still somehow spend too much time on it. Perhaps a few days with a minimal phone will help to reprogram me. And it's worth considering how to set up my phone so I can keep it as minimal as possible.
Fortunately my data was fairly well backed up. I had photo auto upload in place and just added an auto upload for voice memos. My text messages were auto exported to my Gmail account, but not synced with the main google drive, so I probably won't be able to restore the text messages. And I used Signal while conversing with my family, which is notoriously difficult to save data from, so that is all gone as well. I believe it is possible transfer a Signal database from Android to another Android, but since the phone died unexpectedly, I don't have a way to restore that original file.
In a way this is a good thing, because it is making me consider my technology more. Instead of worrying about a Signal backup in future, I think I will make a little "journal," so that when I get a text that I think is worth saving, I copy and paste it into a file in Joplin or the like. Then I can have a sort of running list of highlights from the text messages, and skip all the pointless ones.
I also would like to get into the habit of using my digital camera instead of the phone camera. That is hard, because the phone camera is so good, and very convenient. But I love a single use device, and there is no room for distraction with a camera. At least I have a few days to practice that, because I certainly will not take pictures with the terrible iPhone 5C.
My main uses for a phone are calls, texts, maps, Signal, photos, podcasts, voice memos, library audiobooks, email once in a great while and checking headlines (and feeling guilty about it, because it is depressing and just a distraction, not real study of any issues). I would like to minimize that further, because I don't like carrying my phone around with me, so the iPhone 5C is actually great for podcasts for that reason. Too bad I can't install Libby for audiobooks on that device.
Well, I redid the web site again. Ha! This one is done with the flat file CMS Datenstrom Yellow. I have been really enjoying the simplicity of it, just PHP, HTML and Markdown. And have been able to customize it pretty well, even though I am not a programmer. So that's fun.
If you are one of the few kind people following this blog on RSS, sorry for the new post overload!
I have never been a huge social media person, but my usage has dwindled over recent years. For a long time I stopped posting on other more evil socials but still used Mastodon because it seemed more positive than the alternatives.
But I even stopped posting on Mastodon, because I have been reevaluating the way I spend my time and attention. Trying to bring my mental focus back to my real life.
I had a silly misunderstanding with someone I don't know on Mastodon, that got me thinking, I was trying to be positive, they misunderstood me (surely I could have said my bit more clearly) and I had to sort it out, no big deal, but it got me thinking - what is the point of investing my time this way? I would rather be creating connections and doing projects in my real life, or writing something that has a longer shelf life, so to speak.
I'm not making a moral judgment about posting on social media, but it is worth evaluating what is the best use of my time in this world. So I may do the occasional post, especially as I spend more time with this little blog, but I will keep it minimal.
I admit that I fell prey to the Instagram scam a for a few years. I say a scam, because the idea is out there that Instagram is a good way to promote art or a business, and I don't think it is, not for a small artist anyway. For ten years I did art shows and markets, had an online shop and had social media accounts for my artwork. Social media got me only a handful of sales in a decade. Art shows provided the bulk of my sales, and fueled my online shop as well. Etsy provided some sales through its own search function. But throughout all that, I felt an obligation to promote myself and my work on social media. But I think it was primarily me and other artists all following one another, not reaching new customers and art lovers. I think that shows and markets are the best way to sell and promote and that's what I'll be pursuing again in the future. Even for sharing personal photos, I think it's a bad method, because the feed is so clogged with suggested posts and advertisements.
For a long time I only checked Instagram on my computer but still found I was looking at it too much, and it felt compulsive. I noticed that the number of ads and irrelevant "suggested posts" dramatically increased over time. It feels like more and more of the internet (youtube shorts, for example) is just a ploy to get us to click on random, distracting things.
In order to make the instagram experience somewhat tolerable, I only checked it from a browser or desktop, and I installed a Firefox plug-in, to remove the suggested posts and ads, and switch to a chronological feed, which does help. The funhouse-style distractions, and bells and whistles vying for your attention feels awful, like its goal is to make everyone ADHD under its influence, whether they normally experience ADHD or not. It feels unhealthy and it alarms me that subjecting themselves to these influences is the norm.
As a next step, I am in the process of dismantling my art Instagram account. I exported and downloaded all my data, so I have my images and captions. I am going to add that galley to my website, because it's actually a nice collection of photos. I may put them on Pixelfed as well, but I haven't decided. I unfollowed everyone and I am deleting all of my content. I will just put a message saying to find me elsewhere. That feels more of an active pushback than just deleting my account in case anyone comes looking for me.
The plug-in I have for making the feed chronological and blocking ads and stories is called Antigram, on Chrome. I haven't found a parallel version on Firefox, unfortunately.
If there are accounts you want to cheek, you can use a tool like www.anonyig.com to see stories and posts without an account. I think that's valid if you need to peep at something on Instagram without having a whole account.
The other evening I watched the film the Social Dilemma on Netflix on the recommendation of a buddy.
The film talks about social media - Facebook and Instagram, but also Google and youtube, and any software with an algorithm that gathers data and tries to serve up the content that is most alluring to the individual user. That means the most emotionally engaging, provocative or inflammatory content is likely to be presented, fueling polarization and targeting people based on data gathered, with wildly differing information and interpretations of the world we live in. It's enlightening and disturbing. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. It makes me very interested in disconnecting myself from those kinds of systems. I don't want to fuel them or be influenced by them.
While I am a privacy-minded Linux aficionado, I still Use Google for some things and have Instagram and Facebook and Reddit accounts. I don't use them much but I'm not proud that they are still there.
Rather than being some sort of absolutist, I am going to list my accounts and break down their use and how I am attempting to manage them. I am aiming for a Cal Newport style digital minimalism, where things serve a purpose, but don't pull me away from a sense of focus.
I'm not talking about phone apps because I haven't had social media apps on my phone for years.
Facebook
Facebook is pretty terrible. I only keep this account for Facebook marketplace, and a bit of local mom networking, and the off chance that a family member I haven't talked to in years wants to look me up.
A while back, Facebook changed settings so they were inserting historical photos into the feed, and I couldn't get rid of them. Some of them were sad or upsetting. I sure don't need extra exposure to upsetting stuff that I didn't ask for! So I installed a firefox extension that removes the home feed altogether, replacing it with a tiny quote. So now if I go to Facebook, I see a mostly blank page, and I can select the marketplace or moms group directly. It is nice that because FB has become so unpleasant, I don't feel I am missing out on anything. I would like to delete the account entirely but those few functions are actually useful and I don't have another way to access them.
I do have the Firefox extension Facebook Container installed, which hopefully keeps Facebook from tracking my data so much.
![A colorful sunset through the trees and houses][1]
I have been trying to better navigate my relationship with technology. It feels like a silly concern - I'm an adult, I should just be able to make sensible choices. But I am not always sure where the lines are between technologies being intentionally addictive, craving escapism as a way to avoid my problems, and just needing better habits. Probably a combination of the three.
Regardless, I notice the craving for distraction in myself. Every moment I'm distracted, is a moment I'm not fully present in my life. That's not to say that all distraction or escapism is bad, but I want it to be conscious and intentional, not compulsive or accidental.
I would love to take some sort of dramatic, symbolic action, throw my phone off a cliff and embark on a picturesque, romanticized lifestyle. But that's just not real. I have a house, pets, family, all the responsibilities. I just need to be better at managing it all.
For information and inspiration, I have read Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, How to Break up With Your Phone by Catherine Price, and Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee, all of which are helpful and I recommend them. I appreciate the perspective and information about the addictive manipulation built into apps and websites, and strategies for simplifying.
Regarding phones, I make minimal use of social media in general and don't have any social media on my phone. But I do have periodically check email on my phone, along with having a look at the headlines on a news site. It's a sort of stress compulsion I think, to check to see if anything dreadful has happened since the last time I looked, which is why I'm trying to change that habit. It helps when the news is boring.
In order to use the phone less, I like to use single-function and low-distraction devices when I can, such as the Supernote tablet for blogging and writing, my old iPod Classic with a portable speaker for music, and good old-fashioned paper notebooks and fountain pens for planning, lists and some of my journaling. I also turn off the internet a fair amount of the time. And I like to use simple software for writing when I do use my computer - a simple text editor (GEdit lately), and Zim Wiki. I'd like to try using terminal based programs where I can on the computer, to reduce visual clutter and overstimulation. But that will take some research and practice, so no promises.
I make heavy use of the Night Light feature in Ubuntu and on my phone. My eyes are sensitive, and harsh blue light really bothers me. I keep the lights in my house a warm tone too, which is more calming. that's why I have these little orange pumpkin silicone night lights. Biologically speaking, we should all just have firelight after dark, so that's the light spectrum I aim for at night.
It's all just trying to find a way to use the advantages of modern technology, without whacking out my nervous system. That should be easy peasy, right?
I started to write a whole post explaining my move from Linuxrocks.online Mastodon instance to Fosstodon.org, but honestly it's just not fun, and I don't want to give any more attention to the players or fuel the drama. So I'll just give this brief summary:
An inflammatory blowhard who used to be fun to listen to but is now just being trans-phobic and acting like he's under constant persecution, joined my Mastodon server, linuxrocks.online. I'm not linking to him because I don't want to fuel the nonsense or the egos involved.
All that just shows me that LinuxRocks is likely to acquire more bigoted free speech absolutists (who think hateful speech is fine) through the attention this person brings, while the inststance gets blocked from more polite federation. People can do what they like, but I don't want to go along for that ride.
So now my Mastodon account is @cameron@fosstodon.org. Yay! Thanks to Kev Quirk and Mike Stone for running a nice Mastodon instance. And Kev has a good blog too.
