Getting rid of Smartphones.

Someone said something to me recently about pre and post smartphones , and it's completely right.

If someone makes any kind or statement or asks you any type of question, you immediately go to the phone to verify if its correct or what the answer is.

"What do you call that guy who used to be married to X"

Or

"I think X won that in 1980".

But pre smartphone, you kinda said "I think you're right or you're wrong". That was it, over and done with.

Now, you just have to have the answer. How often do you find a question popping into your head when you're in conversation, or sitting watching a match or a tv programme? And you head for the phone.

As the wise person said to me, just tell yourself you don't really need to know the answer to that question. Leave the phone in your pocket.

Bluffers don't like to be fact checked.

Social media has provided a means to promote fake news, propaganda and conspiracy. It's rampant the amount of drivel you hear parroted from people is unbelievable.

Social media is used to raise money for charity promote good causes and it's used by minoritys to talk to each other .it's good and bad some people become obsessed and just live their life on social media it can be used to waste time . Yes meta now says there ll be no more moderation hate speech will be allowed people spread conspiracy theorys on YouTube and tik tok as well as social media .

Before social media people would complain about young people playing video games or watching too much tv .

I suppose people use meta to keep in touch with relatives abroad.

The internet means anyone can make podcasts or YouTube videos .I think parents should check kids phones no one under 16 should be allowed have a Facebook account .I just think it's too young it's like driving a car it's too much for children to deal with

False equivalence in comparing it to a laptop or TV. We're talking about a piece of tech that is with you at all times, it is ruining people's capacity to engage with life. And mostly it's social media by extension when we say smart phones are a scourge.

Parents scrolling their phones as their child plays on the floor by themselves. Every single life event is put up on stage for judgment by people you don't even care about on social media. Using it as a means of validation and vindication.

"Here do that again and will get a story" No just let the moment be and stop trying to take the magic of the spontaneity of a moment/memory.

Rotted attention spans because of shorts on nearly every social media platform.

People can't even watch the original distraction which is TV. Scrolling through twitter, and social media as they're watching a show/movie.

Making a much bigger effort to stay away from my phone this year, but think it will be a process of claiming my attention span back inch by inch. Just so hard not to have to engage with a phone as it's so inundated in our lives.

It sounds awful. I am glad I have avoided most of it.

Was only buying stuff yesterday and passed not one but three separate women pushing toddlers in buggies through the Tesco. All three of them still with soothers in mouth but scrolling a mobile phone like a pro.

A lot of people training the addiction into their kids early.

No but I want the life I had before smart phones. Conversations with friends/family without us all ending up on our phone at some point or someone on their phone as you're talking to them. And many other insiduous ways smart phones ruin everyday life, just those things back.

No one thinks they're going to grab life by the horns giving up their phone. They just want to be able to do something for more than an hour without feeling the pull of their phone.

Alright, fckn weirdo.

Not sure if this helps much - but your two posts put me in the mind of a friend who also was lamenting his loss of ability to read books. Caused by computer gaming and phones and you tube.

I went over one time to his place. While I was there I had a look at the books he had been trying to read. There was some good stuff there, but a little heavy.

It struck me that perhaps it's a bit like doing weights for years - stopping for years - and then trying to pick up (pun) where they left off rather than starting again with a much lower weight.

So - since I have a habit of reading books that I intend to give my kids, so I know what I am giving them - I gifted him the entire collection of Young Adult books in the "Skullduggery Pleasant" series. He is now back reading again.

The shift back to lighter, funner, Young Adult books was like starting again at a lower weight. And he quickly worked his way back to reading the stuff he actually wanted to read. He went from the SP books above, through the slightly heavier Hunger Games and His Dark Materials series and then onto more adult books again.

As for anxiety and attention span - at the risk of getting all religious about it like I tend to, I can heartily recommend Jiu Jitsu as a potential fix for both of these things. As someone with all such kinds of historic mental health issues I credit BJJ with being one of the top three things that got me out of a deep deeeeep rut in life. And while my demons will always be with me, it is one of the things that keeps them totally buried and me in a positive place in life.

Also mixing meditating and running. Not that I can't sit still and meditate, which is the traditional way of doing it. But it's actually perfectly possible to do it while running. Either by myself, or with some supporting material on head phones like the Waking Up App.

Attention span, like the reading and the weight lifting analogies - seems to me to be something you need to work back into too if you lose it.

Edit: Also on the phone calls thing - get a cheap as chips "dumb" phone and simply switch your SIM card into it during the times you want to be smart phone free, but still get your calls. Or divert your calls to a standard land line or other Dumb Phone.

Boy, I miss the time you could see who thanked posts.

Thanks … good practical advice there.