staying offline while selling online

I think a lot about how Americans spend an average of over five hours every day on their phones. Screen creep is accepted as a normal part of life these days, and setting boundaries with all of our devices is extra difficult when our livelihood is intertwined with screens and social media. What could we do if we just got half of those five hours back? What things do we say we don't have time for? Like, seriously. Do you want to spend 3, 4, 5 hours of your day guessing the end reveals of 15-second videos?

Logging off requires us to frequently ask ourselves how we want to spend the time that we have. Over the last few years, I've tried a couple different methods for reducing my overall daily phone use while making the time I do spend on my phone more intentional. My phone is not technically evil, and there are plenty of ways that it is a conduit for important parts of my life. Here are a couple of the tools that I use to avoid brainless scrolling and thoughtless screen time.

buffer

I use Buffer to schedule posts in bulk without being exposed to and distracted by feeds. There's a free option for a single account, and you can access synchronized posts between desktop and the app. Sometimes I want to keep Instagram off of my phone entirely, and I can do so by just using Buffer.

hiding scroll feeds

I installed plug-ins on desktop and mods on my phone to completely hide all features (stories, reels, and feeds) that encourage scrolling. Some of my favorites are Distraction Free Instagram and the Chrome plug-in News Feed Eradicator, but you can find different feed hiders for whatever internet browser you prefer.

The common theme across this whole post is to hide algorithmic feeds entirely. I have removed them from my life. I've found this to be immensely constructive and the primary reducer of unintentional screentime.

minimalist phone launchers

Phones keep us hooked in an attention loop with bright colors and visually enticing graphics. Kill them. I launch my phone using Minimalist Phone to make my phone more visually dull. Having no icons or colors on my homescreen keeps me focused. There are plenty of free alternatives available for iOS & Android.

stayfree

This is one of my favorite tools. While I like the Android digital wellness app features, prefer StayFree so I can select and customize which apps are included in timers. I don't care how much time I'm using Google Maps to get around or my lifting app while I'm working out- I want to track how much time I'm killing in social Discord servers or social media. StayFree lets me be highly selective about how my phone time is tracked.

native android wellness features + misc habits

I also use built-in tools like app timers and use Do Not Disturb modes throughout the day, and upkeep good sleep hygiene by not using screens in bed. I never installed TikTok (b/c it’s a scroll factory) and got an eReader to keep my digital reading isolated from my distraction-filled phone.

tools help, but good habits are key

I went sober a few years ago, and I have felt a lot of similarities between quitting substance overuse and quitting device overuse. It's hard! One of the first things that I learned while quitting is that removing something negative from your life is made easier by filling the hole it leaves with something positive. Maybe that replacement can be completely different, like cooking or going on a walk, but sometimes it can be easier if it has a familiar shape, like trying out a new book on my eReader. 

Some recommendations: if you're a chronic question searcher (impulsively Googling every question that comes to your brain, like I do) or reminders needed then get a journal and write those thoughts down on paper instead. Get a pocket-sized journal so you can carry it around. Silence as many non-essential push notifications (more are on-essential than you think) as possible. Take the time to unsubscribe from email newsletters and ads to reduce the demands for your attention.

Clever digital tools can make the process easier, but they can’t do the work of logging off for us. This world trades, buys, and sells in our attention. Every day that I spend less than one mindless hour on my phone, I'm wrestling for agency over my time. And by setting boundaries with the attention machine, we can get a bit of our lives back.

links links links

The DIY Dumbphone Method on the wonderful shesabeast 

Want to fix your life? Do nothing. on youtube

train your attention span SO GOOD it feels weird to scroll on youtube