Anxiety Machines in Our Pockets
What I Learned from Not Having a Phone
For a few days last week, I did not have my phone. The initial feeling was one of anxiety and stress. When you have your life in your pocket and then suddenly it’s gone, that’s bound to happen. It also compounded an already pretty crappy mood I had been feeling lately, so in reality I was in a bit of a “place” anyway.
Of course, I did eventually get my phone back, and once that happened, the stream of information, pings, notifications and everything came flooding back into my life. Probably the worst part about not having a phone is getting one back and then having to play catch up.
But what dawned on me after the initial anxiety of not having my phone, was how much less anxious I was without one.
I have written a few times about how our phones have become such an integral part of our lives that living without them seems almost like a farcical idea. I have also written about managing how many notifications we are getting, along with the kinds of information we allow to come into our lives through these supercomputers. After a few days of (relative) silence, I came to another conclusion.
I need to turn off more notifications.
A friend of mine has not only taken all social media off of her phone, but also has deleted most of her accounts. I wouldn’t say I am going to go that far, but serious changes have to be made. As someone with social anxiety and what I am beginning to suspect is an undiagnosed version of at least mild OCD, not responding and/or not responding immediately to something or someone is something that really gets to me. One way I hope to tackle this is to silence my phone even more. I have already taken a few steps.
I have relegated all social media to my notification center. None of it shows up in banners or on my lock screen anymore.
I have even cut back on some Substack notifications. I still get message notifications and those from more actionable interactions on notes, but I don’t get them for likes anymore.
News was already relegated to the notification center, but after an article I read in Goodable, I’m even considering removing one of the news sources on my phone, of which there were only 3 to begin with.
None of these changes is particularly drastic, but they are still tangible. I don’t expect to see significant results because I did spend too much time on my phone on Monday catching up with things. Plus, I’ll also have to venture into some apps in order to make more targeted limitations to the notifications I am even getting. It is all a work in progress.
As we continue to advance our technology and our time and eyeballs become the currency of the era, technology companies and everything that encompasses will do anything to get you addicted. Social media is really only a force for good if you go out of your way to make it palatable. Even games on one's phone are just ways to either blatantly get money from you or annoy you so much with ads that you eventually decide to pay so you don’t get ads. Notifications from health apps can even be dubious, although much less so than other forums.
I am someone who has an obsessive personality. Social media and something like a smartphone can be extremely difficult for me. I would never go to the extreme and say “well just don’t have one” but if I find other technological ways that are tangible that allow me to stay connected in the ways that I need, perhaps that’s in my future. I enjoyed the silence not having a phone afforded me. But I also was not able to get things done in a timeframe I was looking to do so either.
So, I (we) have a deal with the technological devil in our pockets. The question is, are we able to renegotiate the terms of the agreement? Hopefully we can, because the path we are on now is not going to be great for our brain health and health in general moving forward if something doesn’t change.
A lot of that seemed like a downer so I’ll leave you with a positive thought. Public Libraries are awesome! If you’re lucky enough to live near one, especially within walking distance, definitely go and enjoy yourself. I never knew how much I missed being surrounded by books and relative silence.
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Cell phones are convenient for making calls or texting. Beyond that, they become a digital prison, a complete spy device and a data collector of which you cannot imagine. I do my computing on a desktop where I have much more control using Linux and a few other anti-snoop things.
I was the same but since turning off all notifications from socials and deleting some has been awesome. If I have a work app, I never push notifications. Only thing I have is texting and my weather app. Everything else can fuck right off until I decide to check it.