Our phones: what wondrous devices that have been stolen from us.
‘How is this?’ you ask. ‘My phone is in my possession right now, connected to 5 social media accounts, 2 celebrity news sites, 3 open games, and 17 browser windows with articles I plan to read.’
Precisely. Our phones are filled with stuff designed for attentional theft. Very smart people (smarter than us) make a lot of money doing this. Neurotransmitters are involved: an app triggers the brain to deliver a dopamine hit when you use it, which trains us to use the app more… This is profitable, but at the expense of heart rate and other pesky details.
The phone is hacking us, and the only viable course of action is to reclaim some bits of ourselves. Thusly, for your consideration —
HACK #1: Grayscale
What?
Turn your phone to grayscale mode.
Why?
Makes the phone less interesting. It’s so boring we might only pick it up 17 times an hour instead of 38. Go team!
How?
The below steps are for the i phone, personally tested in iOS 12.
- Go to Settings/General/Accessibility/Display Accommodations/Color Filters
- Set Color Filters to On
- Select Grayscale
- Prepare a pithy explanation for when someone comments on the bizarre look as in: “I am a moth to the fiery light of my phone, and I fry myself less often in grayscale.”
(Android is harder, not personally tested, involves enabling Developer Mode. But you got this!)
You will tell yourself that Instagram looks artsy this way. Not exactly true, but whatever.
But! But! But!
What if I need color for X, y, & Z things that are completely essential to my life and I will be Miserable without them? Do we really want the human experience to be robbed of all joy?
Set aside dedicated time on a tablet or laptop (they’ll be nicer than the phone anyway). If the phone is the only recourse, set aside dedicated time to take the phone out of grayscale, then put it back in when done. Problem solved.
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HACK #2: Dinner Table
What?
New rule: No phone at the dinner table. Ever. Substitute other eating locale if you don’t use or own a dinner table.
Why?
Creates the first sacred space where the phone can’t go. Others might follow. Bonus: actual human interaction during mealtime.
How?
This is habit change and therefore needs some strategy. Such as:
- Inform household members of the plan, as in: ‘Hey, I feel like my brain is sucking these days because I’m too damn distracted by my phone. I like all of you, so I’m experimenting with disallowing my phone at the dinner table. This way I can actually talk to you.’
- Ask for their buy-in, as in: ‘Hey, if you see me with my phone at the dinner table, can you gently remind me how much I’m sucking?’
- Then, put the phone somewhere else. A drawer is great.
- Also, don’t get judgey when no one else follows suit. Just keep talking at them until they have to put down their phones to respond to you.
But! But! But!
What if I am eating alone?
Open a book. Write your to-do list. Journal. Enjoy food. Don’t eat alone. Problem solved.
These hacks are drops in the bucket, so let’s not get our egos involved. But: better 2 drops than 0.