How to Beat Your Digital Addiction
Analog week is a strange concept for me. As a senior technical editor at Lifehacker, I am screen-locked for most of the day. I’d like to just toss all my gadgets in a drawer and lock them up for a week, but that would be impractical for my job. I would also have no idea how to get somewhere (since I find it difficult to direct movements without a map app).
The easiest way to start your own analog week (or your entire life) is to toss your devices cold, but it’s tricky to do. You will not hear any arguments from me on this matter. While the main device manufacturers are starting to get smarter and offer you a little help ( Android / iPhone ), there are other ways you can try to take your mind off your devices.
Shut down Windows 10 correctly
Before we start with our lessons, as a reminder, there is an even better way to shut down your Windows PC than you are probably using right now. Will this reduce the likelihood of re-enabling the system? No. Is this a little gimmick that you should keep in your mind folder “things I set up every time I install Windows”? Yes.
Turn off the lights on your devices to sleep better
And while we do that, let’s talk about all those annoying lights on devices you don’t use. This includes your smartphone’s wireless charger; your audio receiver; that annoying “I’m ready for you to watch me” on your TV; your router . You might want to use these devices less, and even if you succeed, their very presence will still annoy you with all that brightness and blinking. Fix it.
Stop disturbing your phone
While it’s easy (ish) to put your phone down and enjoy a carefree day free from tech and annoying notifications, it’s harder to do it when some shitty insurance scam tries to attack you every two hours.
Apple joins the battle with robotic callers in iOS 13 , which includes an incredible feature that allows all unknown callers to be sent directly to voicemail. (I turned it on as soon as I started using the iOS 13 developer beta, and I really like it.) If you are an Android user or just lazy, you can apply other precautions against your free time and it will be much more difficult for your smartphone to remind to you about its existence. You are trying to use less of it, right?
Sell your gadgets and live like a happy hermit
The best way to apply our concept of “analog week” to your daily life is to simply sell what brings you grief. I won’t mention you-know-who’s name , but I bet you will be delighted to know that you can’t spend hours playing Candy Crush if you no longer have your tablet or smartphone.
Delete your accounts
If selling your stuff is too difficult, you can always take other steps to reduce your reliance on everything related to technology. Pros? You will be able to lead a more personal life: fewer companies will spy on everything you do, and fewer pesky “friends” pestering you with regular social news. Minuses? You actually have to interact with real people in the real world to find out what they are doing. Oh, and you can get lost a lot more – for example, if you ditch services like your favorite mapping app.
Unplug and clean your gear
One good way to get rid of your devices is to take the time to make them look nice, shiny and dust-free. You will experience the same thrill of using your computer or smartphone – sort of – but you won’t be sitting at a table. You will be doing something productive, even if it only benefits from doing exactly what you are trying to spend less time on. I’d rather spend my day assembling computers than typing on them, but that’s just me.
If you are upgrading your desktop, you will definitely have to use it to research what to buy and how to install it. So yeah, it’s not really “analog” in the truest sense of the word. However, you will acquire a valuable skill that can then turn into a fun hobby or a lucrative career (potentially).
At the very least, you could develop your skills enough to create areally cool desktop dedicated to whatyou like the most . And if not, then at least you will be much more comfortable troubleshooting your system’s hardware the next time something goes wrong. That’s ten times more valuable than wasting a day on YouTube.
Try board games instead of video games
I really love Diablo , but I would stop clicking my mouse all night long if I could play a board game instead. I love board games. I just don’t have many friends who are interested, so my poor copy of the World of Warcraft board game continues to collect dust under my bed, and my World of Warcraft MMO character does daily quests.
If you have friends, unlike me, then a great way to socialize, have fun and get better in games is to play board games together. You will experience the same incredible adventure and fun as if you were playing a video game, but you will not get stuck staring at the screen with your headset on – you will be destroyed by some anonymous teenager. You will be joking with your friends. You will create memories. You will find that you have played completely wrong for the last five hours. Such things.
And if you don’t use your smartphone to track the munchkin level – I do – you probably won’t have any desire to run to Facebook and see what’s going on elsewhere.
Ditch music streaming and go old school
Remember CDs? DVD? I have a few people sitting in one of my bookcases and … they seem stupid. At least I never considered them “collectibles”, much less the things that you find under the seat of your car during the deep cleaning that you do every three years.
Fortunately, these have been replaced by music streaming services that are easy to use AF (although all the media I consume – video games, movies, music – will probably cost me a monthly fee someday). However, I started to discover the love of vinyl records, and they are a great distraction from everything Spotify when I just want to sit down, relax and not interact with the screen to play music.
And you know what else I like about vinyls? They are hefty. They take up space. You can frame them and hide them on the wall of your fan lair if you like. You can show off a collection; you can’t put together a streaming song, and sharing a playlist via text message couldn’t be less fun. Buy yourself a decent turntable, grab some vinyl and dim the lights a bit. Spend the next hour enjoying zero responsibilities. All streaming in the world couldn’t be better than this.
Pay someone to escape the locked room
I’m not good at puzzles. Truly awful. I guess it’s because I don’t have that much patience and I get frustrated easily when there is an obvious solution that I just can’t see. So when I went to my first escape room last month, I thought, “Why am I paying for this?”
As it turns out, I had a great time. First, the room’s “rules” required all participants to surrender their smartphones upon entry. A compulsory “analog week” was already in force, in the language of Lifehacker. Secondly, the quest turned out to be super-disgusting. The puzzles were a good mix of smart and fun, and I was shocked when a secret door opened, revealing a whole new part of the room to escape from (as well as a giant time bomb) when my smart team completed it. specific puzzle.
I enjoyed my first trip to the quest room – not literally since we got out – and I urge you to try it if you do your research and find a local one that will be highly appreciated by other puzzle fans. Bonus points if you have friends who have already escaped (or died) and can recommendsome super geeks to you .
Also on my list are pub trivia. Since you have to put your phone away or the team next to you will hit you for looking like you are cheating, this is a great way to force yourself to be disconnected for a long time. Pack enough little things a week and you will definitely get rid of your device; you can learn a thing or two too.
Buy your first bag of dice
While we can all be very, very excited about the new Baldur’s Gate game on the way – except for that poor guy in the trailer who’s probably not so excited – taking a break from everything electronic gives you enough time to learn the biggest addicting hobby ever. of all. No, do not solder. Dungeons and dragons .
Is it defiant? Absolutely. Will you enjoy playing it? Maybe. At the very least, you’ll get an adventure fix without looking at the screen for hours, playing isometric RPG (or watching people play D&D on Twitch). You can even make new friends with whom you can go on real adventures.
Even if you don’t want to dive into D&D right away, there are many other ways to get started in the vast world of RPGs. You can even play a quick, simple game over lunch , if you don’t mind chewing adventure. Isn’t it a lot more fun than watching your friends or coworkers pick food and looking at their phones, or hanging out over lunch on a random YouTube channel?
Distract yourself with a more time-consuming hobby, such as writing.
One of the best ways to break out of the digital world is to embrace a new hobby. I recommend trying something simple like writing. All you need is a pen, a diary, and a comfortable seating area. Good handwriting helps too, but it isn’t necessary if you can read your own scribbles.
The difficulty is that writing is difficult. It’s easy to get frustrated if you feel like you’re just throwing nonsense and it will make your smartphone, laptop, or Netflix lineup even more attractive. Resist the urge. Writing is easy , but actually writing something that you can be proud of is more difficult.
Whether you’re shy about your writing skills or just want a little technique advice, there are many resources you can use to hone your writing skills. (Yes, it was a cliché that you shouldn’t use.) And even if you find yourself turning to your computer (or tablet) to type, that’s okay, since you’re using your device as a tool and not a distraction for your day – be sure to test it. your favorite writing app before starting work on the next great American novel.
In fact, before you even type the first sentence of your next best job, make sure you cut yourself off from other nasty digital distractions as much as possible. You don’t want to waste your daily creativity on a Facebook conversation instead of a new chapter.