Why Digital 'Hacks' Aren't Your Best Bet At Using Your Phone Less

The world loves 'hacks'. Doing things easily and efficiently make more sense than putting in effort so why not?

Hacks on using your phone less are endless:

• Keep your phone in a different room

• Turn on Grayscale, Turn Off Notifications

• Move all the social icons to the last screen

All these are swell as 'training wheels' but they aren't sustainable in the long run.

Why do these hacks not work?

These methods help us reduce 'cue points' and feel less 'stimulated' by our phones but doesn't fix the underlying issue:

Figuring out who you are, what you want to do and who you want to become.

There's a more sustainable approach to reduce our phone addictions. Here's what I've been trying (and can propose):

1. Experiment On Yourself, Not Your Phone

Instead of using phone hacks, focus on finding what drives you.

Use your brain more and your phone less, as opposed to,
Use your phone less and keep your brain as it is.

Actively work on pursuing different activities like reading, walking, running, journaling, art (the list goes on) and see what works for you.

2. View Tech As An Aid To Be You

Once you've figured out the activities that drive you, revisit the tools (tech) that can help you get there.

Curate your socials to aid your interests and eliminate things that don't work for you.

• If something is toxic, unfollow it. Tell the algorithm you don't like it.

• Set structured routines so that you use tech like you would, anything else - at the right place and time.

How Do These Come Together?

By introducing intentionality, you're able to improve the quality of consumption and production in your daily life. That's the goal at the end of the day. To not get sucked into our screens, numb our brains and fund Silicon Valley Tech Giants.

“Digital minimalism definitively does not reject the innovations of the internet age, but instead rejects the way so many people currently engage with these tools.” ― Cal Newport