I recently attempted to take back control of how I use my phone/ the Internet by using the metaphor of food.
One of the first things we learned as kids is that we need food to survive. But soon after, our parents taught us that not all types of food are good for us all the time.
The best way to lose weight in the long-term is not to refrain from eating, but it’s to develop healthier habits. First, we put types of foods into categories - vegetables, fruits, desserts. Then we try to consume the most beneficial categories more frequently than the others.
I think it’s important that we think about the internet in the same way. We need to admit that the internet has become a basic necessity like food, water and shelter. But we also need to learn that consuming the internet indiscriminately is not going to be healthy for us.
I've found it helpful to actually create an internet consumption ‘food pyramid’. There’s an app called Moment that tracks how much time you spend in each app. This helped me figure out what my current consumption pyramid looked like.
Once I became aware of which apps I used the most, I tried to rate each of them based on how much they contributed to my psychological peace of mind. A score of 10, which I only gave to Kindle and Spotify, meant that the app was extremely calming, while a score of 1 meant that using the app was unsettling (hello, Twitter!).
As I internalized this new way of viewing my phone, it became easier to make lasting changes. Viewing Instagram and Snapchat as desserts rather than the steak and potatoes, helped me to delete them during the weekdays and only re-download them on Sunday’s.
I hope this can help you too! If you're interested in more of my writings, I keep them at vitalityproject.co/writing
Hi @brettu, I enjoyed this very creative piece of writing and will visit your site. This is the type of content I am looking forward to reading more of on Steemit.com! Upvoted and Resteemed :)
Apparently food pyramids are not the best way to manage serving portions and food types anymore, if you look at this website: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/
By the way I also work in technology, but I haven't had much fun trying to get people off their phones, so I'll just think about it instead :)
No way! In the Bay Area? Love your pyramid as well!
No way! In the Bay Area? Love your pyramid as well
Hi @brettu, if only I was in the Bay Area... sometimes it is hard to tell whether steemit is down or if the Australian internet speed is just plain slow :D How do you plan to get people to their phones? I am designing an app based on getting people together to do activities that involve face-to-face contact. Love to learn more about what you are working on :)