Iāve been locked in a chess game w myself for the past 4 years now. This has been the most successful hardline āturn-my-smart-phone-into-a-flip-phoneā compromise Iāve been able to come up with so far. Screen time settings > max content restrictions > ban App Store > close. accessibility> display > color filters > black and white. Every time I open the phone it inflicts psychic damage. You have a trusted friend or family member set up a screen time passcode & guard it like a Nazi. You need to have someone in your life who you can trust to be a Nazi. You change your icloud password too, make it a random string of numbers & letters and hide it in a mundane place thatās annoying to get to. I have a cobweb ridden storage shed in my backyardā this is where I keep my iCloud password.
If I manage to find a way around the blocks Iāve set up, I ask The screen time pw keeper to help me get into the settings & update the list of websites I have manually blocked.
You can do all this on your computer too, but only if itās a mac. And even still; itās very easy to get around these things. I installed a software called āCOLD TURKEY BLOCKERā. I imported a list of over 2,000 websites that are haram. I will not be able to log on to any of them for 10 years at least. Prior to this, I had an intricate web of extensions that I bypassed by discovering the ābrowse as guestā feature in chrome & Firefox. I also used an Israeli child protection software called ācanopyā, but found it expensive bloatware. Cold Turkey is the best way forward for me now.
Instagram, Twitter, every website that you can possibly nameā Iāve blocked them all. This is my only social media. This, and LinkedIn.
Iām finally going to become who I was always meant to be. Untouched, exempt, unaware, pure. Like a baby monk. I will write my screeenplay. Itās a buddy comedy about a couple of knuckleheads who decide to start sticking up convenience stores out of boredom.
I will start rock climbing & praying every day. And Iām going to mean it when I pray. and God will hear me and know that while Iām naĆÆve, Iām earnest and that I need Him. Iām going to lift weights & read booksā cold showers every day & no podcasts (Spotify & podcasts app deleted from my phone). I will perfext my internal monologue. My voice will get deeper naturally, and my posture will correct such that it looks like Iām 2 inches taller (this is the increase that most would consider within reason [it would also take me from 6 foot to 6 foot 2 inches {realistically, I will probably be 6ā1ā when the whole shooting match is over. This is fine for me}]).
āā
I still might get a flip phone. Iām partial to Kyocera DuraXE. High quality, ergonomic, reliable. Itās gotta be reliable. Itās gotta be simple.
Apr 19, 2024
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been considering a flip phone for years. weāre not talkin full dumb phone, more a macro reevaluation of these devices, their positioning relative to my human movement through the world, where they add value, and most importantly, where they strip it away.
iām turning my old iphone 12 into a camera and a āsocial media machine,ā a very small ipad if you will. this will largely live at home (where i work) and be used when necessary, less of an accessory to my being and more of an extremely useful modern tool, that when used in moderation, will, i think, be more than enough to keep me feeling like iām āstill plugged in.ā
however, out in the world, i donāt want my phone to ease friction- personally, i have no interest in moving through life with a crutch for my attention- i never intended for this to become the case, it hasnāt taken over my life or anything, but if iām honest, it has altered the base level experience of the simple act of moving through the world, and iāve finally decided āi donāt think iām cool with that.ā
also, iāve read the articles and watched the youtube videos, none of them pushed me over the edge. for whatever reason, it was the @ANDY-SHAUF rec, it just hit right, so, lfg. s/o to @PERFECTLYIMPERFECT (where i will continue to tune in via my social media machine and desktop personal computer, but not while i am standing on the sidewalk some place iāve never been before. u get me??)
Jun 21, 2025
This is long because itās the one thing I bought off an IG ad that has actually been life changing. For years I wanted a dumb phone to fight my phone slash online shopping addiction, but I didnāt wanna lose maps and a good camera and the iMessage āechoā effect. This does that. My Brick lives on my fridge, and once I tap my phone to it, any app I havenāt whitelisted is blocked. And you can block anything. Even the calculator! Which it deservesā¦after I blocked the obvious ones like IG and shopping, I realized how addicted I was to *information itself*
Occasionally, Iād need to Google something of import, butĀ Ā mostly, I used it to scratch my gnawing, itchy brain. Iād habitually fact-check conversations as I had them, to look up interior photos of the restaurant Iād soon be going to, to search, for the hundredth time, whether fish can feel pain.Ā So anyway I blocked Chrome and Safari and it was nuts. I canāt really get stuck in my bed in a phone hole because the phone fun dries up real fast. I have to just.. get up? Read a book? Incredible. When I do unbrick, usually because I need to do promo for my book, I feel feral and off leash, I turn into a zombie ipad kid, and itās sobering but makes me glad I have something to stop it. Itās nice being able to purchase a personal quality that you lack.Ā Ā
Sep 30, 2024
Iāve converted to a flip phone and itās honestly so fun lol. I think the way we have access to everything, and everyone, in milliseconds is rotting our brains and making us such an entitled society; entitled to other peopleās time and energy on demand, their lives, business, etc. but I also think the way we get sucked in with links from app to app, ads, videos, and doomscrolling, everything is designed to be addictive and it leads (at least for me) to less productivity and more procrastination. I think having to work just a little harder, even to do something as simple as research something, can be good for us.
So what Iāve done is essentially converted my iPhone to a wifi connected iPod touch like from the old days. Iāve left on certain apps like FaceTime, banking apps, Spotify, kindle app, I kept this one to use occasionally and all my saved recipes on my phone of course, etc. but I leave it in my room and just use it in the morning or before bed for reading or checking emails, music for working out, stuff like that, and leave it at home for everything else.
Screen time of course is way down which is nice, itās also really nice to not feel like I constantly need to be checking something, opening a message on an app, etc. I also have found so far and think it will continue to help me not spend so much money impulsively on things I donāt actually need.
Aside from all of the benefits, I think in general I just find it funny and all of my friends think itās hilarious lol. Iāll have to figure out what Iāll do for airports, maybe bring the old iPhone with me, connect to airport wifi, scan boarding passes with it. Iāll figure that out when I get there.
Feb 26, 2025
Top Recs from @steelyfan1998
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sometimes you just need to read some real shit straight from the realest person you know .
Feb 24, 2025
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Mar 4, 2025
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I LOVE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS I LOVE THE LIGHT I LOVE GOING FOR A HIKE AFTER WORK AND HOW WATER LOOKS IN THE WARM DUSK THANK YOU DAYLIGHT SAVINGS----- I HAPPILY SACRIFICE AN HOUR OF SLEEP COME THIS TIME OF THE YEAR WAKING TO THE SUNSHINE JABBING ME EYE----- IF YOU DON'T FUCK WITH DAYLIGHT SAVINGS UNFOLLOW ME I DONT FUCK WITH YOU----- THE GREATEST BETRAYAL OF MY ADULT LIFE WAS WHEN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA VOTED FOR PERMANENT DAY LIGHT SAVINGS ALL THE TIME AND THE COWARDS THAT RUN THIS PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A STATE FAILED TO IMPLEMENT ETERNAL SUMMER
Mar 4, 2025