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as someone who will wait by my phone for hours all for a measly text back, I think it’s time I break this habit and to implore others to do so as well.
• experience a texture other than your phone screen. (ex. a loved ones skin, oobleck, soap suds.) • write a letter to someone you love. (could even be to yourself or a pet!) • take a long, warm bath. • start the book you bought months ago and have not touched since. • invest in some physical media. (if you can’t hold it in your hands, you don’t own it! even though the internet is “forever“, it’s pretty impressive how some media can be completely wiped/altered from the internet!) • trim your hair ;) • sit outside in the sun like a plant photosynthesizing. • stop waiting for good things to come to you and create the good you wish to see in the world.
life is far too short to spend it mindlessly scrolling on these mini-supercomputers and letting others dictate your mood.
• experience a texture other than your phone screen. (ex. a loved ones skin, oobleck, soap suds.) • write a letter to someone you love. (could even be to yourself or a pet!) • take a long, warm bath. • start the book you bought months ago and have not touched since. • invest in some physical media. (if you can’t hold it in your hands, you don’t own it! even though the internet is “forever“, it’s pretty impressive how some media can be completely wiped/altered from the internet!) • trim your hair ;) • sit outside in the sun like a plant photosynthesizing. • stop waiting for good things to come to you and create the good you wish to see in the world.
life is far too short to spend it mindlessly scrolling on these mini-supercomputers and letting others dictate your mood.
3d ago
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💡We’ve all been there before: I’m in line to renew a car tag, I’m waiting for my to-go order, I’ve sat down in the classroom waiting for the professor to arrive, etc. I’ve noticed all of us (myself included) can tend to reach for our phones, but I’m fighting against that urge!! A few years ago I developed the phrase “practice being bored.” As a true Millennial, I have lost some tolerance for boredom that I used to possess. “Back in my day” (lol) I remember not having the option of looking at a phone (but boy did I play some Snake once I got one!). So when I say “practice being bored,” I mean that literally. I try to just sit, wait, and do nothing. I look around and watch others, observe details in the environment, day dream.
But what do I do if the urge is too strong? I have developed a few ideas for when the boredom is impossible to beat (inspired by my mom’s bag of tricks she would bring around with us as kids to keep us occupied).
- Rubik’s cube: I taught myself how to solve it in high school via YouTube (so many videos available now, but the series I used is by user Dan Brown). Not only is the cube a great party trick, but it acts as the ideal fidget spinner. Even if you want to raw dog trying to figure it out, it’s a good way to pass the time.
- Book: Breaking News, local girl recommends reading to solve all of life’s problems! I get it, yet another person on the Internet telling you to “pick up a book.” But like drinking water and exercise, unfortunately the experts (me) are right about this one!! Once my mom said “I own all of the books in the world, the library just stores them for me,” and I encourage you to check them out (literally).
- Notebook: the MAGIC of a notebook, I am in awe. So many great solo and team activities you can do with some paper and a pen. Make lists (that you can post later here, see what I did!), draw objects or people around you, scribble circles and then fill them in a la Mircrosoft Paint style. There’s also a fun game you can play with another person that I call the “Dot Game” where you draw rows of dots, and you and the other person take turns drawing lines connecting the dots to make square boxes. If the line you draw makes a box, you put your initial in the box. The goal is to make the most boxes.
- Clean out bag/purse/wallet: I like to use “in-between time” to “get my life together” by cleaning out all of the random receipts, lipgloss, detritus of my life from the various bags I carry around with me.
I’d love to know what you may do to fight the Phone Urge as well!
I’d love to know what you may do to fight the Phone Urge as well!
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📱Do anything but be on your phone! post recs and asks on a laptop or public computer! Find new hobbies! Make art, call your sister, tell someone you love them, eat your favourite meal, make a paper chain, read stone butch blues, get into analog music, get a pen pal, make a tiny horse out of clay, think about your survival, drink juice, take a vow of sincerity, apologise for lack thereof, smile at people in the street, wave at babies, lie in the sun, do anything!
Feb 11, 2025
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i have been on a journey to untangle my tasks from my iPhone.
i'd be out in the world someplace, pull out my phone for something as menial as checking the time, or as well intentioned as capturing the moment in a pic, and immediately get sucked into texts and instagram™️ and all the virtual things happening in this tiny lil demon light box.
the goal: pull my phone out of my bag ONLY for phone things. that's texting, calling, and apps that can't be replaced
the solutions so far: 🕰️ i started with a watch (shoutout Casio) and i wear it every day. once I broke the habit of checking my phone for the time, I felt legitimately freed from something Major 📷 I bought a small digital camera to leave in my bag. the pics look better and I don’t get distracted by the virtual world when I'm trying to capture something in the now 📚 I bought a kindle. It fits in my jacket pocket (literally) and gives me something to do when I'm on the train or waiting for an appointment that isn't scrolling
I just realized so much of the time I spent on my phone was not intentional. It was a thing I was doing in between Other intentional moments. my screen time is still several hours a day (don’t get me wrong) but I think my brain has healed at least 3%.
welcoming other ideas as wellđź’ˇ
i'd be out in the world someplace, pull out my phone for something as menial as checking the time, or as well intentioned as capturing the moment in a pic, and immediately get sucked into texts and instagram™️ and all the virtual things happening in this tiny lil demon light box.
the goal: pull my phone out of my bag ONLY for phone things. that's texting, calling, and apps that can't be replaced
the solutions so far: 🕰️ i started with a watch (shoutout Casio) and i wear it every day. once I broke the habit of checking my phone for the time, I felt legitimately freed from something Major 📷 I bought a small digital camera to leave in my bag. the pics look better and I don’t get distracted by the virtual world when I'm trying to capture something in the now 📚 I bought a kindle. It fits in my jacket pocket (literally) and gives me something to do when I'm on the train or waiting for an appointment that isn't scrolling
I just realized so much of the time I spent on my phone was not intentional. It was a thing I was doing in between Other intentional moments. my screen time is still several hours a day (don’t get me wrong) but I think my brain has healed at least 3%.
welcoming other ideas as wellđź’ˇ
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🌊most of these I associate with someone who after not speaking for the past 2 years, texted me to let me know that brian wilson died and we’ve been talking ever since so. never lose hope guys!
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say yes - elliott smith more than words - extreme the fucking iron claw soundtrack closing time - tom waits silver springs - fleetwood mac sweet sunday kinda love - the beach boys
3d ago