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Do Not Disturb: How I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain

#1

Some of us have a different form of affliction, the opposite of what you describe, I code. Unlike your problem, it is based on an intense focus. The upside is that it pays well, and I tend to think of it as rewarding. There was a time that my work role was more of a team lead or project manager but wrote code as part of my work. At some point, the pull of solving problems and developing solutions was so at odds with my need to reach out to others, I had to choose, code or lead. I chose to code.

I won't claim to only focus since there are times that once I finish a block of some work, or get involved with something like a forum post, that I make a quick run through my social pages and news feed. To your point though, I still read books but tend to do it in a Pomodoro-style rotation, spending 20 to 25 minutes on each item. No longer can I find the intensity to read into the late hours, engrossed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/business/cell-phone-addiction.html?comments#permid=30770990

#2

Some of us were lucky, as it relates to this problem, to have acquired our tech skills before the arrival of the mobile phone. Boomer focus tends to be more on internet-as-information, not entertainment, nor socialization. I do not mean this an absolute, but it is enough to explain why some of us have no issues with mobile phones and distraction since many of us are simply older and not mobile tech-savvy. Besides, designers and marketers have likely gotten smarter in their techniques, and many, maybe most, younger people get hooked on the behaviorist manipulation, reward and punishment, notification and withdrawal, that come with the always-on aspects of modern apps.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/business/cell-phone-addiction.html?comments#permid=30771753

#3

@Zenster - I haven't gotten out of their way for several years, and sometimes the oblivious walk into me, and at a fairly fit 6'4" and 225 lbs, I'm either an unstoppable force or an immovable object, depending on your perspective. I stick to my side of the walk, and usually, nothing comes of this, a minor brush here or there, but a few weeks ago, someone walked into me, then after walking 10 feet, he turned and yelled to say that I should have gotten out of his way - he actually had veered across the walk into me. When I responded, he then told me I should watch where I was going - my eyes are usually halfway down the block ahead of myself. He then insulted me, and when I outraged insulted him, he said something alluding that I was being rude and that I probably beat my wife. He then walked away, and I then somewhat goofily yelled that my wife thinks I'm an angel. Feeling foolish, I told her about the incident, and rather than agreeing that the last line was a bit much, squeezed me so hard and insisted that I was an angel!

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/business/cell-phone-addiction.html?comments#permid=30773377:30775831





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