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I really recommend unplugging for a few days. It helps you notice how you are interacting with technology. I spent 4 days on a tiny island (population 11) a f

I really recommend unplugging for a few days. It helps you notice how you are interacting with technology. I spent 4 days on a tiny island (population 11) a few years ago. I was there with one friend and we decided that there would be no screens and no watches/clocks for the whole time. You very quickly adjust to not having it. Easily within a day. We ate when we got up, and then again later on. We went to sleep soon after it got dark. We barely even thought about things that weren't directly around us. The most surprising thing about the trip was the return. We caught a small covered ferry that had a little TV hooked up. The TV was showing the preparation for some sports event, basially nothing was happening. I was utterly transfixed by it. The movement, the colors, the cuts every few seconds was way more stimulation than I had had over the past 4 days. Smartphones add interactivity and take this even further.

usaphp 9y ago
> You very quickly adjust to not having it. Easily within a day. We ate when we got up, and then again later on. We went to sleep soon after it got dark. Not sure why do you need adjusting to eat when you wake up and sleep after dark, and how technology prevents you from doing that in your usual life?
- mikepurvis 9y ago
  Habit. Especially in the winter, there are several hours of darkness before most adults' bedtimes, which is typically filled with screen time, whether TV/videogames, computer, phone. If you have young kids, it's even more pronounced, because you end the day physically and emotionally drained, and you feel like you need that time to "unwind" before going to bed yourself. This isn't to say it can't be changed by willpower alone, but I can see how an unplugged vacation would help kickstart the process.
- laurieg 8y ago
  I think most people live life based on a schedule, to a greater or lesser degree. The schedule is informed by clock time. I get up at this time, I eat lunch at that time and so on. When I was on the island I felt like I was much more in tune with my internal needs. I was trying to paint a picture of the experience with my comment, rather than give a prescriptive handbook of what to do.
btreecat 9y ago
It doesn't even have to be that extreme. Go camping, or even for a hike for a few hours. Just take some time on the reg to disconnect.
- wpietri 9y ago
  I agree there's benefit in smaller disconnections. But taking a full week off from something produces a qualitatively different change for me. A month, even more. I'm a life-long atheist, but in the last few years I've really come to understand why Sabbaths and Lent are things that have been sustained over millennia. There's a lot of introspective value in giving things up.
- mcovey 8y ago
  I prefer disconnected by default. I connect when I want/need to.
jsilence 9y ago
I tried to google which island you could have been visiting. google didn't cut it, but Wolfram Alpha understood what I was looking for and found four islands. care to share which one you visited to see whether WA had a hit? Ahhh, what a fabulous waste of time and resources. So... what was the thread about again?
mratzloff 9y ago
Like some others in this thread, I keep my phone permanently in grayscale to make it less visually stimulating. In those extremely rare cases where I turn on color—when it's needed because a UI is color-based—I find the colors absolutely garish and want to turn them off immediately. It's like eliminating refined sugar and artificial sweeteners from your diet and then eating a cupcake. It's too intense, and therefore offputting.

usaphp 9y ago

> You very quickly adjust to not having it. Easily within a day. We ate when we got up, and then again later on. We went to sleep soon after it got dark. Not sure why do you need adjusting to eat when you wake up and sleep after dark, and how technology prevents you from doing that in your usual life?

mikepurvis 9y ago
Habit. Especially in the winter, there are several hours of darkness before most adults' bedtimes, which is typically filled with screen time, whether TV/videogames, computer, phone. If you have young kids, it's even more pronounced, because you end the day physically and emotionally drained, and you feel like you need that time to "unwind" before going to bed yourself. This isn't to say it can't be changed by willpower alone, but I can see how an unplugged vacation would help kickstart the process.
laurieg 8y ago
I think most people live life based on a schedule, to a greater or lesser degree. The schedule is informed by clock time. I get up at this time, I eat lunch at that time and so on. When I was on the island I felt like I was much more in tune with my internal needs. I was trying to paint a picture of the experience with my comment, rather than give a prescriptive handbook of what to do.

btreecat 9y ago

It doesn't even have to be that extreme. Go camping, or even for a hike for a few hours. Just take some time on the reg to disconnect.

wpietri 9y ago
I agree there's benefit in smaller disconnections. But taking a full week off from something produces a qualitatively different change for me. A month, even more. I'm a life-long atheist, but in the last few years I've really come to understand why Sabbaths and Lent are things that have been sustained over millennia. There's a lot of introspective value in giving things up.
mcovey 8y ago
I prefer disconnected by default. I connect when I want/need to.

jsilence 9y ago

I tried to google which island you could have been visiting. google didn't cut it, but Wolfram Alpha understood what I was looking for and found four islands. care to share which one you visited to see whether WA had a hit? Ahhh, what a fabulous waste of time and resources. So... what was the thread about again?

mratzloff 9y ago

Like some others in this thread, I keep my phone permanently in grayscale to make it less visually stimulating. In those extremely rare cases where I turn on color—when it's needed because a UI is color-based—I find the colors absolutely garish and want to turn them off immediately. It's like eliminating refined sugar and artificial sweeteners from your diet and then eating a cupcake. It's too intense, and therefore offputting.