Lauren You
The digital detox has been a very enriching experience overall. It was a perfect excuse for me to get offline and focus on real-world interactions and give myself time to think more. This is ironic because we’ve said that we use computers as a tool to think. But when we’re too engrossed and consume too much of it, we become lost and unable to think clearly about what matters in life.
I’ve found that most of my phone usage has been focused on checking social media, refreshing my feed and watching countless videos throughout the day. This wasn’t for me to think about anything, but purely to entertain myself. The amount of new entertaining information had become addictive over time and I found myself checking my phone every time I had the chance.
During my digital detox, I was able to fully concentrate on my readings and assignments without distraction. I was able to talk with friends without checking my phone constantly and even have some deep conversations. But this was by no means easy – I was so tempted to just switch my phone back on and get back to my oh-so-convenient life. I was surprised that I even had to do some preparation for this before I started. For instance, I had to tell my friends and family that I won’t be able to contact them online, I had to print out everything that I would have otherwise read on my computer, and even had to take out my IDs from the back of my phone so I don’t carry the device around. The most fundamental parts of my ability to function daily seemed so dependent on my devices – I actually don’t have a watch so I had no idea what the time was unless I asked someone else.
This made me reflect a lot on myself and my uncontrollable usage of my devices. I’ve let my phone and computer become the brains of myself, giving it my daily notes and reminders, my contact information, everything. As E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” puts it, technological devices seem to “feed us and clothes us and houses us, through it we speak to one another, through I t we see one another, in it we have our being.” After the detox, I’ve become much aware of my relationship with my phone and will consciously reduce its influence over how I live everyday. To do this, as I’ve written in my journals, I’ll look for offline alternatives and keep my mind focused on real-world interactions.
