Gadgets and Minimalism

This post originally appeared in the author’s blog @ fiveshotsofcoffee.com on 30th June 2021.

Like it or not, We live in an uber connected World. Almost any information we need is a tap away. And almost always, our time is just a tap away from being not ours. An average smartphone user spends around three or more hours, looking at his (or her) mobile screen. If that number sounds insane, looking at the screen time report on one’s phone will confirm it. Attending a few phone calls, checking emails every few hours, and checking and replying to social media now and then, is all it takes for one to hit the three hour mark, and it does not stop there.

Now visualise yourself sitting, crouched, neck bent down, one hand holding your device, and the other hand busy swiping. Looks fine, right? Now imagine the same posture, now without the phone. That posture is not only silly, it’s an ergonomic disaster, and frankly it’s pathetic when you enter a room, any room - an office, a restaurant, a pub, or even even your dining room, and see your fellows in the same posture.

What happened to us? Connected World Happened !!

I am not going to talk about the negative effects of this behaviour in various domains like Mental, Physical, Work, Relations. It is suffice to say such effects exist, and almost all of us, in one way or another, are living examples.

I am a smartphone addict. I have been one, at least for the better part of last decade. I never realised how much time it is taking out of my daily life. An Addict never knows, does he? Smartphones kept getting better, more faster, with more attractive screens. The internet speeds got better. The content online became “smarter”. The social algorithms learned to map us better, and was churning content which kept us hooked. And slowly, our screen time inched higher and higher.

3 hours a day, is a large number. But not as large as 1000 hours. 1000 hours is what we would be spending looking at a smartphone screen for 3 hours a day. The number is even more for a large number of professionals, who are (un)fortunate enough to stare at a computer screen all day long. A decade ago, you would have laughed at someone if they said, they spend 1000 hours a year with their cellphone.

There are better ways to spend our time, and there are more beautiful things to see and experience !!

I was a smartphone addict, I knew it, and I could do nothing about it. Rather, I did not want to do anything about it. Then, the pandemic happened and I suddenly had a lot of free time to discover new things. Two of those ‘new things’ were Buddhism and Minimalism, and they taught me a lot of new things.

I discovered Buddhism from eBooks by Thich Nhat Hanh on Amazon, The Secular Buddhism podcast, subreddits on Buddhism, to name a few. One of the core concepts of Buddhism is being intentional in what we do. In simple words it’s eating when you are eating, washing dishes when washing dishes and not think about a hundred different things. It’s when I realised that for the past decade, I have eaten along with my phone, washed dishes when looking at my phone, and the list can go on and on. For once, I attempted to eat a meal without my phone, without reading a book or newspaper, and just focusing on the food alone.

It was a life changing experience. Imagine walking in a busy street surrounded by the endless honks, and suddenly being transported to a lone path in a silent garden. I loved it.

Minimalism was discovered purely by chance, when I clicked on a link shared by my friend in a group. The link led me to Joshua Becker and from his site and his emails, I discovered a lot of like minded fellows spreading the wonderful message of Minimalism. I always have trouble explaining what is Minimalism to others, for they have the images of white walled room with a one desk, which holds a plant. I recently learnt the perfect way to describe Minimalism.

Minimalism, is Abundance. For you intentionally reduce the clutter in your life, to maximise the time and effort you spend on worthwhile experiences.

Minimalism, was a game changer. Minimalism helped me get my priorities straight and unclutter my home. One of the first things I did while pursuing minimalism, was to unclutter my phone. (I had almost 300 apps installed in my phone !!)

Life was Good.

And then,

I relapsed.

Like some addicts do.

The pandemic lockdown ended, the routine life began - in full force -, and before long I was stuck doing what I was doing before, seeking instant gratification and validation in social media, devouring gossip in news, chatting endlessly in WhatsApp groups, checking emails all day long, my rebound screen on time inching close to five hours. Decade old habits do not die easy!

Fortunately this time, I had the tools to fight the addiction. Constant Newsletters from Becoming Minimalist reminded me of what I am doing, and what I should be doing instead.

And thus began my conscious efforts w.r.t Gadgets and Minimalism. The Goal was quite simple. Minimise my screen time, Which gives me extra time to do something else, or nothing at all. After setting that goal, What did I do next? I went and bought an Apple Cellular Watch. While my wife rolled her eyes and asked me “Your idea of de-addicting from gadgets, is to slap a gadget on your wrist, and you call this minimalism??", I knew what I was doing.

I had realised something simple. To learn a new habit, you have to make your access to that habit easier. Wanna read consistently? Keep books where you can see them often. Wanna run once you wake up? Keep your running shoes close to bed. And to unlearn a habit, make your access to it difficult. Wanna reduce your screen time? Make access to your screen difficult. That’s it.

The only way I was going to reduce my phone usage was to leave my phone behind. And being in a field which requires me to be available for an emergency call (healthcare!) during the saner off-hours, i needed a phone without a phone. And a watch surprisingly served me well. Now i could leave my phone behind, without the fear of missing an emergency call, and the watch had a tiny screen and a tiny battery to keep me occupied in it for long. I had almost no apps in the watch, barring a podcast app, Spotify, Maps for directions, and an app for passwords and 2FA. A phone without a phone. (Completely switching to a dumb phone, was the most ideal option. But that did not work for me, as I needed the necessary apps i mentioned on hand, and I did need a smartphone for critical tasks)

I enjoyed running without my phone, eating without my phone, going to the mall without my phone, and even going to work without a phone.

While this could be an extreme example for a lot of people, here are some practical tips which I found pretty useful to minimise your gadget screen time.

• Do not buy “The” phone with the most beautiful screen, if possible. You will get sucked.
• Your phone has a Screen time limit function, Use it. Set it to a sane limit. Set it in a way that once the limit gets hit, access to all your time wasters are blocked.
• If you haven’t already, Uninstall your social media apps. Your phone, and your mind will be free. Use the web versions to curtail your social media anxiety. This one more step will eventually reduce your ‘social time’ .
• Uninstall your email app. If that is too extreme, check email only once in few hours.
• Avoid reading News. Too extreme? Get your news from the paper instead. Online news sites will link you to related news which you do not need, and before you know you will be Doom-scrolling.
• If you find yourself accessing a free app (social/news) frequently, think if you would do it if it costs money to subscribe. If you won’t, that app is a time waster. Get rid of it, now.
• Reduce consuming Visual Entertainment from your phone, Netflix etc. Set a fixed limit for entertainment, and use a bigger screen to consume it along with your family.
• Disable notifications for all, except for the time critical apps. .
• Set a Night Shift, or Blue light filter for the evenings. It is good for your eyes, and your mind.
• Set a Bedtime reminder in your phone. My phone gives a reminder by 9 pm, and disables all except the Dialer app.
• If your work requires you to be engaged with a gadget, use one with a bigger screen (tablet, laptop, pc) and an ergonomic seat. And take regular breaks in between. .
• Practice leaving your gadgets behind, every now and then. .
• Resist the urge to access information, and to validate every fact on Wikipedia. Make a mental note of the fact, and if you remember it in the evening, it’s worth enough to check, on a bigger screen.

And some more tips to minimise the gadgets in your life.

• Avoid upgrading for the sake of upgrading. You do not need the flashiest new model available. Upgrade only when your current device is obsolete, or the upgrade offers you a ‘essential convenience’ which you cannot do without. Skipping your upgrade saves you money, and the time you spend setting it up and safeguarding it.
• Avoid duplicating your gadgets. Having multiple similar gadgets eases your access to them, and in turn increases their usage and reduces your time.

Enjoy your Gadget free time, in Abundance! Cheers!