A few months ago, during a therapy session, I mentioned the possibility that I might be addicted to screens. The psychologist asked what I do when I\u2019m not looking at them. I could only come up with a few things \u2014 all simple, some pathetic, like \u201cwashing dishes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said it\u2019s common for addicts, upon recognizing their addiction, to find themselves in an existential void. I think there\u2019s no doubt that \u201cwashing dishes\u201d is a sign of a huge void, right?<\/p>\n
I realized this problem while reading these three paragraphs<\/a> published by Dave Rupert:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I had a small, intrusive realization the other day that computers and the internet are probably bad for me. I mean that beyond the general advice to touch grass. From an ADHD and generalized anxiety perspective, computers and the internet have become an endless supply of poison pills for my brain; feeds full of constant dopamine hits with doom at every turn.<\/p>\n This is hard to accept because a lot of my work, hobbies, education, entertainment, news, communities, and curiosities are all on the internet. I love the internet, it\u2019s a big part of who I am today, but I understand how its incentive structures harm me. I\u2019m not planning to unplug and go off-grid yet, but it did inspire me to come up with a \u201cpriority of constituencies\u201d for my idle hands and downtime:<\/p>\n Instruments over pads of paper over laptop over tablet over phone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n More people identified with this. Jim Nielsen<\/a>:<\/p>\n Per Dave\u2019s comments, I have this feeling somewhere inside of me that the internet and computers don\u2019t necessarily align in support my own, personal perspective of what a life well lived is for me. My excitement and draw to them also often leave me with a feeling of \u201cI took that too far.\u201d I still haven\u2019t figured out a completely healthy balance (but I\u2019m also doing ok).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Tech websites have a strange obsession with devices that promise to wean us off screens, especially phone screens. These are \u201cdumb phones,\u201d Kindle-like devices, apps to restrict access to addictive apps, and so on. Once the initial excitement wears off, none of this works. It\u2019s almost a mantra of mine to state that more technology isn\u2019t usually the solution to problems caused by technology.<\/p>\n