By the numbers
157 the number of times a millenial checks their phone a day
53% of millenials wake up at least once a night to check their phone
9/10 of millenials believe tech has a positive impact on their relationships
94% of parents take at least one action to limit their children’s screen time
2,770,000,000 users on social media world wide
These numbers are not meant to be scary and a one sided view of what this personal challenge will entail. Much like Apple’s new feature for the iPhone that tracks your usage week over week, this is meant to set the scene for how much people actually use these devices. The stat I find the most intriguing is about the parents. We’ve all seen the kids at the airports, restaurants, and in cars entranced by tablets. They seem to be the pacifier 2.0.
I am not a parent. I don’t have a stance on the relationship between technology and raising a child. However, I’m a grown ass man. I make my own decisions. Who’s to tell me that I can’t use my phone whenever I want? Sure Apple has their new feature but they’re not my dad. I’ll just turn off those notifications anyway. Out of sight, out of mind.
But, this stat did make me question why I’m 26 and use this same pacifier 2.0. If I’m bored at home watching The Office, I’ll doddle on my phone. If I’m waiting for the dentist I’ll swipe around on my phone. If I’m at a red light I’ll pull out my phone. It seems any moment that normally would be filled with letting your mind wander, having to embrace the boredom, can now be delightfully mediated by your pocket sized screen. You can be pacified at a moments notice, you big baby.
Overview
The month of March is a weird transition month here in Texas. Cold snaps will send the temperatures plummeting to near freezing. Warm days can see highs in the 80s. This comes at no surprise to any Texan. I take advantage of this strange month on an annual basis. Every year, the Lenten season begins before or during March and consumes it. Forty days of what is posited as reflection on the challenges ol JC faced before he was tacked up on the perpendicular sticks. My family has participated every year for as long as I care to remember. I’m no Joel Olstein, but I do enjoy challenging myself for forty days. A bit of a masochist I suppose. The object of my inevitable suffering is thought up well in advance. What I’ve done the past three years:
2016: No bread of any kind. This was tough living in the UK.
2017: Write a letter everyday to someone.
2018: Go vegan. Yeah, I told everyone about it. Yeah, I’m never doing it again.
This year’s deprivation stems from my time in London. I elected to not purchase a cellular plan while on the island. Anticipating various complications and their solutions was easy. Figuring out the unforeseen problems was much more fascinating. As such, my 2019 challenge will be abstaining from what myself and most of us, rely heavily upon--screen time. From March 6th until April 21st I’m saying goodbye to the black mirrors and hello to, well, I’m not sure yet.
How it will work
I live alone in a one bedroom apartment. I have four roommates, though--TV, monitor, laptop, and iPhone. These four roommates are being kicked out for Lent this year. Messy people, I tell you what. Unlike my parents, some of these I do love more than others. The level of difficulty increases as we move down the list. My vision for each is as follows:
The TV: Rent is cheaper when you live in the outside storage.
It is be spirited away to the storage closet adjoining my porch. This is level one. I’m not much of a TV guy as is. Sure, I enjoy True Detective and watching The Office while sipping pedialyte half naked on the couch after a rough Saturday night. I like to think the 32” Samsung purchased at Circuit City--which should automatically date this piece of tech--for $400 is a testament to “if it aint broke, don’t fix it.” On this point, many a friend has implored me to upgrade. “They’re so cheap now, they’re bigger, the picture is better.” This is an area where I am comfortable not going bigger and better. I also find it fascinating that the TV is always the anchor to any American living room. When someone does not have a TV, it is immediately noticed and the host is questioned. Plus most dates would find it serial killer-esque, I’m sure.
The Monitor: Rent is even cheaper when you split it with the TV.
I even got them bunk beds because I felt bad. This is level two. Many moons ago I experienced the pervasive phenomena that is dual monitors. It was during an internship at [CORPORATION] conducting finance audits in a cubicle with delightful grey carpeted walls in the basement of an office building in a not-tropolis located in a midwest state that shall remain nameless that I, Holden, felt the power of two screens. Now I scoff at the mono-monitor proletariat. This feeling of doubled productivity compelled me to purchase my own second monitor. It has followed me through four moves thus far like the raccoon we fed once outside my neighbors house in third grade that just kept coming back to throw their garbage all over the driveway. Prehensile little bastard. The monitor’s omnipresence on my desk begs me to turn it on, even when I don’t need it. I mean, what could I really be doing at home where I need two screens? Work? Exactly what should be left at the office. Plus, in any parents eyes, getting rid of the monitor is really getting rid of the computer. Just ask my mom.
The Laptop: Enjoy a nice staycation on me.
Now we move to level three--the realm of conscious deprivation. Out of sight, out of mind no longer applies. Effort must be applied to willing abstain from these devices. I envision leaving the laptop in my work bag (it’s a great bag, highly recommend) in lieu of placing it on my desk where it will call to me like a totem.
The iPhone: Time out.
This is the final boss. Level four. At its core the most psychological challenge of all. There might as well be a vein attached to a millenial and their mini-computer-for-some-reason-called-a-phone. Most of us, myself included, feel anxious when we have not checked it in over an hour. Actually, an hour would be an eternity. Inert awareness that borders some evolutionary monkey brain mechanism informs us of the last time your text messages, emails, or tagged memes on Instagram were checked. A clock starts ticking--I picture the hatch from Lost--when the phone screen goes dark. Of all four screens that I am roommates with, I wholly anticipate this being the messiest.
Documentation
Everyday I will be recording my observations of what life is like at home without these devices. Each week I will post summaries of:
What I’ve been doing in lieu of staring at one of these
Observations, musings, feelings, goings-on, cravings, etc that result from being screenless
Current state of affairs
My iPhone is four and a half years old. I’ve met children that were born after I purchased my phone. They can walk, talk, and consciously object from the vegetables on their plates at dinner. I don’t need the greatest technology in the palm of my hand. What I’ve found over the past year was that notifications were the biggest driver in my anxiety around this device. This realization led to the following:
Disabled text chimes, vibrations, etc.
Removed work email from phone
Deleted Instagram app
Deleted Facebook app
Disabled Snapchat notifications
What this boils down to is a reversal of roles. Instead of the apps whispering sweet nothings into my ear every time their algorithm deems something interesting or I receive a message/photo/whatever, I have to make the choice to open them. This has been liberating! However, I still find myself checking my phone regularly.
Lingering question(s)
I’m not getting a burner phone or a landline, so how will I handle my phone? I imagine it will be similar to my experience in London. This would require planning things in advance and then adhering to that schedule. However, I don’t think this would last long. It will probably devolve into me setting aside 3-4 minutes every hour or so to briefly check in for messages. It remains to be seen and will be articulated in the forthcoming weekly installments here.