I am actually worried about myself for spending too much time with the smart phone. Even at the bathroom, while I stand peeing I browse stuff that I actually don't care that much about. It is a compulsion. Probably should get treatment. I find that I've started to lose the ability to read and concentrate on longer pieces of text. I hardly read books anymore, which goes into things at any depth.
I used to take long walks where I thought about difficult problems and found solutions. I would ponder these problems on the bus, or subway. I never mined being alone with my thoughts before. I never understood how people could be bored when there are so many things one could be thinking about.
Yet here I am in 2016 incapable of being alone in my own thoughts for more than 5 minutes before pulling up the iPhone. I starts to feel more like a bad drug, than a usable tool.
If anybody has good suggestions for phones or ways of configuring the iPhone so that I can only read email. I am not addicted to email. It is the browsing functionality which is so addictive.
I also wish I was not wasting my time on HN writing this comment ;-)
I suggest mindfulness meditation. 20 minutes a day of trying to focus on nothing can help get your brain back in order. It may seem odd that the cure for the inability to concentrate might be concentrating on something as basic as your breath. It worked for me. Mindfulness in Plain English is a good book to get started is and free online.
I used to take long walks where I thought about difficult problems and found solutions. I would ponder these problems on the bus, or subway. I never mined being alone with my thoughts before. I never understood how people could be bored when there are so many things one could be thinking about.
Yet here I am in 2016 incapable of being alone in my own thoughts for more than 5 minutes before pulling up the iPhone. I starts to feel more like a bad drug, than a usable tool.
If anybody has good suggestions for phones or ways of configuring the iPhone so that I can only read email. I am not addicted to email. It is the browsing functionality which is so addictive.
I also wish I was not wasting my time on HN writing this comment ;-)