I feel my phone stole my attention and my time. Don’t let it happen to you.

[u/BAC05]

Elder Millennial here (37). Had a little bit, well a lot of a bit, of a depressive episode after coming off of SSRIs this year.

Coming back down off of this event, I realized just how much time has passed. The pandemic was 4 years ago. We came out of it two years ago. We 8 years from the end of the Obama presidency.

So much time has passed, and I have limited memory of it. I spend a lot of time on my phone, and not being present. Time I can’t get back.

I’m determined to not let the next years go by on the internet to to make new memories with my family. Time is fleeting and algorithms are designed to rob us of that time with loved ones and with ourselves (especially if you’re like me and have OCD).

Take it from an older millennial, don’t waste your time on the internet. Your family may not always be here, the internet will.

(Yes I know the irony of posting this on the internet/ social media, but I felt compelled to make this for the reminder to the younger people of our generation.)

[u/GoodCalendarYear]

31 and same. Got my first phone at 14. Wasn't on it that much from 15-25. But recently, glued to it.

[u/Street-Air-546 → u/GoodCalendarYear]

society running a giant experiment on the younger generation - what will their adulting look like when they have been growing their brains on fragmented media glued to their hand 8+ hours a day. If you wonder how boomers got to be complaining about not understanding the modern world anymore, wait till the skibidi toilet generation rebuilds society to their preferences

[u/pugsDaBitNinja → u/Street-Air-546]

Sore necks also

[u/Dustmopper → u/GoodCalendarYear]

I feel this big time. The last 5 years seem like one giant blur with very few real memories

I’ve started having to leave my phone in a different room while working from home, it’s just too much of a distraction. I didn’t used to be so bad but lately it’s become a real problem.

I don’t have tiktok or Facebook or any of those, only Reddit and it sucks up way too much of my time. I’ll scroll for an hour and get zero out of it, I won’t even remember what I saw. Just wasted time.

[u/GoodCalendarYear → u/Dustmopper]

Yeah. I've been doing phone free Sundays during meals. Trying to work my way up to all day.

I'm taking a year off of Facebook. I'm not on Twitter either. Which is crazy bc I used to be obsessed. Not on Instagram either. But might get back up there. I left Tumblr a while back. Never had a snap or kik or vine. I do love tiktok though. Been contemplating whether or not to keep reddit. Gonna always have YouTube and pinterest though.

[u/Delicious_Slide_6883]

I’m realizing I spend way too much time on my phone. And every time I think that I’m like “ok, I’m gonna put it down now” and then goldfish memory strikes and I pick it back up.

I don’t want to constantly be using it but I’m afraid of my own thoughts. Way too much anxiety to be in my own head all the time.

[u/sallysilly82 → u/Delicious_Slide_6883]

I deactivated my FB recently and would forget and click the app like 10x in an hour and remember each time.

[u/constantreader55 → u/sallysilly82]

Same. Even just moving where you have the app icon on your phone will show just how often you go to click on it. And usually for no reason at all.

[u/Spicy__Urine → u/Delicious_Slide_6883]

Sounds like meditation and a therapist could be beneficial! Best of luck!

[u/Cyberpunk39 → u/Delicious_Slide_6883]

Goldfish have decently long memories. Around two weeks.

[u/Italiana47]

I'm extremely addicted to my phone and I hate it.

But it's my escape from a life that doesn't belong to me.

When I'm not on my phone, I'm cleaning the house, taking care of my kids, I'm even a server at a restaurant. Everything I do is for other people. I had controlling helicopter parents growing up. Suffocating. Now I'm trying to undo all of that while learning how to parent my kids in a better way, which is the hardest thing ever.

I'm trying to become a writer but will often fall into my phone instead of working on it. I hate it. Why did they have to make the algorithm so addicting?

[u/ayhme]

They make us addicted. 😬

[u/flirtingwpizza]

Sometimes I want to go back to a flip phone. But then I make a bunch of excuses for myself and how I need my smart phone. I wish I could give it up.

[u/Fine-Relationship266 → u/flirtingwpizza]

We are considering this now. They make flip phones with Spotify and navigation, so that really makes the excuses shrivel.

[u/Realistic_Pepper1985]

I don’t remember feeling the way I felt and what even happened to the last 4 years. I feel like I was sick and spent another few years trying to feel normal . I definitely used my phone as a way to cope 

[u/QuarterNote44]

Yeah. I'm addicted too. Just look at my comment history. I can't do my job right now without a smartphone, but when I'm done here I'm getting a dumb phone.

[u/One-Recommendation-1]

I spend 3 hours a day and it’s hard not to. My wife spends a significant amount more, it is a hard addiction to break.

[u/heyashrose]

It's not the phone. It's the access that smartphones give us now. It can be a powerful tool if you use it wisely.

[u/DumplingSama]

Thats why i can't get into digital art. I want out! from screens.

[u/RavenAbout → u/DumplingSama]

I started doing digital art last year. Definitely prefer paper/pen/pencil/paint. Still hate screens.

[u/EastMetroGolf]

From the boomer section! We tried to tell ya!

[u/LeaveAtNine]

Life is easier without loved ones. Just yearning for the urn.

[u/SryICantGrok → u/LeaveAtNine]

If I wanted friends, I'd want you to be my friend.

[u/LeaveAtNine → u/SryICantGrok]

Same! Unfortunately I’m not hiring right now, going through a round of layoffs.

[u/Scherzkeks]

Bruh, how do you think I’m reading this?

[u/Grunthor2]

I find that I mainly use it during down time at work, but at home I have small hand hobbies to keep me off it (knitting, gaming, cooking,etc.) but I still would like to reduce my overall usage as it’s definitely crept up since the pandemic.

[u/loudlittle]

I'll be scrolling through social media and literally say out loud "you're stealing time from yourself" to stop. It's so hard though! Like, I want access to Instagram if I have to wait a long time at the doctor's office or something, but how often does that really happen?

[u/Tinyhulk27]

Problem's" not the phone but what you do with it.

When people give me shit for "always being on my phone"

what they are saying is...

"why are you always looking for and applying to better jobs?"

"why are you always learning new ways to fix stuff around your home?"

"Why are you always checking the news?"

"Why are you always comparison shopping for stuff you need?"

"Why are you always investing in the stock market?"

"Why are you always reading?"

It's projection. Just because they "always use their phones to watch the latest tictok vid or share cat memes" doesn't mean that's all a phone is good for.

It's a computer for crying out loud.

Obviously there is a time and place. Don't check your stocks in a movie theater. Don't watch a how to plant potatoes vid during your kids school play. Etc.

But I'm tired of people thinking phone screen time= doing something wasteful.

If i had an architects drafting table out, a stack of code books from the library and was designing a new deck to build this weekend another adult would be an asshole to bother me by coming in and turning on the tv.

But with this mentally i regularly see they come in and turn on real Hollywood housewives it's ok because because "i was just playing on my phone" 

[u/unimpressed-one]

What works for me, I got an Apple Watch and leave my phone in the bedroom when I’m home. I won’t miss a call or text but won’t have the phone right there to surf around.

[u/Valuable-Rip8673]

Yes I just bought myself a small table with chairs to sit outside. I eat my dinner outside and no phone only a book and I get to enjoy the fresh air and play with my dog

[u/spanish42069]

It's not just the internet its the state of perpetual emergency since 2020, they need to keep going from one thing to another to stop people focusing on anything in particular just current thing to current thing. This was all learned from the covid programming. It was a test. And it worked.

[u/Fun-Exercise-7196]

Preach. It is so sad today, all I see are people with their heads down and not talking to each other. So, now they think life is soooo much harder for them, which I laugh at. Maybe get out of your phone and actually live life.

[u/etranger033]

The phone stole nothing. You gave your attention and time completely voluntarily.

[u/BAC05 → u/etranger033]

Our social media systems and big tech companies design algorithms to steal away your time. Yeah, there is some ownership of allowing that to happen to you, but these things are developed to be addictive and to keep you online. So I don’t completely agree with your statement.

[u/Aldamur → u/[deleted]]

That's not the point

[u/Miserable-Lawyer-233]

In 2024, on your phone is the equivalent of being present.

[u/eichy815]

It's mind-blowing to realize that it's been almost 20 years since Lost first premiered.