In a recent essay, former politician P.G. Sittenfeld wrote about a paradox of his time in prison: It gave him a break from the intrusive pull of his iPhone. In response, many readers wrote about their own efforts to disconnect and unplug, and the learnings that came from making those steps. Here, lightly edited for space and clarity, are a selection of their comments.
Disable all those dings, beeps and chimes
Thomas Cunneff
One thing I've done is to turn off all my alerts. That's a start to not being imprisoned by your phone. It's something I really notice when I'm with other people and I hear all their dings, beeps, and chimes and I just think, Why? Won't you be able to see who or what pinged you when you pick up the phone in a few minutes any way out of habit? The average person picks up their phone between 144 and 186 times a day, according to Google. I would say I'm more like 50. Very few notifications, if any, require our immediate attention. I'm just trying to be more present in my day-to-day life and notice the world a little more. -- Thomas Cunneff
Take a trip to get some perspective
I deleted a whole mess of apps after we went to Glacier National Park a few summers ago. The first night staying in the park I made my way to the top floors of the Lake MacDonald Lodge trying to hold my phone in the air at just the right angle to get the best signal so that various texts, work emails and other notifications would update. I was leaning over a balcony and realized how ridiculous I looked. The world will move ahead without me and that was ok! Happiness comes when you let your ego go. The smart phone is the ego enabler! Hiking along the Continental Divide and steering far clear of the grizzlies and brown bears on the trail was a great place to learn to be "present" again. -- Andrew Skola
Take a tip from the kids
I quit social media after visiting my college-aged daughter, who bemoaned the perception that young people are all anxious, isolated and socially stunted because of the stranglehold of social media and TikTok. "All we see is how addicted parents are. You may not be on TikTok but you guys are always on your phones too!" She and her friends have a "no phones" rule at meals and many have deleted TikTok. As for me, I now read news on my phone, text my friends, do crosswords when I am bored, which feels far different to scrolling. I see fewer ads so am less pulled into buying sprees. I watch full movies without glancing down at my phone to look up actors and read reviews and Rotten Tomatoes. It is all SO MUCH BETTER. I feel less irritable and less frazzled. I am still on top of the big picture for real news but in smaller, discrete doses that don't poison me at all hours. -- Catrin Morris
Resist FOMO -- it will pass
What I have aimed for is to make the phone a tool that you control, not something that controls you. Something you only pick up when you really need it. When my oldest (now 7) was born, I committed myself to be more present for my family, quitting social media cold turkey. Overall I think it has been a real success. Life is so short, it would be a shame to spend it by endlessly scrolling different social media feeds, ignoring your loved ones and their needs, as well as ignoring the activities you used to love to do. I think many people will look back and think about all the time they spent on social media feeds and how this time could have been used in so much better ways. Yes, you probably will feel some FOMO at first, but it will pass with time. You may end realizing that it is the people addicted to their feeds who are missing out, not you. -- J. Poyhonen
Reserve time in the day to read the news -- then put it away
I recently quit social media consumption. Additionally, I quit scrolling news sites for headlines. I give myself one session, no matter how long or short, to read through all the news on my phone. Since putting this plan into action, I have started reading books again. I have better outcomes at my work and am more present with the family. This is all very recent; a long way to go. I still fall off the wagon for short periods but am conscious. I say, you do it too. -- Sachin Dole
Leave your phone in the car (but bring it on a hike)
This is one benefit of doing classified work. The areas where such work is performed do not allow cell phones, so the most convenient thing to do is to leave your phone in the car. Hence eight hours a day free from the phone. Now, I use my device mostly for fitness tracking. Once it helped save my life when I had a bad fall while hiking and was able to call the fire department to come rescue me. -- John Grove
--Thomas Cunneff photo by Heather Moran/College of Charleston