A Slave of Phone

My name is Ravi Singh and I am an addict.

I am constantly wired to my digital devices:  smartphone, iPad and laptop. Juggling between the three, sometimes accessing all 3 at a time, charging them, mindlessly checking them. My wife fights with me that I am more into digital life than 'real life'. And she is true.

I lack daily dose of real human interaction and in a way it hampers my social life as well. The solution is simple but not easy. The only way I get over any addiction is to completely nuke it. I have left most of the social media, except Youtube and Whatsapp. Otherwise at one point I was in a habit of compulsively checking FB and Twitter . I am also a news junkie, craving for any new news giving me a dopamine hit.

It doesn't feel good having to talk about negative aspects of your life (unless you like people pitying you). But I am quite aware that all of us are slaves of our digital bricks to some extent or other. So, it's certainly not just my problem. 

When I was in college, I didn't use to carry any phone . I used to have a bit of a problem but with help of a few friends, I managed it quite beautifully. And I can say for sure that 99% of the time I never felt I am missing something without having a mobile in my pocket. It inconvenienced others more than me!

But when I joined office and went out of Delhi, I had to buy a phone to keep in touch with my family and friends. It was fine even till then, because Smartphones weren't mainstream by that time yet. But then by the time 2013 came, I bought my first smartphone and that spelled doom.

If you read Digital Minimalism (I read it half on my dreaded iPad), the author has very elaborately explained how Smartphones and Social Media platforms are designed to keep us hooked. To make us crave them when we aren't accessing them. It's like carrying a drug with you 24x7 and you can take a hit at anytime you like (or they like).

The book gives a solution but I haven't come to that part yet ( I have been busy checking social media on phone, call that irony). So, I don't know currently whether I will ever be able to bring a Digital balance to my life . But I do feel that it's necessary more than ever to a put a limit to both your digital and social media use. 

I am not propagating the notion to start using that time for 'real human interactions', although that won't hurt. But you may be an introvert like me, so you can use that time to contemplate, or exercise or just read a Good damn physical book!

The aim of this book was to accept one of my flaws and also to act as an intervention for you to pause and think about your own usage of phone and social media. If it's in check, great! Mazel tov! But if not, can you do something about it?