Focus on what is tangible

June 10, 2025

I watched this video about how your phone is a Skinner Box and all of the ways your phone is designed to be addictive.

In order to break away from the endless soul sucking fixture of your phone, you have to focus on what is real. The work. Even the yak shaving is more real than scrolling through your phone.

I’ve cut back on going to shows for a rather simple reason, my current partner. As we approach the day we first met I think back on what has changed about me. It is the sense of what matters more in life. What matters is not whether you are spending “too much time” on your phone, but rather are you making progress on something tangible? I went to so many music shows last year because I did not want to feel alone. Our relationship provides me a sense of fulfillment, keeping me from feeling alone. Purpose. We can survive without such a connection of course, but it feels better to not always have to face the world by yourself.

I use the Getting Things Done philosophy. I write down much of the tasks I have to do. Any small scrap of a thought or idea on my mind. Either in my notebook or on my computer. Out of my head and into something real. Even really small things like adding an entry for a music artist or a show I might choose to promote on Seattle Noise. If you do this enough you don’t stress about forgetting stuff because it’s out of your head and on paper.

But beyond emptying my head every day, I don’t know why I write so much on the subject of addiction to our phones. If it weren’t for my current relationship with my partner I don’t think I would feel so clear minded on the subject. I have also switched on my phone since January 1 to using Facebook on my phone only for messaging. When do you know your phone addiction is over? I’m not so sure.