Benefits of Smartphone Fasting
Meet Andy, Your Good Neighbour
“Smartphone fasting? Are you saying that I am using it too much? That it will endanger my life? Oh please, that is far-fetched.”
Beeepppp!!! Andy’s smartphone vibrates showing new social media notification among others like email, app updates, news entry, chat groups, missed calls, etc. Andy picks up his phone with left hand, while right hand is grabbing a mouse, mouth chomping donuts, and ear plugged on earphone.
After work, Andy commutes and check the news via social media. He finds a provocative post dissing his favorite actress. He leaves rude remarks on comments section, appoint it to some people via name tagging. A long quarrel ensues towards Andy, makes him taking care of the mess within the entire commute.
On the way to sleep, Andy checks Youtube to see latest viral video. Not fearing of data plan limit, he keeps watching one after another until he finds one exclusive live-streaming of his favorite show, and watch it the entire night with a little time to sleep.
Waking up the next morning, Andy feels drowsy even after showering. Andy checks up his phone and find some interesting headline. He shared it on his timeline and tag some colleagues without reading the content. Andy arrives at office and find his colleagues confounded. They asks Andy why he tags them, as the headline is just fake news. Andy slaps his head, making a fool out of himself.
Becoming Andy, The Internet-Addict
Sounds familiar with Andy? This is the sign of internet addiction, where we cannot stop looking at everything that requires internet connection: social media, blog, email and everything that usually comes through our smartphone. Smartphones have become a must in this digital age of 21st century, with all the business, entertainment, and communication features packed in one device. Though, with all of its benefits, we cannot avoid negative outcomes.
Internet is the spirit of evil, says a mother Lesli Catsouras, who has her family taunted by strangers due to leaked photos of her daughter’s car accident. This statement may sounds exaggerating, but not so for the people. Many artists produce cynical illustrations that depicts internet addiction as alienation from our dinner time, family time, leisure time, and so on. People may aware of the warnings, yet internet always finds itself to become more enticing and necessary with innovations like Internet on Things (IoT), eCommerce, and virtual assistant.
Becoming Better Andy with Smartphone Fasting
Is internet an entity that needs exorcism? Fear not. Filmmaker Werner Herzog says,
It’s not the Internet that is evil. It’s human beings that are evil. They only have a new, different instrument to make it manifest, but it’s the same thing.
This saying emerged from discussion on his documentary “Lo and Behold” discussing impacts of internet on society. His conclusion is simple: it is up to us, humans, to determine the good use of technology. The question is how to use technology, without us having controlled by it. Dear author says: balance is the key. Dear author recommends one method called smartphone fasting. Smartphone fasting invites you to some good hours without smartphone in a day. This is not just simply put off your phone, but spend conscious, meaningful time without using the phone. Dear author learns this from the master: the parents, the old people, the wiser folks who brings the good life without much use of inter-networks.
Dear author try smartphone fasting for 30 to 60 minutes, and indeed gaining some benefits. Here’s some well experiences from it.
1. Feeling lighter
Less screen time means less pressure to your brain. You will have more room in your head to think and be active with maximum energy.
2. Be more social (really)
Once you put less attention to the screen, you become more conscious of the people in your life: your parents, your friends, colleagues, neighbors, and others who you can meet face to face. It is not too late to spend more time with them by adding more hangouts.
3. Be more grateful
You will tend to “browse” your surroundings, finding some stuffs of your room: stationeries, books, key chains, novelties, and some other collectibles. You can start organize them and treasure what means the most to you.
4. Far away from hatred
In the era where everything is open, you will always find the people you hate and the topics you despise, only quicker. Spending time on these just waste your energy, and risks on defamation. By skipping it, you will have more chances of tranquillity.
5. Healthy view of sex
Internet is the flood gate of porns, and it floods you with all the dirts. Porns are mean for anything but education, as it is programmed to satisfy our lust. Watching porn only makes you addicted, horny, and less humane as you see people as objects. Less porn will give you opportunity to socialize and and make a companion with real people, not porn stars.
6. Know the right knowledge
Writer Tony Reinke mentions to us, internet addicts, losing “knowledge hierarchies”; losing our filters to which words are reliable and non-reliable. Publishing something in the past requires thorough peer review and scrutiny to make sure each words are accountable. This does not happen in social media age, where people easily publish things without going through editorials. No wonder lies and truths can mixed in the same pool easily. Then, it’s time to grab back your newspaper, magazines, or hard copy books brought from trustworthy publishing company.
7. Better equipped for real relationship
Did I just say fasting? That’s right. I’m not asking you to throw away your smartphone and become anti-tech activist. Of course you can use smartphone, but get your offline life together first before you go online. On that way, you don’t need to search something good to share for your social media, because you already have.
