Neo-Luddite Revolution II: Attention & Intention
part ii of ii
28 May 2025
go read the first piece in this series if you want some context, or just keep reading if you're here for the practical deinstagramification hacks.
context
I hate how I have come to use my phone and the internet more broadly. I think most of you reading this are probably in the same boat. While there are no shortage of urgent political and social problems at the moment, figuring out how to love your current life more while fighting for a better one is a worthwhile pasttime. It also does a good deal towards giving people energy for those fights, rather than paralyzing people into inaction.
IMO: We collectively lack compelling visions of how we could practically make our lives better on the attention economy front without it feeling like eating digital brussels sprouts. I am here to share a few strategies I've found that feel more like drinking a nice cup of tea: you had to brew it, but you're probably glad you did. There's no quick fix to addictive technologies, but if you're actively trying to kick a habit, it's easier when presented with some strategies which have worked for others. On that note: write me a line if you have strategies you like or cool stuff you're working on in this regard!
Here are some of the strategies I've been tinkering with in the interests of decoupling my emotional state from various automatic processes and re-coupling it more intentionally to other inputs.
reinvent the ipod touch
My favorite suggestion on the list because it rocks (ha). I grabbed an old android phone lying around, wiped it, installed LineageOS on it (so, no Google Play or Google Services), and then installed only five applications on it: a minimalist text-only launcher, a music file player, a radio application, a podcast application, and Bandcamp. I have it connected via Bluetooth to two speakers in my house, one in my kitchen and a portable speaker I can carry around. There is no reason I need to be carrying an attention trap around to do work and chores when I can be carrying an attention ~hack~ around instead (that is, putting on light and pleasant background noise). Also soft-quitting streaming has led to me discovering new music and loving the music I already own more than the last several years of battling the Spotify algorithm (to stop spamming me with Caroline Polachek) ever did. Local radio is great, whoulda thought.
leave your phone in a different room. ideally, stock both rooms with various interesting experiences
Because I can do everything I actually need my phone for during the workday or choreday on my "ipod," that is to say play music, I have been leaving my phone in another room. I can still check it whenever, but it's not around for me to compulsively check each time I am seeking stimulus (aka bored) at my desk. If I have to go into another room to check my phone, I'll also usually find something else interesting to do in that room --- check on my houseplants, feed my cat, make a cup of tea, etc. Raising the barrier to checking notifications to 'walking downstairs' has done a lot more for me than the block apps you can install have, because the former requires physical motion and is therefore real to my brain. I don't make the rules! Also, adding a pleasant task (water my backyard nasturtiums and pet my cat) to the unpleasant compulsion (see what fresh hell is being announced on AP News today) helps soften the blow. It's hard to be too upset with the world when you're looking at a flower and petting a cat.
periodicals
Subscribing to a few long-form print periodicals and newsletters has helped mitigate my compulsive news-checking. I feel more infinitely more informed reading a few long-form articles published at a regular cadence than I do consuming tons of slapped-together news-cycle journalism. This switch been harder for me of late because political situations have been more volatile, and therefore even more valuable in terms of avoiding spiralling about every hourly new crisis. Taking recommendations of new periodicals, especially in print, to subscribe to!
harm reduction for the sensory seeking
Sometimes you just want to tip-tap. There are moods where nothing but clicking colorful boxes on a portable screen will do. For these moments, I have been pivoting to opening up Duolingo or Mango Languages and completing a course lesson. Are mobile apps the best way to learn a language? Absolutely not. Is this still contributing to my overall usage of the phone as a strategy for 'checking out' emotionally? Absolutely. Is it still better for my general wellbeing than getting sucked into an infinite-scroll socials app? holy Shit, yes.
take an exposure break
From Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, my phone is turned off and placed at the back of a cabinet. (Yes, I am Jewish.) Having 25 hours per week free of the compulsion to check my notifications has been a major improvement to my life. Those notifications will still be there for me Saturday night, and I'm always significantly less pressed about checking them the first day or two after my weekly break.
get more (smaller!) social media
My local WhatsApp groups serve the function that Facebook free groups used to with a lot less drama. I hate Discord for so many reasons but I still stay in a couple smaller servers to get casual updates on subjects of interest. My partner is on chronological-feed Tumblr with mostly people he's followed since he was 13 who are now regular-degular adults. I'm on several local / national listservs and selectively subscribe to newsletters that keep me informed on stuff I might want to know about without having to brave the wilds of FB/Insta/Tiktok about it all. It's hard to say for another person what these 'smaller' socials might be because 'small' means 'insanely idiosyncratic', but if you're gonna stay on socials at all, I find smaller scale options to be less overwhelming and addictive. There's usually just less there of interest, which helps you not really want to look at whatever it is beyond what you need it for. Local groups are great because that helps you feel connected to folks in person ideally! Probably NextDoor would not work for that purpose though, gotta be judicious....
delete socials. just delete your socials
Or as many of them as you can bring yourself to. I cannot tell you how much saner a person I am having left Instagram/Twitter/Facebook in particular. So much of my mental energy is conserved from not seeing the constant deluge of goods for sale masquerading as various activisms, algorithmically amplified racist nationalisms, and undiluted brainrot respectively on these platforms. This is the only 'negative' suggestion I have, and I put it at the end, but seriously! If you can't delete an account, at least delete the app and view it from a browser.