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really useful to ask myself why each
remaining app was on my phone.
I encourage you to try going distraction-free for 24 hours
in 2012.The weird part is this: This
experiment was supposed to be a
hardship. Now? It feels like the easy
way out. I not only don’t want to go
back, going back sounds really…
difficult. Think of all the things I’d
have to keep track of. Managing
notifications and streams and pings
and bleeps can add up to a lot of
work.
The 24 hour experiment
If you’re intrigued, I encourage you
to try going distraction-free for 24
hours. It’s pretty easy to set up on
the iPhone, and most people who’ve
done it really enjoy the break.
Now here’s no pressure here.
—t
Some people seem to handle their
smartphones just fine. For the rest of
us, this is a worthy experiment.
Remove Safari
Safari is a big problem for
me because it opens a window into
a limitless universe of, you know,
everything. Infinity. At any given
moment, there’s something super
interesting on the Internet (I haven’t
seen before). Actually, I’m going to
go check real quick. NO! Must…
finish… iPhone post. You can’t delete
Safari, but you can do this: Go into
Settings, then Restrictions. Turn ‘em
on, and then you can turn off Safari.
Yes, I know, Restrictions s if you
—a
yourself are a person you don’t trust
to use your own phone. Kind of
awkward, right?
1
WWW.NORTHERNHILLS.CO.ZA
Remove Mail
Email’s another big problem
for me. There’s some good
psychology behind this: our brains
have a glitch that makes random
rewards incredibly appealing. It’s a
slot machine where the big pay-out
is… a note from my boss, I guess. I
can’t give up email, but luckily with
my job I really don’t have to have it
on my phone. Over the last year, I’ve
encouraged people to text or call me
if they need a fast response. As an
added bonus, most people have a
much higher threshold for texting or
calling than they do for firing off an
email.
You can’t turn the Mail app all the
way off on your iPhone. The easiest
thing to do is delete your email
account in Settings.
2
Remove “infinity” apps
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter,
even the New York Times ll of
—a
these have a potentially endless
supply of new and interesting stuff
that I could check at any time. So
none of them belong on my phone.
You can delete these apps the oldfashioned way, of course. Jiggle,
jiggle!
3
Consciously
decide what to keep
Having a blank desktop on the
phone is surprisingly calming.
Once I’d cleared off so much stuff,
I wanted to keep it clean. I found it
4
Was it a tool that made my life
better? Or was it dragging me along
for the ride? So what made the cut?
Here’s my list:
hone
P
M
essages
C
amera
A
pps that make me feel like I
live in the future, kept in a folder
inventively called “The Future.”
Dropbox, Google Maps, Uber,
Rdio, Instacart, and so on. There
are a lot of non-distractors that are
amazing. (Even the weather app is
pretty cool, when I stop and think
about it. I mean, in the 1980s, I
had a Walkman. That’s my point of
reference: a freakin’ Walkman. It’s
totally amazing that you can get a
weather report in your pocket. And
I would never, ever get addicted
to it.)
U
seful things I rarely use, like a
map or compass.
U
seless things you can’t delete, like
Passbook and Game Centre.
What’s left of the iPhone is still
fantastic ar better than a flip
—f
phone, and getting better all the
time.
I want a sensible phone,
not a smart phone
This whole exercise has left me
feeling like I took the iPhone into my
life without ever really thinking about
what it was going to take from me.
Internet, all the time, everywhere?
Sign me up. Games, news, photos,
popularity? Yes, please, more
please! It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet
of excellent gourmet food. The
trouble for me? I will always eat
more than I should. Since my line
of work is helping companies build
software and hardware, I’m trying to
take this philosophy to heart. So I’ll
leave you with a little preaching.
60 word sermon
When we invest our time and
energy in technology s creators
—a
or consumers e should invest in
—w
products that belong in “The Future”
and not those that make our lives
disappear faster than they already
do. Personally, my life’s already
going by at the speed of light. But
this past year, it felt just the tiniest bit
slower. NH
CHRISTMAS ISSUE 2014 / NORTHERN HILLS / PAGE 43