Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier
I really like this book. Lanier is a computer scientist and can't be called anti-technology. His writing here feels relevant and even prescient, considering its 2018 publishing date.

Enshittification by Cory Doctorow
A must-read primer on the patterns of big tech platforms and how we end up locked into increasingly enshittified experiences. Technofeudalism is upon us.

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
A practical framework for making your technology use more intentional. The "digital declutter" is a primary exercise from this book.

I didn't expect to crave silence. Newport cautions in his book that you should join things and plan things to make sure there is something to fill up the holes, but I'm finding the opposite to be needed. Solitude is clicking. I read outside for a little bit almost every day and I read a bit before sleeping. Short stories are good for this. I read Fruiting Bodies by Kathryn Harlan, which I got at Orca Books last year. I went back to Orca on my lunch break today and got two books by local authors about local topics: Making Sense of Olympia by David Scherer Water and Fish Mother: The Strange Case of Society by Dr. Rick Tanaka. These also happen to be broken up into small sections so I can pick them up for a few minutes and set them back down. I have been listening to less music and less audiobooks. During my morning puttering, my mind fills up with thoughts. I keep my notebook/planner nearby and write a lot down. I didn't care about writing before and now I write so much down. I wrote this down to put on my site later. And other stuff to put on my site later than that.

I have made two major realizations so far.

Firstly, the difference between replacing big bad fun things on my phone with small good fun things vs. removing everything fun from my phone... is significant. Previously I'd ditch the biggest offenders (social media) but allow innocuous entertainments in the form of puzzle games like crosswords and sudoku, bird and plant ID apps, and/or email. It's remarkable how much time I can manage to reallocate into these less "addictive" forms of entertainment when they're the only available distractions on my distraction device. I now realize that by allowing my phone to remain my go-to source of knee-jerk entertainment, I was reducing the likelihood of other activities, such as thinking, reading, or writing down thoughts. I printed out some crosswords today and enjoyed them outside. The paper puzzles, sans timer or glowing screen, felt like higher quality leisure. My wife worked on one with me for a bit. It was easy to set down, replace with a book or a conversation, and pick up later. I feel calm, knowing that if I were to pick up my phone there would be nothing there wanting my attention.

The second discovery is of the magic in not being able to know something right away. I can't look up much information on my phone now. The only thing I can do when I see a bird I don't know is observe it, listen to it, think about it. Try to see it from other angles, try to memorize its patterns to research later. Now that I can't know things right away, my imagination kicks in. Questions are veiled in a sense of wonder that feels somewhat child-like, because I haven't had to not know things for a long time.

Some questions I have jotted down (and looked up on the computer at the end of the day):

• Can I powder my own tea?
• What's the muscle at the front of my shoulder that is messed up?
• Did I see a turkey vulture?

It's only day 2, but I don't think I want to have fun things on my phone ever again. (Also, I might have bicep tendinitis.) Thanks to Skep for the crossword links.

I'm starting my 30-day digital declutter tomorrow. I had originally planned on July 1st, but I was so thrown for a loop that people were discovering my website soon after its publishing (thanks, Neocities!) that I spend a couple of reckless days enjoying the novelty of the attention and exploring other handmade sites with no consideration of screen time.

My rules, basically:

• Nothing fun on my phone. I removed Reddit, Instagram, YouTube, email, the NYT Games app. I blocked my phone's web browser and many more apps with my Brick device.
• No TV alone (you can pry our nightly Survivor AU out of my cold, dead eye sockets).
• Less audiobooks and more radio/records. Less phone camera.
• At least one phone-free, audio-free, solo walk daily, even if for 5 minutes.
• Maps app is allowed for car/bus trips because I likely have Developmental Topographical Disorientation and I consider it an accessibility aid.
• My favorite recipe management app (Paprika 3) is allowed because it's too useful and I don't want to have to bring my laptop into the kitchen.
• I'm not limiting my website work or pixel art currently, because I consider them important creative pursuits, though I will keep track of the time spent on these things.
• I am allowing myself a limited amount of time to browse and socialize with people via Neocities or their websites (but only after I update my own website if I have plans to that day) on a computer only.
• No Googling unless it's related to aforementioned website work or to grab something specific (i.e., download a specific sewing pattern) on a computer only.
• If I want to look up information online, I have to write it down on a notepad and I can have 15 minutes of computer time for it at the end of the day.
• The computer stays in my office or in a space for dedicated use and cannot be used while multitasking.