Great advice here. I think with any tech addiction problems compartmentalisation is the key. Having everything all merged together and locked into one device is where things go wrong.
If your phone is where you call and text people AND listen to music and podcasts AND access the internet AND scroll social media AND read work emails AND do creative work then or course you are going to be on the thing all day.
Make a call and then you will find yourself surfing afterwards. Check emails and then you will find yourself surfing afterwards. Even take a second to check the time and you will find yourself surfing afterwards.
Adding your art into this mix and then making that art a business just adds more ways for this dynamic to play out.
So in my experience if you have an offline creating device (in my case an ancient airplane mode ipad) an online communicating device, physical music, a physical watch etc you give yourself half a chance to make your screen time manageable.
Thomas, thanks so much for pointing me to Justin's writing. I needed this cogency! As a musical artist struggling to maintain a presence on social media.
My biggest gripe with social media is that if you want your posts to be seen you have to constantly flirt with the algorithms, learn what throttles views ("paste links in comments"), and so on. It's not enough to just post any longer, and it becomes a very tedious game.
Hi Justin, I liked your article. All i wanted to do was send you a quick note about something relatedly unrelated...and now I have another socmed account. Thanks. Given your article, I would like to show you something. No dicpic. Found your article on Reddit.
I appreciate this, glad I found you and your message. The way the technology just seeps into everything, all your free time with the phone bleeping and lighting up for your attention, is like this awful draining leech I want to detach from. But obviously it has value and the more I want people to read my stuff, the more I have to get back into the social media I was proud to be avoiding otherwise. So I am back in but with INTENTION and hard boundaries. One example: I am protecting my pre-and-post bedtime with a no-tech zone (which I mentioned in my goals upon reaching the ripe age of 50!: https://sleepyhollowink.substack.com/p/pondering-50 ) ; and I seek balance and getting out into nature for my mental health (https://sleepyhollowink.substack.com/p/cybersickness). Just a few of my posts that relate. These are very complicated times, we certainly need more survival guides/maps.
Love the article, definitely got me thinking of possibilities. What is your opinion on having a creative social media account but no “portfolio” website? Or vice versa?
It feels as though no one refers to an artist website contemporarily
I'm not qualified to speak as to what "works" for everyone, but I think it stands to reason that granting social media corporations sole control over the visibility of one's work is perhaps not the wisest move from a uh- spiritual perspective.
Great advice here. I think with any tech addiction problems compartmentalisation is the key. Having everything all merged together and locked into one device is where things go wrong.
If your phone is where you call and text people AND listen to music and podcasts AND access the internet AND scroll social media AND read work emails AND do creative work then or course you are going to be on the thing all day.
Make a call and then you will find yourself surfing afterwards. Check emails and then you will find yourself surfing afterwards. Even take a second to check the time and you will find yourself surfing afterwards.
Adding your art into this mix and then making that art a business just adds more ways for this dynamic to play out.
So in my experience if you have an offline creating device (in my case an ancient airplane mode ipad) an online communicating device, physical music, a physical watch etc you give yourself half a chance to make your screen time manageable.
Excellent work as always, Justin.
Thomas, thanks so much for pointing me to Justin's writing. I needed this cogency! As a musical artist struggling to maintain a presence on social media.
My biggest gripe with social media is that if you want your posts to be seen you have to constantly flirt with the algorithms, learn what throttles views ("paste links in comments"), and so on. It's not enough to just post any longer, and it becomes a very tedious game.
Absolutely. At least having to flirt with an algorithm is an improvement over having to flirt with a sleazy record label executive?
Hi Justin, I liked your article. All i wanted to do was send you a quick note about something relatedly unrelated...and now I have another socmed account. Thanks. Given your article, I would like to show you something. No dicpic. Found your article on Reddit.
Substack overtly and knowingly supports nazi-content, and punlically said they will not remove it. The rest of the article is great.
I appreciate this, glad I found you and your message. The way the technology just seeps into everything, all your free time with the phone bleeping and lighting up for your attention, is like this awful draining leech I want to detach from. But obviously it has value and the more I want people to read my stuff, the more I have to get back into the social media I was proud to be avoiding otherwise. So I am back in but with INTENTION and hard boundaries. One example: I am protecting my pre-and-post bedtime with a no-tech zone (which I mentioned in my goals upon reaching the ripe age of 50!: https://sleepyhollowink.substack.com/p/pondering-50 ) ; and I seek balance and getting out into nature for my mental health (https://sleepyhollowink.substack.com/p/cybersickness). Just a few of my posts that relate. These are very complicated times, we certainly need more survival guides/maps.
Yes! A phone-free sleeping area is imo, the single most impactful change people can make in terms of effort in > Value out. Thanks for your links, I've also written about it myself here: https://www.staygrounded.online/p/dont-charge-your-phone-in-the-bedroom
Love the article, definitely got me thinking of possibilities. What is your opinion on having a creative social media account but no “portfolio” website? Or vice versa?
It feels as though no one refers to an artist website contemporarily
I'm not qualified to speak as to what "works" for everyone, but I think it stands to reason that granting social media corporations sole control over the visibility of one's work is perhaps not the wisest move from a uh- spiritual perspective.
See that’s the wisdom i was looking for