Could You Go Phone Sober?

Data shows we're all looking for a digital detox. But, as Jennifer Savin discovered, ditching our devices can be harder than quitting drinking...

- Jennifer Savin

My face is glowing! But not in a good way. It's one in the morning and my alarm will sound at six for work, but I just cannot. Stop. Scrolling. My screen hops from devastating images of war to styling tips, plunging me into an entirely different world to the one my boyfriend sleeping soundly beside me is in. And even though I know switching my mobile onto airplane mode and going to sleep is best for my (physical and mental) health, it's easier said than done. As famed statistician Edward Tufte once said, "There are only two industries that refer to their customers as 'users': Illegal drugs and software."

Sleep isn’t the only thing I—and probably you—sacrifice when it comes to technology. As Instagram celebrates its 15th birthday, it's reported that we now spend over 30 per cent of our waking lives on our smartphones®. Over half of us can't get through dinner without picking it up and it’s damaging not only our social interactions, but also our memory and attention spans, with screen focus times dropping from 2.5 minutes in the early 2000s to just 47 seconds today.

Ditto, doomscrolling has us in a chokehold. Sometimes my own news addiction reaches the point where friends ask if I'm alright, because my vibe has noticeably shifted and my response will be the quite unsolvable problem of “No, it's Putin” or “Climate change”. It’s no coincidence either. Big Tech wants us to stay online and be angry, intentionally serving divisive and shocking posts because rage bait equals engagement.

Still, as much as it may feel like we're in a losing battle, it seems we do at least want to try to curb our dopamine-disrupting habits. In a booming era of in-person book and running clubs, Pinterest's latest trend report found searches for “digital detox vision board” have grown 273 per cent this year.