'Fuck the phone!'
I've been trying to figure out how to feel less beholden to technology for some time now, which tends to run in direct conflict with my job (and I reckon it's the same for most of you reading this). Here are a few thoughts written poolside while I'm on a vacation day because yeah, I can't quit entirely.
Option 1: Go somewhere where you don't get cell or internet service for a few days. I recently went camping on Bureau of Land Management-managed land in Oregon and these areas tend to not have any cell service or really a whole lot of other camping-related rules aside from not destroying the area you're in or having fires. It's a great chance just to settle in to float down a river and shoot the shit with your real-life friends—as opposed to being caught in an infinite flex gradient with your social media friends.
Option 2: Be extremely aggressive about whether you or the app is getting more out of the relationship. I recently gave my Twitter account to Motherboard alum Adrianne Jeffries, who has changed the password and is holding the account in escrow so I can't use it. I long felt Twitter was demanding more from my attention and stress than I was getting out in useful information, and it's nice to see the other side of the coin for awhile. Twitter is proving to have been more useful than I realized, but I'm also realizing what specific habits triggered the most stress. Eventually I'll return and hopefully will be more judicious about my own time and attention. This goes for every app.
Option 3: Remember that technology works for you, and not the other way around. Our phones and devices and the internet and everything are all incredibly powerful, life-changing tools. It's hard to even fathom how much positive we get out of these devices. They're also all specifically designed, developed, and iterated to suck as much time of yours as possible. That's a trade-off you don't have to make.
To win back your own attention, put yourself in situations where the phone is irrelevant. I love having real-life dinner with a single person because then I know I have to be present, and am more present as a result. Who gives a fuck about a phone when someone amazing is sharing stories and food with me? Fuck the phone!
Same goes with having real-life friends over for hangs, or going to the movies, or riding a bike, or doing a road trip, or whatever. It's your life, and it's honestly best when it's real. Make it so.