I began my ‘Progression to Analog’ journey in early 2022—my new year’s resolution was to be more creative. I realized that my screen time was incredibly high, and that I was burnt out from pandemic-induced ‘phone brain’. I spent early 2022 posting, from my mobile phone, on TikTok about sociology, technology & society, and my 2016 undergraduate Harvard thesis on digital communication. It was fun at first, and I gained about 30,000 followers. Soon enough, though, I realized that this ‘creative’ outlet had just exacerbated my ‘phone brain’ tendencies. That summer, I was determined to rid myself from the technocapitalist ‘phone brain’ chokehold for good.
I carried around ‘Society of the Spectacle’ by Guy Debord with me for months—everywhere. It took me about three months to get 50% of the way through the book. Then, one rainy morning in Maine, I woke up turned over - I had left Society of the Spectacle right next to the bed. My phone was somewhere at the other end of the room on the floor (thanks, ADHD). I dove right into the book, and finished the last 50% in a matter of hours. Afterwards, I noticed for the rest of the day that my brain felt different—because I hadn’t been on my phone. Since that morning, 5 September 2022, and without exception, I begin each day reading nonfiction before any cell phone or computer use. This ‘progression to analog’ has had more positive effects on my life than I could ever imagine. I decreased my screen time by 65% YoY, went 81+ hours without a phone in NYC (multiple times), have a landline (that I use) and more. Now I spend my time spreading the ‘Progression to Analog’ message to others—including presenting sociophilosophical research around the U.S. and Europe. Intentional mobile phone use can have such a positive impact on our everyday lives.
