a(nother) digital detox attempt + first post

I got my phone in early August of last year (2025). I was in my IGCSE year, and, like many other teenagers, wanted to show off how mega-magnificently intelligent, independent and mature I was. That'd show my parents that they're wrong for suggesting that I go to tuition, and that they ought to "keep an eye" on what I'm doing. I can study whenever I want, for as long as I want and get amazing grades.

My first few months with my phone were spent making todo lists, testing productivity apps on F-Droid, reading web pages on GTD and looking up different study methods.[1] One vivid memory is using the nomnoml plugin for Obsidian to make flowcharts that showed how I planned to study from the textbook. I'd make a new one like every day, each one citing a new "technique" or "method" I'd found on the web.

MKBHD and Mrwhosetheboss crawled into my day-to-day.[2] Then, a couple other YouTube channels. Following KATSEYE became a thing and -- oh my gosh those girls are so cool and so pretty. Le Sserafim, ILLIT, Doctor Mike, Ice Cream Sandwich, TheAMaazing, Jaiden Animations, Dr Insanity, Chad Chad, RayLikeSunshine, maybe a few more... Fuck, how did my screen time shoot up to 5 hours?

I tried a few different things, expecting them to automagically cut my screen time to less than an hour: website blockers, userscripts, the onesec app and the ScreenZen app. To my utter shock (and dismay), that never happened. The good that came out of it was that it made me think about and reframe how I used technology. What was I okay with using my phone for? What felt like a waste of time?

I started a 30-day trial on the 6th of July (so, 11 days ago) where I committed to not visiting YouTube or Reddit at all. The only exceptions would be if someone sent me a link to those platforms (in which case I'd view the content and then go about my day) or if someone wanted me to open it (e.g my mum tells me put on a video for my younger brother).[3]

This technically worked; I haven't used Reddit or YouTube for a while. Yet, my screen time still remained much higher than I wanted it to be. The culprits were purposeless web-surfing and webtoon binges. I think the problem is larger than the social media platforms; it's the compulsive habit of picking up the phone to do something.

Anyways, the past two days have gone well, and my screen time's been just over an hour. Most of that was Anki reviews and texting my mum. I haven't got a real plan for keeping things that way, other than willpower. I might need to think of something, one day or another.[4]

Just wanted to put it all out there, though. Will post an update on how it goes, hopefully.[5]

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[1]: The Feynman technique, Pomodoro, Flowtime, SQ3R, REAP, KWL, Time-blocking, GTD, ZTD, Kanban, Agile results, Zettelkasten, PARA, Johnny Decimal, spaced repetition and a great many others. None of them are bad or wrong - far from it. I think I felt like I was being productive just by collecting their names like infinity stones and briefly trying them on like a pair of shoes. I didn't give them a sincere, focused attempt and, after, think about what specifically caused my dissatisfaction.

I also didn't pay attention to the purpose of each method, nor define the types of methods that would help with my study. Johnny Decimal (file organisation) and time-blocking (time management) are useless for me, currently. On the other hand, SQ3R, the Feynman technique and spaced repetition have proved to be extremely useful. They handle understanding and retention, things that are relevant and fundamental to learning. However, all three need time and practise to get used to and for them to really pay off.

Maybe I just enjoyed flicking and clicking around the web, and didn't really want to put in that effort. Having that shallow sense of "productivity" was enough. Maybe, I just didn't know why I wasn't yet a god at learning, and just assumed I had used the "wrong" method.

[2]: It didn't seem like wasted time at all then, I was just staying updated on the latest stuff in tech. Other YouTube channels were just as fun to watch, and I saw no harm in subscribing to them. I guess, over time, those centimetre steps I took added up to something too large to control.

[3]: I drew a calendar for the month and taped it to my bedroom door. Every evening, if successful, I doodled something in the day's box. I have failed one day, but I didn't consider it a failure since it was something I hadn't anticipated. I attended a one-week summer school at this university, and the lecturers spoke a language I couldn't understand (I'm recent immigrant to this country).

Bored to the core, I decided the only thing I could do was kill time. The lecturer was too loud for me to be able to focus on anything, so I did my Anki reviews then watched two Dr. Insanity videos. Since then, I've resorted to reading or listening to an audiobook instead.