Slow Tech: Take Back Your Mind

Technology should improve real life not replace it

Lately, I have noticed a disturbing phenomenon. I unlock my phone to complete a basic task — say check my calendar — notice that I have a social media or email notification, and without even thinking or really wanting to, click on the notification. The next few minutes I’ll spend mindlessly scrolling through tweets that only frustrate me or reading irrelevant emails. Eventually, with considerable effort, I’ll pull my gaze away from my phone and bring myself back into the real world. Five minutes later, I’ll realize I never did the task I unlocked my phone for in the first place.

As a graduate student working in a data science lab, I used to pride myself on how long I could stare at a screen every day. Working as long as possible is almost a competition among the students, and anyone leaving early or unplugging from their computers is looked down upon. However, as events like the one described above became more common, I started to take a critical examination of the role of tech in my life. What does looking at a screen for 12 hours a day do to me and my attention, and is it really something that I want to spend the rest of my life doing? Eventually, I decided I needed to take a more balanced approach to my technology use.

Inspired by the principle of the slow movement, which aims to experience life more fully by slowing down the hectic pace of modernity, I drew up the following set of guidelines for a new relationship with technology. My goal is to restore the original purpose of technology: improve and simplify real life rather than replace it.

Slow Tech Manifesto

1. Check email twice a day on weekdays and once a day on weekends
2. No notifications on my phone except calendar events, texts, and calls: we should choose when we want to check social media
3. Use social media to actually be social and connect with other humans
4. Before opening any social media app or visiting any news site ask yourself “does this enrich my life?”
5. Social media posts should be about engaging and encouraging discussion not about constructing a fake image of yourself
6. In real life and online, respond to praise, respond to constructive criticism, ignore hateful comments
7. People take precedence over screens: look at others when talking to them
8. A Technology Sabbath: one full (or half) day of no screens per week
9. No more mindless consumption: write responses (private or public) to everything you read to force yourself to think not just consume
10. When possible, have discussions in person rather than through screens

Expecting perfection is a good way to fail to stick to your resolutions, and I don’t always expect to uphold these guidelines. This will be a gradual shift rather than an overnight fix to establish a healthy relationship with technology. Moreover, this is not an anti-tech stance or about abandoning technology, but about realizing it is a tool, and as with any other tool, can be used for both good and bad. As a data scientist, I try to be skeptical about data and I need to also start thinking critically about the expanding role of technology in my life. By adopting a slow-tech attitude, we can continue to take advantage of the benefits of tech while regaining control of our attention.

As always, I welcome feedback, discussion, and constructive criticism.