"Six months ago, I found myself sitting in a coffee shop, supposedly working on an article, but instead I was switching between seven different apps, responding to notifications, and feeling my chest tighten with each ping. My heart was racing, my breathing was shallow, and I realized I couldn't remember the last time I'd gone more than five minutes without checking my phone. That's when it hit me: the device that was supposed to make my life easier had become my biggest source of stress."
"The connection between my phone habits and my anxiety wasn't immediate. I'd dealt with anxiety since my early twenties but didn't seek help until a panic attack at twenty-seven during a deadline crunch left me gasping for air in my apartment. But once I started paying attention, the pattern was impossible to ignore. My worst mental health days often correlated with too much time in work Slack and Twitter, endless scrolling sessions that left me feeling wired but exhausted."
"Remember when checking the time meant glancing at your wrist instead of unlocking a portal to infinite distractions? I bought a simple analog watch, and suddenly, I wasn't picking up my phone fifty times a day just to see what time it was. Each time I checked my phone for the time, I'd inevitably see notifications, open apps, and lose twenty minutes to mindless scrolling."
Six months ago I noticed compulsive phone checking, heart racing and shallow breathing in a coffee shop. Chronic anxiety had included a panic attack at twenty-seven, and worst mental health days correlated with heavy Slack and Twitter use and endless scrolling. I decided to stop using my phone as a default and returned to analog habits. I bought a simple analog watch so time-checking became brief and free of notifications, which halved daily phone pickups. That change, along with abandoning phone-first solutions, produced a marked drop in anxiety and a sustained sense of calm.
Read at Silicon Canals
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