Just one Last hit
Smartphones—those colorful bricks that have become such an integral part of our daily lives, shaping our rhythm and routines.
It’s been nearly three weeks now since we’ve embraced a more offline mindset. And here’s what I’ve noticed… no matter how much you minimize your screen time or delete apps, my brain still sees this multifunctional curse of microchips and flashy lights as a pure dopamine hit.
As I mentioned in The Virtual. The Reality. The Insanity., my goal has been to spend less time online and more time in the real world. I deleted all my social media apps and promised to use my smartphone, aka dopamine dealer, strictly for calls. And if I’m using it at home, only in one designated spot.
That worked… for a few days, as long as the mindset was fresh and motivation was high.
But guess what… even without apps giving me that dopamine kick, I instinctively kept reaching for my phone. Checking emails, iMessage, WhatsApp every few minutes, knowing full well there were no new updates or replies waiting for me. Like some junkie, my brain was on autopilot, searching for that hit in this little techno schnitzel.
It made me sick… I made myself sick. Is this really all we’ve become?
The final nail in the coffin was one evening when we tried to watch a movie. After cycling through Prime, Paramount, Netflix, trough all the seemingly endless ocean of movies and tv shows, we ended up with yet another cheap, meaningless Netflix production (no offense to the writers, crews, and those who bring scripts to life. We all know who’s really to blame).
At that point I finally realized, “They just want to waste my fucking time.”
When it hits you that all these apps, devices, and services are designed to keep you entertained—or rather, hooked—you start seeing the madness. These algorithms keep feeding us more and more until we don’t even notice how much time is slipping away.
Time we could use for something productive or rest. Instead, we consider this constant stress on our brains as relaxation, hoping the next story, the next slide, the next post will give us that small dopamine hit. And honestly, it’s fucking perverse.
How many hours have I spent staring at this screen like a mindless drone, consuming videos, clips, reels, whatever else is out there. Content creators whose existence only revolves around creating more content—whether funny, extreme, sad—if its not a freak accident, it’s all just copies of trends with a half-life of a few days, all for clicks, likes, views. Your precious time. And when you step back and stop seeing it as entertainment, you realize the virtual world is just one big circus of madness.
People so entrenched in the digital world they can’t even perceive the real one anymore… appreciate it, live in it. Food gets photographed until it’s cold, posted in a million variations that nobody cares about—an insult to the chefs who made it.
Concerts are viewed through tiny screens as people record moments they’re completely missing, only to maybe watch them later on that same little screen, instead of just listening, soaking it all in, and enjoying what these artists have spent months or years preparing for you to experience. But who cares, right? You’re not really there anyway.
Now, where was I? Ah yes, smartphones and streaming.
After all these years of living in the digital bubble of endless content, I think I’ve come to appreciate the real world again. That’s why we got a landline phone. Yep, they still exist—not many, but they do. And this time, I’m going cold turkey.
No more smartphone at home, it’s off and in the drawer. Out of sight, out of mind. We even got cable TV again. Regular, boring, linear TV. And it’s fucking amazing. No pausing,
no rewinding. If you miss something, tough luck.
Want to watch a specific show? You can’t record it or stream it later. You have to prioritize. Nothing is optional. If it’s one-time only, you have to make a conscious decision to watch it, and give up something else in return.
Now you might be thinking, “Daniel, it’s just TV.”
No, it’s reality. And just like everything else in reality, you have to make choices, commit, be present. Only then do things feel special. Only then do you look at them differently than if they were replaceable.
Have you ever noticed how different your attention is when you watch a movie at home versus at the cinema? You’re focused. You made a choice to watch that movie. You made the effort to get ready, leave the house, buy the tickets. Your time and money mattered enough for that experience, so you’re present… THAT, and the pure fear of getting lynched by the other audience members if you pull out your shiny boom boom TikTok Stone during the film or, god forbid, try to make a video. (Now imagine that same concert crowd at a movie theater—my personal horror scenario.)
What I’m trying to say is, maybe it’s time to rethink our smartphone and digital content consumption. To ask ourselves, what is this thing actually doing to us, and how much control do we really have—or want to reclaim?
For me, it’s been a wonderful, if strange, experience leaving the house without a smartphone or smartwatch. And as a Millennial who remembers life before all this, it’s kind of refreshing. I’m not worried about who’s messaged me or if something exciting happened—because I can’t check anyway.
If you’ve had similar thoughts, maybe it’s time to see what your day would look like without a smartphone, without streaming, without all of it.
Have a great day and stay aware of what’s happening in the real world.
You never know what you might discover.
P.S. Today I’m sharing an incredible mood with you:
Dela’s remix of Multi Barz of Fury by C.L. Smooth and Pete Rock.
Enjoy.