Compartmentalizing my Digital Life

I previously mentioned some of my devices in a post where I share their names. Yes, I’m one of those weird people that do in fact name their electronics for fun and for practicality!

Nevertheless, I have recently been thinking of compartmentalizing my usage of them more after taking a brief digital detox from my phone.

I realized that if I want to stick to healthier habits, I should remove any barriers that prevent me from executing them.

So I have divided certain tasks and activities between all of my devices, starting with…

My Phone, Used for Communication, Listening, Web Browsing, Photos, and Other Handy Tools

My screen time on my phone (an iPhone 6s for those wondering, yes it’s ancient but it still does what I need, no less, no more) has grown exponentially a few weeks ago, topping an average of four hours!

Thankfully, I managed to cut back on it a lot, and the main culprit, to no surprise to anyone, nevertheless myself, was Discord.

I then, with a heavy heart, decided that I can’t trust myself to keep Discord on my phone anymore, as much as I would love to!

I just spend way too much time there given the option, and no setting app limits don’t work for me. Plus, one of the major reasons I have it on my phone is for notifications anyway, and if I run out of time, I won’t receive any…

Until I find a better solution to that problem, I’ll just have to live without Discord notifications on my phone, which is fine, I guess. If you know of something that can do this for me, please let me know!

For now, I can still send occasional messages with webhooks, so that’s nice at least.

But overall, the pros of not having it on my phone outweigh the cons, in my opinion.

Now my screen time on my phone sits around thirty minutes on average, maybe an hour plus when on the go. Now I mostly use it for communication (calls, messages, and email), navigation, audio (music and podcasts), light web browsing, reading RSS feeds on the go, taking photos, server management, and other handy tools to have in my pocket.

The goal is that every time I pick it up, it is for an intentional use case, no more just aimlessly wandering about.

Even so, I still think it still does too much. Eventually, I’d like to get a separate DAP (Digital Audio Player) and a small inexpensive camera. I’m not much of a shutterbug, but on special occasions, I do like taking a photo or two.

My Tablet, Used for Reading and Media Consumption

As my display name implies, I love reading a good book, mostly non-fiction and technical documentation, but I do read fiction when the mood strikes.

Every time I wake up, usually in the morning, I pick up my tablet (a Lenovo Tab M8 Android tablet that I got a pretty good deal on.) and jump right into ReadYou, my RSS app of choice. If there isn’t anything new or interesting, I open LXReader or MJPDF straight away and continue where I left off on a book. I usually do this for half an hour, sometimes more; it all depends on my mood, if I’m particularly hungry, busy, etc.

I’ve been habitually doing this for more than a year now, and it really got me to read more and read better. Can’t recommend it enough if you struggle with reading; setting a dedicated time every day to read really does help!

Later on, I’d like to get a dedicated eReader, but right now, reading is half of what I mostly use my tablet for; the other half is entertainment.

After I finish with my day, I like to wind down with a video or two or episodes of a show I’m watching.

My tablet is the best device for this task with its HiDPI IPS 8-inch screen; it is just large enough to comfortably hold and watch for hours.

Albeit its resolution is only 1280x720, but its HiDPI screen makes up for it.

I primarily use Findroid (my Jellyfin Android client of choice) and YouTube Revanced Extended to get rid of those pesky ads.

On a later date, I’ll talk more about my Jellyfin instance and my new homelab that I set up a month or so ago, but for now, let’s continue to my last few devices!

My Gaming Handhelds, What Else Did You Expect?

I’m the happy owner of both a Nintendo Switch Lite and a Nintendo New 2DS XL. These two, and especially my Switch, are my primary way of playing games. Why? Well, it’s because I love handhelds!

They’re convenient, portable, and hassle-free! I just pick it up, and I can jump in where I left off.

Plus, they’re relatively inexpensive, which is paramount for a frugal person like me.

I am planning on adding a Steam Deck to my collection when funds allow, that is, but for now, I’m quite happy with what I have. I’m in no rush to upgrade to the Switch 2 either, as there aren’t any games for it that I’m interested in, nevertheless the price tag…

Yikes.

My Chromecast, Used for Media Consumption and Emulating Games

This one is pretty much the same, but along with watching my media using Kodi (used as a Jellyfin client), YouTube, and other streaming services, I also recently set up RetroArch for emulating some games!

I’m still tinkering with it, but this device has a four-core CPU, so it’s probably beefy enough for more intensive systems like PS1, N64, PSP, and maybe even the PS2?

Currently, I’m playing Fire Emblem: Genealogy of The Holy War here, and it’s a great experience!

Facilitated with a USB-C hub and a USB controller I have lying around, I wonder why I didn’t do this sooner!

My Chromebook, Used for Web Browsing, Coding, Writing, Communication, and Anything Else I May Need

Lastly, but definitely not least, is my Chromebook, currently my daily driver. I use this device the most, to be quite honest, and for good reason!

I’m currently writing this post with it, and the site wouldn’t be possible without it either.

This is my productivity machine first and foremost, but I also use it for anything else I need as well, be it watching videos or even playing some lightweight games on it. It’s my catchall device, but even so, I don’t actually use it for anything other than productivity. Having other dedicated devices for those tasks and activities means I’m less inclined to do them here.

I’m building habits around them, and habits are hard to break. Plus, my other devices are better suited for these other use cases anyway.

I don’t know when the majority decided to have everything on one device, after the introduction of the iPhone most likely. Regardless, we’ve managed to trap ourselves on this one device; it’s like being trapped in one of the rooms of your home, where you do everything. While we can survive like that, it isn’t ideal or optimal.

I’ve only been decoupling for a while now, but even so, I can’t look back! I feel so much happier and focused, plus I found other activities away from screens like building gunpla, sewing etc that my screen time has been reduced overall.

I highly recommend trying it out if it sounds like something that will help you create healthier habits and boundaries away from attention-seeking apps, and if you do, I would love to hear about it!