I almost entirely quit the non-essential Internet and you can too [AI FREE POST]

This post is NOT written or put through an LLM unlike half the posts on this sub.

I made this reddit account to post this and it'll probably be the last thing I post, as I've almost entirely quit the non-essential Internet. I work as a software engineer and have always had an interest in computers and tech and always had the latest tech but over the last year or two I've hated how much influence it has over me and my mental health and the amount of time it took up, to the point I was struggling at work and in my relationship etc.

Over the last year I've been experimenting and I think I finally came up with a setup that I like and hopefully I can detail it below:

Phone: I tried a few things with the phone from "dumbing down" my Pixel 9, to getting an AGM M7 which is an extremely limited Android phone. In the end I settled on the Unihertz Jelly Star as it isn't quite as limited as the AGM M7 and has a nice camera which was the one thing I really struggled without on the M7. All I have installed are phone/SMS, Signal/Telegram, my banking app, and a maps app (Magic Earth). No app store, no browser, no social media. I have group chats muted and I check those when I remember: only individual chats/calls notify me.

I love the small size of the phone and while it was possible to dumb down the Pixel 9 in the same way (no app store, browser etc) I found the huge beautiful screen and premium design made me more likely to use it for the sake of it even if I had nothing to do.

PC/Laptop: I have a work Mac that I use for my day to day job working from home or a coworking space. I restricted Reddit, YouTube, news sites from this etc so when I'm on that, there's no distractions. I mainly use the work intranet sites, and any websites for documentation for tools I need.

My personal laptop I took the WiFi card out of so it can only be used docked at my desk. Again I restricted all time wasting sites at the laptop and router level. It is essentially only used for checking my emails and searching up stuff I need like train times, opening times etc.

Music/Podcasts: While working I usually listen to the radio (BBC 6Music is my favourite) on an actual DAB Radio. If I'm at home and I want to listen to music I have a HiFi stereo with minidisc, CD, cassette, and record players and I mostly buy music on CD or vinyl and then dub it myself to cassette or minidisc. I have a portable DAB radio, a walkman cassette player, a walkman minidisc player, and a portable CD player - obviously I don't carry all of these with me at once, just one at a time usually, with a couple of tapes/discs. This does sound overkill but I enjoy owning and using the devices and physical media as much as the music - obviously you could just choose one format, or put MP3s on a phone/MP3 player. One advantage of physical media is I never struggle to choose what to listen to unlike Spotify: I can see the albums on my shelf and pick one, and play it start to finish.

I don't really listen to many podcasts but for those I just download the MP3s periodically and put them on a minidisc: a minidisc can hold 5h of podcast audio so it can get a good few episodes on.

TV/Movies: I've really tried to watch a lot less TV. I removed the YouTube app from my TVs as it's too easy to waste hours watching rubbish. My partner still does have Disney+ but I try not to use it. I have a jellyfin server I can download content onto, or if I'm out and about and see a DVD/Blu Ray that looks interesting at a charity shop for 50p/£1 I pick that up and then we watch it together on movie night. The intentionality of buying a physical thing and having a set time to watch it means I've watched way more excellent films recently that I'd missed over the last 20 years, while spending less overall time watching 'content'. So the average quality I'm watching has gone way up but total length way down. I'd actually never seen Die Hard until now and now it's one of my favourite films.

News and Discovery: I've been completely avoiding the news as much as possible. When it comes on the radio I mute it, I don't seek out TV/Internet news or newspapers, I look away from 24/7 news streams in pubs/gyms/airports etc. I am lucky enough to be in a relatively stable country where there's no benefit to consuming breaking news. Most of it is designed to cause stress and fear and drama. However, there's equally no benefit to being completely under a rock. I therefore subscribe to some magazines which get delivered to my house and they contain all the news I need:

• Positive News: Positive News stories from the last 3 months, delivered quarterly.
• Delayed Gratification: News stories from the last 3 months, delivered quarterly. A focus on getting the details right in hindsight, and understanding the root causes and effects versus breaking news which speculates.
• PC Gamer UK: Upcoming/recent games news without having to go on reddit or youtube
• Runners World/Men's Health: My two fitness hobbies, gym and running. Interesting stories around those

I discover new music by hearing it on the radio, or seeing a CD in a shop and picking it up.

Organisation: I have a small pocket notebook which I use a rough Bullet Journal method on to track my habits, tasks, calendar etc. No fancy colourful layouts here, just jotting down with a ballpoint pen.I check it once or twice a day to make sure I know what's coming up and what I need to do.

I hope this has been helpful and/or interesting to you! I'll be around for a while to answer any questions.