Gen X Unplugged

The “Gen X” label in a recent Fast Company headline grabbed my brain; I had to read it. What followed was no surprise to me whatsoever. Who doesn’t feel like unplugging these days? Yet please don’t take my smartphone away.

“According to a new Harris Poll shared exclusively with Fast Company, most Americans would prefer to live in a simpler era before everyone was obsessed with screens and social media, and this sentiment is especially strong among older millennials and Gen Xers.”

Christopher Zara — Fast Company

I totally remember the days before the internet. I was a teen wanting a Super NES and a CD playing boombox. At some point, my family got an electronic typewriter. Every device back then did one thing, unlike today’s always connected smartphones. And those things were “dumb” — no web data to make them “smart.” Maybe the smartest thing about them was their simplicity.

Yeah, before the web and social media, times seemed simpler. I think they truly were in some ways. We we more “unplugged” for sure.

We met in person regularly. We didn’t text. My family had one household phone and one just for my parents in their bedroom, tied to the wall with a long cord. The “state of the art” was when we got a cordless telephone, which had a pull-out antenna that eventually got bent from too many careless push-back-ins. And when we eventually got the internet, that phone didn’t work. The PC modem hogged the landline.

Pretty much everything always worked because simple gadgets were plugged into walls for constant power. And for the few portable devices that used batteries, they were user-replaceable and not rechargeable. If you ran out of juice, you could pop into a convenience store and buy fresh Energizers (clearly better than Duracells because of the pink bunny).

Such batteries were kind of a feature because when they died, you “disconnected” from the device; you couldn’t use it at that point. So what did you do then? You connected with the world around you of course. Like a normal human being.

According to the Harris poll, a majority of people wish for simpler times — that’s most folks, over half of all people. So if there was a vote that could decide the future of America, then it would be one that was more like the 90’s. But as much as I can be nostalgic for past things, I wouldn’t want the 90’s to come back completely.

I probably love my smartphone and the internet too much. But because I’m aware of this, I make daily efforts to have some “unplugged” time. I go outside. I “touch grass.” I soak in the sun and wind as I go for long walks in the countryside — literally, since I live in a rural Texas area on a dirt road. And while I use social media, I keep it limited, mostly off my phone for example.

I love tech…in moderation.

When seasons come that find me overwhelmed by it all, I fast from social media or I detox from my phone by deleting all but critical apps. I feed my mind with Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism, then I clear my head from too much inputs: endless streaming podcasts and music. I’ve considered doing what some Gen Z folks do: adopt a “dumb” phone. It’s an option on the table. In fact, I wish I still had my Moto Q feature phone! But that’s the nostalgia talking.

Tech tools are good when put to good use. Of course, they also distract and make great toys. So we must practice self-discipline and exercise self-control. I tell my sons that computers are great because they’re multi-purpose. They let you get work done and they can play great games. Productivity plus entertainment. But due to this, we have screens in our face practically all day everyday.

So we do outside stuff. My kids also play card and board games; they even read books! Add in Lego and other hands-on toys and I’d say we do okay at mitigating the presence of screens. But I think we can do better.

You and I can’t return to the 90’s, but can’t we make the future better? How do you “unplug?”