Something About Phones

Today’s morning commute to Osaka was merciful. It wasn’t the usual cramped experience of canned sardines; but still close enough to catch a whiff of everyone’s breakfast. I wouldn’t say it was unpleasant (and don’t think I’m weird), but we were still close enough to do so.

Being taller than average in Japan, you get used to seeing the top of everyone’s head. But today’s ride made it more apparent. Everyone’s crown was pointing directly at my direction, some even shining light into my eyes. While trying my best to ignore those targeted attacks, I noticed that this wasn’t because of my height. It was because of what they were looking at. The majority of passengers were staring down at their phones, shoulders dropping, back hunched. They were all too busy eyes glued to their tiny screens in visible uncomfortable ways.

My mum was right:

It's the god damn phone.

Me and my phone

I wouldn’t say I’m all that better either.

Ever since I got my first phone (a decade ago), I’ve never seen a day go by without it. There was just so much I could do with it: play flappy bird and almost break my only phone, watch anime on Youtube where it only fills one corner of the screen (iykyk), and surf the web to find the next manga to read. It was an all-in-one solution to my boredom.

But after joining university, things went haywire. If I got bored, I’d doom-scroll Instagram for a while. If I got a break between classes, I’d doom-scroll for a bit more. And if I got stressed while studying, I’d doom-scroll the stress away. This constant loop of picking up the phone to find short-lived highs of dopamine was the reality I fell into. It was a legitimate addiction that I had to control, someway, somehow.

And to make matters worse, I’ve recently noticed changes to my hand. Both my pinkies now show a deeper groove in between joints, just deep enough to rest a phone. Another thing is how dry my nail-fold/cuticle has become. This I noticed a year back, and the inconvenience of having to cut it off (ouch) has been bugging me. These changes aren’t anything major, but came as signs that maybe I should start rethinking my habits.

Why do I still need it

Even though I say all this to criticize people (myself included) about phone use, I took some time to really think about why I keep coming back to it.

1. As a form of keeping in touch. Social media made it so easy to talk with friends all over the world. I could send a quick “Hey”, a picture, and even share videos to share a quick laugh without having to be present. It’s just too convenient.
2. A quick source of dopamine. Like I said, Instagram is a drug (damn you algorithm!!!). These short-form entertainments are a quick and easy way to decompress and pass time.
3. The internet. I can access the entire web for all sorts of information in the palm of my hand. With it, I can chill anywhere (not something to be proud of) with access to what I like to read, watch, and listen.

What can I do

The first thing I should and have started changing is limiting my screen time on Instagram. Ignoring how easy it is to keep in touch with friend on it, it really does suck the time (and life) out of you. I’ve set up a screen time limiter on the app, so that should help reduce it, but also I should look into books to read to replace all the doom-scrolling.

Another thing would be to keep myself busy. Reading a book, solving Leetcode, learning something new, just anything to keep me busy. I see myself reaching for my phone when I get bored or just have time to spare. So having something to do might help me in the longrun.

Changing habits is hard, especially something that I’ve had throughout university. It’ll take a while to work it through, but this is something that had to happen.

Remarks

Thanks for reading my first post! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this small thought I had while commuting. I’m still pretty new to writing these kind of things so bare with me (I’ll improve I promise). There will be more writing from me, about all sorts of things. It could be tech one day, it could be about life another. Just a bunch of things I’m interested in the moment.

Updates

Here are some things I’ve done:

• I’ve set an Instagram limit of 2 hours. The in-app limit settings is handy but I can bypass it pretty easily (not the best). - April 2nd, 2026
• I’m slowly moving away from comics (major news for me). The drying of the thumb comes from how much it rubs against the screen, so it makes logical sense to move away from it. - April 3rd, 2026