I want to LOUD quit it all…
Forget quiet quitting, how about loud quitting technology… all of it?
I understand the irony as I write this article on a social platform of sorts, here on Medium. But these thoughts have been living rent free in my head for years now. So I need to release the fire hose.
I want to loud quit technology… all of it. But I cannot.
For the last 15 years, my career and personal lives have been synonymous with technology. As young millennials, we can trace this arc perfectly.
We got Facebook accounts with .edu email addresses as freshman in College. So excited to upload photos from our digital cameras to Facebook. (That took hours btw).
We would log into Gmail in the computer lab to Gchat with one another while studying and working on school papers.
We were the first to get instagram accounts, first to get Twitter accounts and think, “what in the world is this?” and even are old enough to remember Vine (RIP Vine, RIP).
Email was used professionally FIRST. We emailed professors, applied to jobs, and emailed recruiters BEFORE we emailed socially.
We got LinkedIn profiles because we were told we needed to in order to land jobs. Back then you couldn’t even apply to a job via LinkedIn but it was where your “professional” self lived.
And email. We’ve worked for 15 years with a never ending barrage of email. First came the Crackberries (aka Blackberries) and then the iPhones…
(The day at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a 23 year old I was told I needed to bring my blackberry with me everywhere, even on the weekends, was a day I’ll always remember. And did not listen to.)
And then came Slack (and for some godforsaken folks, Microsoft Teams). You thought email was bad? Look at me now! The real barrage of pings and dings and FOMO.
But I digress.
As someone who has run his own business for the past 5 years, worked on global climate change projects, and made friends around the world via the internet, there is absolutely no way I could do my work, have the impact that I’ve worked hard to create without technology, without many of these tools.
But it doesn’t mean it isn’t exhausting.
It doesn’t mean it hasn’t been eating at us all.
It doesn’t mean it’s going to get any better.
I don’t feel good anymore when I log into Instagram, or LinkedIn, or Twitter, or most any digital platform for that matter.
Honestly, the only place I still feel sorta “good” when reading, sharing, and interacting with is email. (I know, I KNOW!) But that has taken a LOT of work to manage it, get it in a good place, and a tool like Hey for email from the folks at Basecamp has been influential in that. Despite all the time and energy, it at least feels a bit calmer and that I’m in control. (Still addicted tho…)
I don’t currently have to log into a Slack or Discord for any work purposes and that has felt AMAZING. Like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I’m lucky in that regard, that’s for sure.
But running my own small business, I have had to rely on these platforms to find customers, members, and clients. And have gone down many a rabbit hole of just how to leverage each and every tool to build an audience, find my dream clients, achieve world peace… yada yada see: here.
But I, like many, have grappled with the question, “honestly, what would happen if I just quit it all?”
Keep email, but give up LinkedIn, give up all the social platforms, give up the online courses and Discords and Slacks and bings and dings? What would actually happen?
(again, recognizing I am in a place where no boss/company is currently requiring me to use a tool but at the same time, if I don’t put “things” online, I will literally make $0 in income…)
The question was posed to me in an enlightening way:
“Well Zach, you have two choices: you can go live in a cabin in the woods or if you want to still somewhat regularly participate in society, you’ll need to accept some of these realities.”
And accept I have. But at what cost?
I don’t plan to move my family and 2 young kids to a cabin in Vermont anytime soon (or I should say, not yet..)
I still want to do impactful global work with people and cultures around the world.
But at the same time, I feel exhausted. I feel that deep down dread that I know many of you feel too.
I’ve tried so many of the tricks and gimmicks. I’ve deleted the apps off my phone, changed passwords, locked my phone away, and even went as far as to buy a “dumb” phone, The Light Phone II, which I still own and love but came to the conclusion I’ll never be the type to be able to commit to it full-time. As much as I’d love to be THAT type…
And it doesn’t work. We all keep coming back to the dopamine drip.
I’m curious, how do you manage it all? What boundaries have you found helpful?
Between iMessage, WhatsApp, Signal, Slack, Discord, Circle, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Email, and I’m sure I’m forgetting others, I want to just quit them all and see what happens… (ok not email, I’m not THAT crazy…)
And not to mention, what a GREAT time to release AI onto the world. That should only make things better, ammiright??
So where does this leave us?
A connected society where the benefits of connection come at a real cost.
In a world where it’s up to our devices (literally and figuratively) to decide what platforms and tools actually serve us and what we must try to live without. (I know Instagram doesn’t really serve me, but gosh it’s hard to quit… and I’ve tried…)
I have two young children now. I don’t want them to see Dad on his phone all the time. But these same devices have enabled us to be so present with them, travel with them, and hang out at the park with them on a Tuesday morning.
These same devices and platforms have enabled me to work on some really cool, impactful climate work around the world. Work that I’m quite proud of.
But I think the real challenge is giving up being omnipresent.
I think my path forward will be to do some research, some soul searching.
What platforms have REALLY helped my business? (Probably only LinkedIn and email).
What platforms have actually helped me connect with friends around the world? (Email, text messages).
And what social channels help keep me in the right headspace? If the answer is none, then I may have my answer…
The ability to set boundaries in this world is becoming harder and harder by the day.
I should probably go ask ChatGPT…
