I helped build the digital world. now I’m trying to escape It.
why I’m ‘analoguing’ my life
I’m Tuğba, a Greek-Turkish artist living in Berlin - as slow as possible is a newsletter exploring the in-between spaces of our lives that we see but often do not notice. Interested in reading more of my work?
The first time I used the internet in 1997, I was 13 years old. Around the same time, I got my first phone — it could only send text messages and play Snake. I’m part of the lucky generation that experienced both: a childhood without phones and the internet, and a life fully immersed in them. I still vividly remember how amazing my childhood was — playing outside in the woods all day, building forts, feeling carefree, and collapsing into bed exhausted after hours of running around with friends.
I also remember the moment I logged onto the internet for the very first time at school. Its seemingly unlimited possibilities blew my mind. From there, my life became increasingly digitalised. I joined my first tech job at Nokia and later moved on to Microsoft — two companies that epitomise the digital world. My days were filled with phones, apps, and software, constantly testing and researching as part of my job. I was a huge advocate for digitalising everything. After all, it was my career!
It was impossible to step away from tech when the internet had given me a career, and I was one of the people helping to build the digital world. I was right in the middle of it when the smartphone madness took off.
But something shifted for me over the past few years. The constant digital stimulation, combined with my demanding tech job, started to take a real toll on me.
The irony is that we often don’t realise how distracted we are until we step away from what’s distracting us.
My first real taste of this came when I left Microsoft in 2016 and my life in London to go backpacking through Asia with a friend. During a meditation retreat in Thailand, I experienced something I hadn’t in years — being completely disconnected. No internet, no Kindle, no phone. It was incredible. Back then, digital detoxes weren’t as trendy as they are now, but that experience truly opened my eyes.
Since then, I’ve been slowly reintroducing analogue tools into my life. I call it "analoguing" my life. It started with small changes after the retreat — like using a real alarm clock instead of my phone, reading paperbacks again instead of ebooks, and subscribing to the physical versions of magazines. I bought a camera, invested in a good sports watch, and started using a paper planner for my daily tasks and to-dos. I even took up hobbies that are completely offline, like ceramics and embroidery. I swapped Apple Pay for my debit card more often and began journaling my morning pages with pen and paper.
I’m not planning to go fully analogue or get a dumb phone — though I’ve considered it — but I still appreciate the freedom my smartphone offers. What I’m aiming for is balance. Analoguing certain parts of my life has helped me shift away from extreme digitalism towards a more mindful, balanced relationship with technology. It’s not about rejecting technology but choosing when and how to engage with it intentionally.
The Challenges of Analoguing
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing. There were times I missed the convenience of having everything on my phone. Remembering to carry my debit card or adjusting to a paper planner took time. There’s also the social pressure — friends wondering why on earth I would go analogue when I could optimise everything by digitalising my life. I actually have a lot more to say on this whole “optimising our life” topic, and there’s a separate post coming on it. But all I can say for now is that not everything in our life is a problem that needs solving. It’s a journey to experience.
Over-optimisation treats life like a puzzle to crack rather than a beautiful mess to live. And no, we don’t need to streamline every part of our lives with technology just because we’re constantly told to by capitalist-driven companies that prioritise growth — often at the expense of our well-being.
Attention and Big Tech
Last year, I started the Attention Series in my newsletter, exploring how the responsibility for healthy tech use lies not only with us but also with Big Tech. In one post, I discussed how design choices in apps are meant to keep us hooked, and in another, I shared my perspective on not always being available and “on.”
That said, I believe our attention is like a muscle — it can be trained. Smartphones make it nearly impossible to single-task. You reach for your phone to turn off your alarm, and before you know it, you’re scrolling through emails or social media.
But when we analogue certain parts of our digital life — bringing devices back to their original, single-purpose state — we’re forced to single-task. These micro-actions train our brains, step by step, to focus again, without the need to completely ditch our smartphones. It’s not a magic fix, but it’s a start.
A Sneak Peek at My Upcoming Ebook
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be releasing my first ebook soon: 8 Tools for Deep Work: Finding Time for What Matters Amid Constant Distraction. It will dive deeper into practical strategies for cultivating focus in a hyper-distracted world. One of my favourite tools from the book is Writer — a minimalist text editor that locks your screen until you reach a word or time goal. I love it and do all my first drafts in Writer! Stay tuned for the ebook release.
I love hearing from you on the topics I write about, so I’d love to know — are you doing anything to analogue your life?
Take care!
Your friend Tuğba
P.S.: As you know, I don’t charge for my writing, and I do it because I truly love sharing my thoughts and ideas with you. But behind every post is a lot of time and effort, and if you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read, it would mean the world to me if you could support it by restacking. It’s such a simple action, but it can make a huge difference in helping my words find their way to more hearts and minds. Thank you for being part of this journey—it always brightens my day to hear from you 🖤
P.P.S.: I first began jotting down these “notes to self” in the spring, and before long, they really struck a chord with readers—so much so that I compiled them into a single post. Many of you might already be familiar with them, but over the past few months, I’ve also invited fellow artists to share their own notes with me.
Today, I’m thrilled to showcase one of those contributions—a special “note to self” from an incredibly talented artist,
.Note to self: Take your time.
“When I see others winning awards, gaining momentum, selling their work and receiving tons of followers on instagram, I get jealous. Because of this jealousy I feel like I need to rush through my work, make more of it, do more things, share more on Instagram etc. etc. etc. In reality, I need to look inward. Pay attention to what’s around me. Focus on my own path and follow it faithfully. It’s okay to take my time. To paint when I can, to share when I can, and to have shows and markets when I can. Instead of rushing ahead to catch up with the rest of the world, I need to slow down and be present in mine.”
This is so good, Tugba, and so needed.
I have been thinking about this topic a lot, but, guess what, have not taken much action.
However, I did buy a watch not too long ago, because I hated having to look at my phone to check for the time. It has helped some. I think one other big thing is to ban my phone from my bedroom for good. I haven’t yet, but that’s my goal.
I also intentionally leave my phone at home now when I go on walks or even some other outings.
It’s amazing how addicted we are!!
Thank you for these important reminders and for setting an example!
I just had a thought related to this post...since the smartphone has so many different functions and has replaced so many other devices, as in the August Lamm picture here, why do we even still call it a phone, when the phone function is not the primary one for most people most of the time? 😄