Attention is the world’s most valuable commodity.

If you have a smartphone your attention is being quietly siphoned away from you. 30 minutes here, an hour there. It’s subtle and more dangerous than most of us will give credit.

If your life is where your attention goes then, not to be too dramatic but your life is being stolen.

I do believe it’s theft because it’s not accidental, it’s by design and I think we should be angry about it. Sure, we all enjoy certain aspects of being online but the game is not our enjoyment. Tech companies want us so addicted that we’re online 24/7.

This all sounds like I’m leading towards the magic solution. Sorry, I don’t know the answer, I’m just as addicted as you. I’m hopeful though, because I’m at stage 1 - admitting I have a problem. From here we can start to work out some solutions.

This week’s guest is August Lamm and she has found a solution, albeit a drastic one - she’s ditched the internet altogether.

Some people can get quite angry about this decision, they think August is selfish and entitled.

I’ll be honest, we’re lucky that this interview even happened. My UK number wasn’t working properly in New York. I could get imessage, but that’s no good for August’s brick phone.

Share this episode with a friend (not if they’re offline though)

There were times when I was trying to contact August but the New York Library was closed. One day I got a string of emails, ending with “I’m going to have to go. I’m using the computers in the Apple store and they’re getting pissed off with me”

It’s slightly annoying to arrange meetings with an offline person. I’m sure August faces some of these difficulties every day. But I really don’t think it’s anything to be mad about.

Your sanity is your responsibility and if that means not participating with what everyone else deems normal, so be it.

I deleted WhatsApp about 7 years ago. I know it’s a pain for some people but I will never go back and if you really want to speak to me you’ll work it out.

I’ve lost friends because I don’t drink alcohol.

I leave parties at 9pm because I go to bed at 10.

Your most important people will understand.

When I first went sober it definitely wasn’t the norm. Now if you don’t drink, it’s pretty universally accepted.

Maybe it’ll be that way with the internet someday. Maybe we’ll recognise that scrolling is worse than smoking. Maybe more and more of us will get offline.

There are dumb phone communities popping up here and there and it feels like collectively we’re all starting to agree that our screen time is too high.

Ditching the internet does feel extreme though and I really want to believe that there are less dramatic actions we can take.

August disagrees. Only time will tell.

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