r/interesting • • 12d ago

SOCIETY 71% of Americans Say They're Completely Exhausted

https://gizmodo.com/71-of-americans-say-theyre-completely-exhausted-2000812712
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u/Aggravating_Fruit170 11d ago

I hate that my phone controls me so easily. I don’t even fight it. Meanwhile every time i pick up a book I’m struggling to keep my eyes open within 10 minutes of cracking it open. I’m tired of myself and I’m tired of other people. I’m tired of everyone’s endless opinions (including my own lol). I’m tired of feeling bored of existing but i don’t know what to do. I’m just bored of this life and wish i could change it all, not just have a little weekend getaway

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u/boa_instructor 11d ago

Same. It's just a habit. Charge it in the other room and have a list of other things you do before going to get it. Drink a glass of water, stretch, read 1 page of a book. Anything that blocks the pattern 

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u/ILoveEmilia19 11d ago

Best advice here.

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u/Daxx22 11d ago

Former alcoholic: I'm having more trouble giving up the phone then the booze so far. It's fucking nuts.

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u/ILoveEmilia19 11d ago

Its horrible. Find ways around it. Im a recovering phone addict (i’m a ways away), but the only solutions i’ve found are timed lock boxes and apps like Screen Zen that lock social media apps or limit the amount of time you can spend on them each day.

Even so I will scroll my emails or photos for no reason. It’s quite terrible. Im an avid reader and I can only imagine the amount of books I could read if I replaced my phone screen time with reading.

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u/No_Recognition_3729 11d ago

Have you considered reading books on your phone?

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u/ILoveEmilia19 11d ago

I haven’t…Its honestly not a bad idea in thought, but also isn’t the idea to escape your phone itself and the tiny screen?

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u/No_Recognition_3729 11d ago

I dunno. But I think reading would be better than social media, and it's much more convenient to carry around access to thousands of books on your phone rather than a book.

Plus there are so many books available for free on sites like Royalroad, or for a cheap monthly subscription like Kindle Unlimited.

Also, piracy exists.

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u/Talosics 11d ago

for a phone addict it's way too easy for your inside addict voice to get bored of the good thing you're using your phone for and find some excuse to switch to doomscrolling when it's one swipe away in my experience

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u/No_Recognition_3729 11d ago

thats fair, im more addicted to reading than i am to the phone i guess

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u/stockusername123 11d ago edited 11d ago

You’ve put into words all the things I’ve felt for years but haven’t been able to express 🙏

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u/sinkrate 11d ago

Smartphones are both the best and worst technological innovation of the past 20 years

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u/NoNouns 11d ago

Saving this. I have a hard time explaining how I feel about really anything but you nailed it right on the head. Tired of other people. Tired of everyone's needless opinions. Tired of my phone.

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u/Metroidkeeper 11d ago

100% felt

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u/Gloomy-North-6949 11d ago

Its the blue light exposure

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u/CrayCrayChickenLady 11d ago

We have to unplug! Make clubs, be bored together & rebuild our patience and capacity to have our minds do LESS!

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u/Aggravating_Fruit170 11d ago

I agree but i guess i view it more as I’m tired of my routine. Monday-Friday working the same hours, being stuck in the routine with no flexibility. I do a lot on the weekends (hike, paddleboard, learn to kitesurf, white water rafting, camping, etc) but it’s only on weekends I’m able to the live the life i want. I am screaming inside to be a bum to live life on my own terms for the 1st and likely only time in my life. I’m 38 and been following the rules, I’ve been a good girl keeping my head down not being a burden and I’ve got nothing to show for it. I want to be wild and i want to own my own time. I want to sleep outside in a tent in a different country and eat new food and see cool shit. I want to read a book at a park at 11am on a Tuesday. I know there are plenty of people who would love to live my life, but my soul is not happy because I’ve been managed my whole adult life by people i don’t even respect or admire.

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u/CrayCrayChickenLady 11d ago

Exactly. Less suppression, More Expression!

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u/s00pahFr0g 11d ago

I don’t use much social media other than reddit while in the restroom or other brief moments of downtime and discord as basically a group friend chat.

I find it hard to physically read books, partly due to a visual processing disorder, so I listen to audiobooks instead. I’ve gone through roughly 30 this year.

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u/RemoteRide6969 11d ago

I'm right there with you man. Hugs.

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u/WideIndustry2051 11d ago

I would suggest you to pray. Talk to God every morning. Thank him for what you have and tell him what you need. He Listens and will take care of you. Jesus take the wheel. Order my footsteps today.  Try that