Do you bring your electric-powered, heavy-duty drill with you to the toilet?

Changing my relationship with technology and coming to view it as a tool again.

Always turned on

Living a more analog life can feel like a form of escapism, perhaps from the connected reality now shared by most of the world. But that interconnectedness seems to come at a big cost. The cost is mental: some sort of strain on our psyche. It’s the feeling of always being turned on and tuned in.

At some point, we probably should just tap out.

Is it really that valuable?

The question is how important this turning on and tuning in really is to our lives. What does the process of getting connected and staying connected do to us? Is it really that valuable? It increasingly feels to me that it’s not that important.

Far from a hermit

Although detaching yourself from the internet and mobile devices can feel like detaching yourself from society, it doesn’t necessarily mean becoming a hermit in the mountains. Far from it. By detaching yourself, I mean that you stop attempting to derive meaning from these devices. You use them as tools to support whatever you require support with.

A tool again

Put shortly, I mean changing your relationship with technology and coming to view it as a tool again. A tool to get something important to you done. When something is a tool, it has a clear utility. Most of the time, you use it with purpose and intent that don’t stretch beyond its intended use.

Do you bring your electric-powered, heavy-duty drill with you to the toilet?

First written in August 2026.