JL;DR
Daily Podcasts Video Research
Culture · Ethics

Turning Off My Phone

Summarizing Richard Simon in Jewish Action · Published Wednesday, December 17, 2025
menu_book Read Original bookmark star

JL;DR SUMMARY Reflecting on how his smartphone dependency interfered with family time and personal well-being, Richard Simon decided to turn off his phone for an entire year as an experiment in digital detox. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

JL;DR members get full summaries of all articles in the archive, including this one. Donate & start reading »

Tags

Relationships  Digital Detox  Self Reflection  Personal Growth  Smartphone Addiction  Family Life  Attention  Digital Sabbath  Quality Time  Phone Detox 

Places mentioned

Washington, Washington DC, United States
"This essay is adapted from the book Unplug: How to Break Up with Your Phone and Reclaim Your Life (New York: Workman Publishing, 2025). Richard Simon has directed website strategy for Georgetown Law in Washington, DC, since 2010, and is a former reporter and webmaster for the Daily Record newspaper in Maryland. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and three children."
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
"This essay is adapted from the book Unplug: How to Break Up with Your Phone and Reclaim Your Life (New York: Workman Publishing, 2025). Richard Simon has directed website strategy for Georgetown Law in Washington, DC, since 2010, and is a former reporter and webmaster for the Daily Record newspaper in Maryland. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and three children."
Seattle, Washington, United States
"Over a two-year period, I had dozens of conversations with others who recognized the challenges of the phones constant-companion modeland who did something about it. I interviewed an anesthesiologist in Baltimore, a software engineer in Seattle, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, a social media marketer in Northern Ireland, a school principal in Chicago, and a law partner in Connecticut, among others."
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
"Over a two-year period, I had dozens of conversations with others who recognized the challenges of the phones constant-companion modeland who did something about it. I interviewed an anesthesiologist in Baltimore, a software engineer in Seattle, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, a social media marketer in Northern Ireland, a school principal in Chicago, and a law partner in Connecticut, among others."
Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
"Over a two-year period, I had dozens of conversations with others who recognized the challenges of the phones constant-companion modeland who did something about it. I interviewed an anesthesiologist in Baltimore, a software engineer in Seattle, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, a social media marketer in Northern Ireland, a school principal in Chicago, and a law partner in Connecticut, among others."
Chicago, Illinois, United States
"Over a two-year period, I had dozens of conversations with others who recognized the challenges of the phones constant-companion modeland who did something about it. I interviewed an anesthesiologist in Baltimore, a software engineer in Seattle, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, a social media marketer in Northern Ireland, a school principal in Chicago, and a law partner in Connecticut, among others."
Vermont, United States
"Theres also a writer in Vermont, a product specialist in Kenya, a college senior at the University of Notre Dame, a chess grandmaster in Minnesota, and a financial analyst in Italyall of whom fundamentally changed their relationships with their phones and enhanced their lives in remarkable ways."
Italy
"Theres also a writer in Vermont, a product specialist in Kenya, a college senior at the University of Notre Dame, a chess grandmaster in Minnesota, and a financial analyst in Italyall of whom fundamentally changed their relationships with their phones and enhanced their lives in remarkable ways."
Minnesota, United States
"Theres also a writer in Vermont, a product specialist in Kenya, a college senior at the University of Notre Dame, a chess grandmaster in Minnesota, and a financial analyst in Italyall of whom fundamentally changed their relationships with their phones and enhanced their lives in remarkable ways."
Kenya
"Theres also a writer in Vermont, a product specialist in Kenya, a college senior at the University of Notre Dame, a chess grandmaster in Minnesota, and a financial analyst in Italyall of whom fundamentally changed their relationships with their phones and enhanced their lives in remarkable ways."
This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 70736
Cairo Source ID 6
Retrieved 2025-12-18 05:30:58 UTC
Curated 2025-12-18 08:31:19 UTC