Does anyone else feel like modern life is becoming "too fast" to actually enjoy it?

There are days I want to throw my phone in the ocean.....but I can't. Work, communication with friends/family, appointments are all through screens now. It sucks. I tried to implement some boundaries like using screen timer on certain apps,

Man slow down ..I'm retired now and have been for years I'm now 56) ..sometimes I wonder about the little things in life just to keep me occupied 😁.. in effect i have slowed life down..i don't worry about nothing .not intimidated, threatened concerned on how life is .. it's stable . I can ponder lifes mystery for hours and I enjoy every second of life .. everyday it's like I wake up and think what's happening today WHAT can happen today .

Absolutely. It always feels like I'm having to do many things at once and always stay up to date with what I'm doing to be able to "keep up" with everyone around me.

Notifications and scrolling aren't necessary, I don't really do them. I'm not on any social media that involves endlessly scrolling. People will say listnook is like that but it's not really the same since if you go on one sublistnook the content isn't unlimited, you see the top posts of the day then move on, and it's not randomly generated.

yes how do you have intention in your actions while also skipping through it and getting sh*t done.

We do have too much going on, but ultimately a lot of this is our personal choice. Scrolling your phone during lunch instead of slowing down and savoring food is your deliberate choice, not “modern life”. Scrolling while watching a movie or talking to your partner is also a choice. Accepting or declining an invitation to an event is a choice. A lot of times even accepting a project at work is a choice. Configuring your phone to silence unimportant notifications and keeping track of its usage is a choice you are free to make. For context I’m 30F, married, always worked in busy academic or corporate environments. I made it a rule to not eat at my desk. I learned to say no often, both to other people (when they invite me or ask me to do something) and to myself (when I have an urge to check my phone for example). Also, I always do one thing at a time. Multitasking creates illusion of efficiency, but since your brain has to switch between tasks, it gets tired more and takes longer time to complete tasks.

I think if you are allowing modern life to dictate your behavior, yes, you will be unhappy. I see like I see obesity. We live in an obesogenic society. Everywhere we turn, there is greasy, sugary, addictive food being advertised to us. Every neighborhood and city is designed around cars so we don't have to walk. Everything on the grocery store shelves is processed and designed so we "can't just have one". Everyone is encouraged to show love through food and have food be a centerpiece of social activies. And then we wonder why so many people are fat. But we have the ability to resist. If you go with the flow because it is easier to do so and you want to fit in with everyone, then you will quickly become neurotic. But if you decide, nope, I am not going to have the notifications set to "on"on my phone and nope, I am not going to scroll through Listnook while I supposed to be watching a movie with my friends or significant other, then you increase your chances of enjoying life. But it takes practice and a certain mindset.

Maybe you need a nice lil walk in the countryside A holiday some space to disconnect

I just turned off notifications for everything. If it's really important to me, I'll check it eventually. Took a minute to not keep picking up the phone, but after a while you realize most of the notifications are for things that don't really matter.

100% The other day I dropped my phone and it flew so far under the bed I just left it there for 3 hours. It was great and made me want to throw my phone in the trash when I finally got it back 😂 In general I've been trying to cut back on how much time I spend on my phone. I was doing great until I had some health stuff this past month that has had me stuck in bed most of the time.  Things I've been trying - turning off notifications, app timers, setting up where your phone blocks you from certain apps at certain times, straight up deleting apps that you find keep sucking you in.  I'm usually really good about not being on my phone when I'm with other people. It's when I'm by myself that it's a problem 😬