Why I Live a Low-Tech Life in 2025

Over the years, I found myself drawn

into a more slow pace of living as our

world becomes everinccreasingly more

smart. And no, it's not just because I

romanticize the past, although I will

admit I do that somewhat. But for me,

it's because the pace of modern life

feels relentless. Every app and almost

everything is vying for your attention,

and every device claims to help optimize

your life. But somewhere in all that

noise, I felt that living the life I

actually wanted for myself was getting

left behind. So, over the years, I've

been making small transitions, living

with less technology and more intention,

slowing down. And what I found is that

slowing down doesn't have to mean doing

less, but it means doing more of what

really matters. Before I go any further,

though, if you don't know me, I'm

Spencer, and I like to talk about simple

living, frugality, and digital

minimalism. Today, I want to talk about

what slow living means to me, why I've

chosen to take a low tech approach in

that slow lifestyle, and what it has

done for me in my day-to-day life. First

off, I just want to talk a little bit

about the problem that I see with the

high-tech way of life that we're living

now. We have the most high-tech tools

we've ever had, but people are among the

busiest that they've ever been as well.

Our time hasn't been freed up by these

tools, and we find ourselves

overstressed, overburdened, and

depressed. And the research really seems

to bear this out as well. We're seeing

that the more time people spend online,

the more negative their mental health

outcomes. And this is alarmingly

affecting young people more than others.

Indeed, it's the people who grew up with

these technologies, the ones who were

steeped in them from a very young age,

who are the most impacted by the

negative outcomes. Algorithmic

manipulation is another thing. All of

the platforms that we use for our

entertainment, be it social media or

even things like YouTube, they utilize

algorithms to feed us our content, and

we end up getting pigeonholed into very

specific silos. Now, I know we all have

experience going down the YouTube

recommendation rabbit hole. were often

ending up in a place that was very

different from where we started. Often

times, because much of the profit on the

internet is made through advertising

revenue, eyes on content is the most

valuable thing. This leads tech

companies to utilize algorithms to keep

you engaged. And the best way to do that

is to get you enraged. This is why often

times you'll see content that challenges

you and things that make you upset,

things that are most likely to get you

to stay with the content and engage with

it. Other times, algorithms or

notifications will be used to show you

good things, things that will draw you

in and get you to stay with that device

or that software for longer. But the

important thing to note is that tech

addiction is by design. It is a feature

and not a bug. Many times people have

left comments on my videos telling me

that you just need to exercise more

willpower. You can utilize these devices

and not have them use you whatsoever,

getting only benefits and leaving all

the costs behind. What this ignores is

that many things in the smart world are

intentionally designed to be addictive

because the profit motive is at the

center of their existence. And you may

think that you are in control, that

you're the rare person who can get in

and get out unscathed. But we have to

reckon with the fact that these

technologies were designed with the idea

to control us, manipulating our

behaviors and getting us to do the

things that these companies want, which

is usually by by that is the design. So,

prior to taking this slower path that

I've been on for the last few years, I

was just a normal younger person living

this high-tech lifestyle and being

manipulated by algorithms. I didn't

exactly know what it was at the time. I

couldn't quite put my finger on it, but

it felt like I was just overeating on

junk food. I didn't feel good. I was

feeling that immediate hit of dopamine

in the moment, but after the fact, I

usually felt like junk. During 2020,

especially, I think a lot of us were

spending our time online. more and more

of the world moved online during that

time and I think we started to really

get exhausted from it. And that's kind

of where the low tech lifestyle began

for me. I began thinking about when I

was younger when I didn't have this

stressed out feeling like I had to be on

at all times and like the whole world

was connected to me at my fingertips

every second of the day. And for me that

started with bristling and turning away

from the smart tools that we have all

come to use in our daily lives. At first

it just started with leaving my phone

behind when I would go out to the store.

I started coming to this point where I

realized we don't need to have this

thing with us at all times even though

it has become the norm to do so. And

pretty soon the fun part started to

follow as well. Experimenting with retro

technologies, oftentimes nostalgic items

that I grew up with or even things from

before that time. Things like shooting

on a film camera and being forced to

only have 36 exposures really made me

slow down. I wasn't going to take photos

of every moment of my life like people

often do with their phones. Switching to

an analog paper notebook and pen allowed

me to write down my ideas without any

distraction from notifications coming

in. And eventually that meant trying out

other retro technologies. Things like

the iPod or even just going back to

reading a physical newspaper again. Now,

I just want to take a pause and say that

I'm not trying to be a lite here. I am

not anti-technology. In fact, I'm

shooting on a very high-tech camera

right now. I just wanted to use my

technology intentionally and not just go

along with every new innovation that

came up. I think often times what

happens is that we accept new

technologies that come along as a mark

of progress and we use them without

question. I like to take an approach

more close to the Amish community and I

know that doesn't help me look like any

less of a leite but what that means is I

like to take an evaluative stance toward

my technology. You know the Amish look

at technology and evaluate each new

piece of technology that comes about by

asking will this hurt or help their

community? For example, many Amish

communities have things like phones or

even a shared vehicle. These tools can

be used by the community in ways that

benefit that community at large. Taking

trips out of the community for supplies

as a group, things like that. However,

things like personal vehicles for each

family or cell phones for each

individual are usually barred from

communities. The thought behind this

being that these tools are going to

isolate that individual from the

community and not lead to further

cohesion. Another example I can think of

in my life is I like to use an

Alphasmart to do offline writing that I

can then upload to my computer and use

digitally. I did a whole video on that

device and if you want to see more, I've

linked that above. What the Alphasmart

was though was basically an educational

aid that was used in the '90s to help

kids learn typing skills before computer

labs were widespread. At the time, it

seemed like a pretty high-tech tool, but

nowadays it is used for a

distraction-free writing aid for people

who want to do their writing and not

have to worry about notifications or the

possibilities that a computer offers. I

do have a laptop computer that I use for

work, but I like to keep that in a

desktop configuration as much as I can

keep that fixed to a place so that I

have to go to that place to use that

technology. When I want to do some

writing and some creative work and I

know that I want to use that stuff

digitally later, I bring something like

the Alphasmart, which allows me to do my

writing on the go, but I'm not

distracted by all of the things that the

computer has. And most of these tools

are not expensive. I got them for always

less than $50, oftentimes free. And they

allow me to do things with them to give

myself a little bit more peace in the

day-to-day and focus on the work that

really matters to me. And I guess that

leads me to talking now about the

benefits, the great things that I have

found about choosing this slower low

tech lifestyle. For me, I separate that

into two different categories. The first

being clarity of focus. Since moving

into this slower, low tech lifestyle, I

find that I have a better attention

span. I find that I'm less and less

distracted and I'm more and more able to

get into a deeper flow state and get to

work. Whereas before, I was much more

easily distracted. I could easily be

pulled off of a task if my phone buzzed

or if I just had the inkling to pick it

up and look at something. Nowadays,

trying to live this slower, low tech

lifestyle, I find myself thinking a

little bit more deeply and I'm able to

just have that stillness of mind where I

can think clearly about the things that

I actually want to do and I can go out

and do them. I think as the smart world

continues to offer us more and more

ability to access things whenever we

want, it's important for us to cultivate

discipline more and more. And to me,

that discipline doesn't come from

walking into the casino when you have a

gambling problem and doing your best not

to sit down at a slot machine, but it

comes from choosing to not go in that

building whatsoever. And in my case,

that doesn't mean abstaining from smart

tools altogether. It means subbing in

these single-purpose items that can take

a load off my mind and allow me to focus

better so I'm able to use those smart

tools for their tools, for the purposes

that are actually a tool and use them

less and less for distracting and

entertaining myself. The second thing

that I've really found from this is a

sense of freedom and of resilience by

not needing these tools for every single

solution in my day-to-day life. knowing

that I am not at the beck and call of

these tools and that they're not going

to grab my attention whenever they want.

I don't want it to be a situation where

the tail is wagging the dog. Yes, these

tools can assist you in very specific

contexts and that's what I've done in my

own life. But I don't want to come to a

point where I rely on them for

everything because that limits my

freedom. And by using these tools in

almost every situation in our lives, by

having them so inshed in almost every

aspect of our day-to-day, we are giving

companies more and more control over

that. By slowing down and using lower

tech items, I find myself less

influenced by those companies. As a

result, I'm scrolling much less, I'm

buying much less, and I'm happier. The

resilience part comes from the fact that

I am more insulated from the es and

flows of the smart world and the net. A

few years ago, the service provider that

I got my cell phone and internet from,

Rogers, had a complete blackout

nationwide in Canada. This was at a time

when I was just getting into a low-tech

lifestyle. It was actually the first day

that I bought a paper map because it was

then that I no longer had access to

data, so therefore maps and GPS that I

realized that I didn't even know where I

was going without my phone leading the

way. And in those years since that

blackout, when I really realized how

little control I had over my dayto-day,

I started taking things back by living

that slower, low tech lifestyle. And I

can tell you that my smartphone no

longer holds the leash like it used to.

I will make separate videos on these

topics most likely. But if you want to

get into a low tech lifestyle yourself,

I like to live and breathe this ethic.

One book that I'm just rereading right

now is Walden by Thorough. Now, if you

want really the manifesto for simple

living and slow living, pick this book

up. A more modern recommendation is

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. If

you want to get up to speed on the

digital minimalism movement, this is the

seinal text for that. You're going to

find the Amish example that I mentioned

as well as a prescription to actually

starting a slow digital minimalism life.

Another book that I really love and

recommend is One Man's Wilderness by

Dick Preny. Now, Mr. Preny, he was a

diesel mechanic, I believe, maybe for

the Navy, something like that. Upon

retirement at the early age of around

50, he bought a piece of land up in

Alaska and he moved up there and built a

cabin and lived there for the next 30

years. This guy lived an extremely low

tech life. He built this cabin by hand,

I believe, with hand tools. He did a lot

of wildlife photography, a little bit of

fishing, and a lot of writing. This book

is all of his journals compiled, and it

is really, really good. Finally, I just

want to say if you're feeling burnt out

and overstimulated by this smart world

and you want to try living a slow, low

tech lifestyle, give it a try. And no,

you don't have to go from Neurolink to

Walden overnight. This can just be small

changes over time, and you can make big

changes in your life that way. A couple

things that I recommend is just trying

to implement a low tech morning or

evening routine. Personally, I like to

go the first and last hour of the day

with no screens. This helps you wake up

slowly. You're not instantly hitting

yourself with tons of stimulus, and it

helps you wind down for bed as well and

sleep better. You can also try a full

day or weekend away from social media.

Just taking a break from the over

stimulation and the FOMO of those

platforms can be really enlightening to

how much of an impact they have on you.

One of my favorite things that I like to

recommend is just take one smart tool in

your life and replace it with an analog

one. Just do that as a test. This could

literally be just as simple as taking

physical notes with a pen and paper

instead of doing it on your phone.

Swapping in some of these analog

alternatives do more than giving you a

piece of mind, but they also give you

less and less reliant on the smart

world, which is oftentimes out to make

money off of you. Ultimately, you don't

have to go back to the stone age or

become an Amish person or live a true

off-grid lifestyle. You just need to

identify what matters to you and cut the

rest. And please remember that this is

not a race and there is no finish line.

Small steps can lead to very big changes

over time. I have started my journey and

I may be well on my way to a slow, low

tech lifestyle, but I am by no means

finished and I hope that you are just

getting started. Thanks very much for

watching folks. I hope you found this

video interesting. If there are any low

tech or slow living things that you've

been implementing in your day-to-day

life, I would love to hear from you in

the comments. I'll chat with you there.

Thanks very much for watching and I'll

see you in the next one.

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