Candle Notes #1: Return to Monke

Taha Warraich on 19 Sep 2025

Note: The contents of this post were originally written as a private reminder and policy on my own use of technology. Verbiage has been updated slightly to include a broader audience (i.e., not just me) but it is not intended to be a super strong or persuasive piece on giving up tech.> #guys I swear I'm no luddite

General Principles

Technology ought not be the first port of call for anything (save long distance communications and work tasks).

Certainly, nothing apart from the once daily checking of emails and/or a preferred social media platform (and/or perhaps upload to Tumblr or one’s preferred method of delivering one’s work unto others as part of a content creation project or hobby) need be done on one’s main desktop computer. While the centre of my technological set up, computing should not be the centre of my life.

My laptop should only be used at scheduled, specific times for video calls (I occasionally use Discord to video call my friends or have to use Zoom for various meetings), when travelling, or as work demands. It should not be a constant companion or a replacement for my desktop. Too often it has become my main device due to its convenience and superior hardware quality when compared with my specific desktop computer but that ease breeds laziness which in turn fosters ill mental health. .

My phone should be in my general vicinity but not really be used unless I am actively engaging in a conversation with someone, or for banking (some of my bank accounts do not have web access and require mobile apps). There should be no social media apps on it as, nowadays, the DM functionality (which is my main use case for these services) can be accessed via the web on my desktop.

Responding to (Anticipated) Allegations

No, I am not a Luddite. My approach set out above is not foolhardy, it is merely how I believe a grown adult should normally function in the world. As set out in my ‘About’ section, I find myself too easily entranced by the endless scroll offered by the likes of TikTok and Instagram, too enchanted by the myriad videos on a myriad topics on YouTube, and consequently too preoccupied to enjoy real life. I do not believe myself to be the only one like this, and I write this now because I think if more people operated following some form of the principles set out above or even just had a basic framework on how they interact with their devices, the world and these peoples lives would be better. I am not against using tech, only being used by it.

What to do with all your time

One may ask, then, that if there is essentially no consumption of internet content in one’s day, what do you do with your time?

The answer is simple: consume the media you already have. I’m sure we all have books left unread, music on CDs or other things left unheard, movies on DVDs unwatched. And, when these have all been thoroughly exhausted, go to the library and borrow more without even spending any money! If you really, really want something for your own collection, buy it! I strongly believe that paying for something like multiple streaming subscriptions or other unnecessary services is pointless and daft. I will not mince my words on this. There are enough free workarounds available for everyone and if someone truly wants to support an artist or creator they value, direct sales are probably the best.

Beyond the consumption of media, there are so many other things to do. If one maintains their life healthily - such as by buying and cooking your own fresh groceries as opposed to getting takeaway or eating out, cleaning their spaces regularly, exercising or going for walks, hanging out with friends and family, going sightseeing around a city near them, or even just doing nothing for a bit - time can be spent far more meaningfully than just staring at a screen in one’s hands or in front of their face.

Caveat

Just because I have said all the above does not mean I am able to fully follow every letter of the law. I too have moments where I want to scroll on Instagram or Tiktok for yonks (and sometimes do) or watch YouTube videos from my favourite creators (I do this for like at least half an hour everyday!) but that does not mean I should not try to improve my habits. I may post later about my personal self-conceptualisation system, but the main thing is I am a person and I can exercise my own prerogative based on the situation I am in. The words I have written down to help clarify my goals and systems are not binding, they are just super helpful in my own personal life and you do not have to follow them or even think they’re very good.

My Tech Setup

Just in case anyone was interested in what devices I was referring to actually were, here’s a not very detailed list.

I have other old laptops which I use for tinkering purposes sometimes but not very much anymore. One runs Arch (best distro imo but that’s because I used the archinstall script to get a lovely Gnome DE) which I would use everywhere if it wasn’t such a pain to run on my daft iMac (I can’t get WiFi to work once Gnome boots up), and another which runs Linux Mint in case I eff everything up.

Hope that was an OK read and see you next time peeps.