(Dis)Connections

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                                                        Picture credit: The New York Times 

In this community, I feel I can safely confess an addiction. I’m sure I’m among friends and that some of you are fellow addicts. Yes, I’m hopelessly dependent on... Wordle. My day just isn’t the same if I miss it. A few years ago, my dealer, in the sweet and innocent form of my youngest daughter, lured me into having a go on her phone. She knew what she was doing. With one free sample, I was hooked. That’s how it works, folks. Now I must secure my fix every day. Preying on my weaknesses, the same dealer ruthlessly introduced me to Connections, and I fell for it again, so now I have two addictions. I’ve resisted her wicked insistence that I try Spelling Bee. I don’t know how long I will hold out. My dealer is coming home for Christmas, and I will need all my strength to defend myself against her wicked schemes.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about - Wordle, Connections and Spelling Bee are all phone-based games from the New York Times and trust me, once you start, it’s hard to stop. If the NYT ever drops the daily offering, all of us addicts will be going full cold turkey, and we’ll have to form a support group.

Okay, so perhaps describing innocent word games like Wordle as an addiction is a tad dramatic. Would habit be a better word? Probably, but it’s well established that the devices we hold in our hands and the apps we install are cleverly designed to ensure we give maximum attention to the screen. The psychology deployed by betting companies and slot machine manufacturers is now used by app designers. For example, with alarming frequency and urgency, my phone declares there is some ‘breaking news.’ Like an automaton, I am powerless to resist. I simply must check what it is. Spoiler alert – it’s hardly ever anything of significance. The ‘breaking news’ alert is just a tool engineered to grab our attention at regular intervals.

Word games and news are certainly at the soft end of addiction, but I’m aware of how easily my brain gets distracted. Every distraction is a disconnection from my purpose. Distractions in any form certainly aren’t something that aid my writing process, but I’m loath to bin the smartphone and open the drawer of doom to find my old Nokia.  

So, here’s my question. Is there an antidote - a way for my phone to act as a positive distraction? Do you have any apps that aid writing or encourage faith? Let us all know what you’ve got.

Finally... December 3rd??? What was going on? The answer was cacti. Tricky one, that. 

Comments

  1. Elaine Langford5 December 2025 at 06:36

    I have the same addiction. I wrote a poem about it. I'll try to put a link to it later.
    I see these word-based games as ways to keep the brain active, which is no bad thing. I do take breaks occasionally and avoid the more visual ones, such as Tetris or Candy Crush, which tend to get stuck in my visual processing head. You'll find there were games on Nokia bricks too, as there is in most tech. Some of these are to help learn the tools, such as minesweeper on early versions of Windows laptops.
    As far as alternatives go, there are reflective options, such as Pray as You Go (Jesuit reflection app) and you can link to websites offering daily office reflections, such as Northumbria Community. 
    Of course the best option is to visit the ACW Facebook page and this blog and interact with your fellow Christian Writers. 😉
    Have a blessed day.

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    Replies
    1. David Smart9 December 2025 at 19:00

      Hi, Elaine. I'll take a look at these suggestions. Many thanks.

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  2. Jane Lynch6 December 2025 at 19:36

    Hi David, I got into Wordle in exactly the same way! I sometimes try the others on that app, but I like Wordle because it usually only takes a few seconds, and it's only one a day so it's not addictive. As to apps that help with writing - I guess there's Grammarly, though that one is annoying if it tries to correct something like a text message. For faith, I use Daily Audio Bible. It's American but has listeners from all over the world, and it's a community of faith. There are others, but I like this one because they read the Bible fresh every day, and rotate through all the versions. Here's a link:https://dailyaudiobible.com/

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  3. David Smart9 December 2025 at 19:01

    Good evening, Jane. Thanks for these suggestions, I shall take a look.

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  4. Martin Horton11 December 2025 at 06:30

    Hi David, I too am a Wordle devotee, and it's something that my wife and I do together. I have a regular word that I use, and then she does the next word, a few times I've got it in three, and once even in two! Connections can be fun but also so annoying at times - yesterday's one was a real headache - captials with a letter missing, and American sports players?!?

    ReplyDelete

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