It’s time for a dumb phone

via Giphy

Hi, I’m Allie and I’m addicted to my smartphone.

I check it when I wake up, and I check it when I go to the bathroom, which is nothing new or alarming according to most studies about smartphone addiction.

But I also check it when I walk out of the office to grab lunch. And when I walk back to the office after lunch. And while I’m standing in line waiting to pay for lunch. A process that might have taken all of 20 minutes.

I find myself checking every app on my phone for updates while waiting for the subway… just because I’m bored. I open my email to see if there’s anything new (no), open Cluster to see if there’s any new baby picture from a friend (no), check my stats on Nike+ (unsurprisingly, there are no new magically added), and then I check StreetEasy to see if there are any new apartments I like (even though I’m currently locked into a two year lease). And then I start the process again.

I check my phone when I want to check out of social conversations. I’m bored, tired, feel like I have nothing to add, feeling shy… so I resort to checking my phone.

I pat myself on the back if I can make coffee in the morning before checking my phone, or if I can make it to work without checking it between leaving my apartment and walking into my office.

What am I checking for? I’m not sure.

I’ve taken steps to reduce my addiction– I deleted all my social media apps. Browsing Instagram on the web sucks, but I still do it.

I changed my phone’s display to grayscale. Browsing the Internet on grayscale sucks, but I still do it.

I leave my phone at my desk at work, and I’ve started leaving it at home when I go out to dinner with my husband.

But I start getting anxious when I haven’t checked my smartphone awhile, and I feel myself getting more anti-social and less interesting with each check.

probably lost, but who cares?

In college, I studied abroad in Vienna in 2006. I didn’t speak a word of German (seriously, why did I go somewhere I didn’t know the language?) and I didn’t have a phone.

And somehow I survived.

I think about this and contrast this with my current life, where I’m so dependent on my phone I can’t imagine not Googling directions before leaving the house.

So it’s time for something drastic. It’s time to get a dumb phone and learn to be a little independent again. I know this isn’t a novel idea, and plenty of people have taken on this challenge, too, but it’s something I feel like I should do… before my nose is literally attached to my phone.

So I’m challenging myself to be smartphone free for 30 days. I’m not sure it’s possible a) given how addicted I am and b) given how dependent everyone around me is on their smartphone, but I’m going to try.

I’m expecting to be a little uncomfortable– I think I’m generally going to have to learn how to be more prepared, especially when it comes to directions and I won’t have the beauty of Google anymore to guide me.

I’m also expecting to be a little lonely at first. I’ve come to rely on my phone as an outlet to “keeping up” with people… which is codename for being a shit friend and following them on Instagram rather than picking up the phone to call them. I’m going to have to make more of an effort.

I’m going to diary my experience here to keep myself accountable… here goes nothing.