What If You Abandon Your Smartphone?

Late last year, I was at a dinner with friends and we were talking about how we use our smartphones too much. It suddenly hit me that, one year earlier, I’d had the exact same conversation, yet I was still using my phone just as much.

Then and there, I decided to give up my smartphone.

Why I switched

I gave up my smartphone for three reasons:

1. Excessive usage: I used my smartphone more than I wanted, and less purposefully.
2. Lack of mindfulness: I felt there was an association between my smartphone and my not being as mindful and focused as I wanted.
3. Quality of relationships: I wanted to try and replace “a lot of superficial friendships” with “a few deeper friendships”.

The switch

I asked a relative to give me one of his old dumbphones. Even though I wanted a Nokia for nostalgia’s sake, I ended up going with an LG A190.

When I turned the dumbphone on, I tried to adjust screen brightness by swiping down on the screen… “Oh boy”, I said to myself, “this is going to be tougher than I think”.

The following few days were filled with pleasant surprises:

1. Battery life: the dumbphone’s battery lasts about 4–5 days — no more battery anxiety!