It’s been more than 10 days since I swapped the SIM card out of my iPhone and put it into a $69 feature phone. So far, I don’t plan on going back.
First a little data. Here is what my phone usage looked like during the first 7 days:
Overall iPhone usage was down 66%!
My iPhone usage was down 66% from the previous week in terms of overall time spent using the phone. TBH, I was still surprised to see that the average was so high at 57m per day, but then I realized that almost all of that was from time spent not actually looking at the screen. When removing the top three items (which were just passively on while I drove/rode), my actual phone usage was around 5 minutes per-day. The top apps I used were:
- Strava- I went on two 7-mile bike rides last week during lunchtime 💪
- Google Maps & Spothero: I drove downtown (first time in over a year!) and used Google Maps for the ~30m trek each way + I used Spothero to park.
Overall, I am very proud of how little I used or even checked my phone throughout the week. I’d say I am looking at my iPhone for less than 5 minutes per day which feels great.
I don’t have a way of tracking how much time I spend on my Nokia phone, but I am certain it is less than 1 hour per day, and that is mostly because texting is so slow.
Below are some observations about things I like, and things I don’t like so far:
Observations & Benefits
So far, all-in-all I would like to maintain this routine for as long as I can. I do not see myself ending this at the end of 30 days. Here are a few reasons why:
- I am more focused and present
I feel more focused and more present than I have in a long time. Previously when I was working at my desk the constant stream of notifications on my phone (even tho they were muted) was very distracting. I usually kept my phone face down and always on silent, but even just having it there, knowing I could just flip it over to see dozens of notifications, was quite distracting.
Now my work is much more focused which is really helpful for being — and feeling — productive.
And when I’m not at my desk, I am able to be focused on whatever activity I am engaged in, whether it is eating, walking outside, or just hanging with my kids. - Checking email is sort of fun again
Because I batch my emails all together at once a couple times a day, I actually look forward to sitting down at my computer to see what emails I have. I can usually clear my inbox in under 20 minutes and get back to what I was doing, feeling accomplished and on top of things.
I have not felt at all like I was missing anything, and really enjoy not feeling like I have to check every few minutes to see if anything “important” came through. - The urge to check my phone has decreased
I don’t feel a strong pull towards checking my phone as much as I used to. And when I do go and check it, its more satisfying because I don’t let myself unlock the screen — I just scan through the notification center on the lock screen. If something needs attention (so far only 1–2 things have) I will walk over to my desk and deal with it rather than look at it on my phone.
I’ve been keeping my phone face-down and plugged into the wall in the kitchen or on my desk, so checking it means walking over to pick it up. This is a good amount of friction and helps keep my phone out of mind. - I don’t check my phone when I first wake up anymore
Checking my phone used to be the first thing I did in the morning; even before my eyes were fully open (I suspect I was not alone in that habit).
Now I am able to just get up and head straight into my day. I’ll typically do a quick scan of the notification center at some point after I’m up and dressed. - No heavy phone to lug around is GREAT
I like not having a large and heavy phone to lug around when I’m in the house or if I run out quickly to do carpool or pick something up. It feels great to be disconnected while in the house, and even better to run out with a much lighter and smaller phone in my pocket.
The couple times that I have gone out with both phones (with my iPhone a back up) has not been annoying at all. I either just throw the iPhone in the console of the car or in a bag and forgot about it. It’s just there in case I need it, and so far I have not needed it.
Pain points and Annoyances
This experience has not been without its annoyances and nuisances
Using WhatsApp and Texting is still a pain.
People use texting and WhatsApp a lot. It’s been hard to respond to messages from this phone — typing takes a suuuuper long time and is very annoying.
- Looking at pictures is also really annoying and frankly, just not fun. To view a picture I have to download it, open it in another application and then hit a few buttons to zoom in (which is required on almost all pics since the screen is so small).
- I miss having my text message history to look up information from previous conversations.
- On WhatsApp, you can only see one message at a time and must slowly scroll through a conversation. With multiple active groups keeping up takes a little longer.
- I am not able to use WhatsApp or texting on my desktop which is a real bummer. I used to use both pretty heavily so that I wouldn’t need to use my phone.
I still need a couple Apps
WSJ Mobile
I really miss reading the WSJ in the mornings while I eat breakfast. I used to read the WSJ every day from my phone and I miss not being able to do that. I am trying to keep an iPad at the table for browsing, but it usually gets taken by one of my kids to play games.
Podcasts and NPR News
I used to listen to podcasts and NPR daily news while making dinner or doing chores around the house. Listening from my iPhone used to be super easy. Now I have not listened to anything since I started this.
Utilities (workouts, directions, 2FA)
A couple other things I used to rely on my phone for such as Strava for workouts, Google Maps for directions, and password managers for 2FA. I’ve had to rely on my iPhone for all of these and was not able to use the feature phone for any of these.
