How I Experimented Living Without a Smartphone for More Than One Month and How This Changed How I Live And Work
I dissected the advantages and disadvantages of living without a Smartphone and how I got to solve unexpected situations
Last Saturday, I found myself in an unexpected situation with my trusty smartphone (iPhone) upon landing in Colombia, where I was set to stay for a month. It wasn’t a catastrophe, just a curious twist of fate. Surprisingly, I wasn’t as bothered as I thought I would be. I realized that I was only online sporadically, at odd hours, and in random places. It didn’t seem like such a dire situation after all. This sparked a curiosity in me-what would happen if I lived without a smartphone?
Instead of viewing it as a disadvantage, I saw this as an opportunity for a personal experiment. As I searched for a solution to recover my phone, I realized I could live comfortably without it. I set a bold deadline of one month. By the time I returned to Spain, I would decide whether to reintroduce a smartphone into my life, based on the results of this experiment. This was a chance to evaluate my independence from, or dependence on, a mobile device.
Objective of the experiment: Living without a Smartphone
The purpose of this experiment is to delve into the experience of living without a smartphone, to understand its impact on various aspects of life, and to explore ways to reduce our dependency on these devices.
- The objective of this experiment was not just to live without a smartphone but to delve into the advantages and disadvantages of such a lifestyle.
- I aimed to measure the impact on my daily life and work and to discover where my time went when the device was absent. This was a journey of self-discovery and learning.
- Quantify the time spent on a smartphone versus where that time goes when the device doesn’t exist.
- What lies beyond connected life.
- Check if these devices really connect or disconnect.
- Find ways to be more productive and effective. I love this point.
- Develop ideas to leave dependency on these devices aside.
- Above all, what happens when you live without a smartphone? It affects your relationships with family, friends, and professional contacts, your work, the quality of it, and your attention span. It also affects multi-tasking and concentration.
Results week 1 not using the smartphone — because I forgot it in a taxi when I was partying
Challenges of living without a smartphone:
Mobility and transportation: in Colombia, we basically move through Uber. Since I do not have a smartphone, I have not been able to request the service. Momentary solution: by working most of the time with my business partner Juan, he has been able to use the service for both of them. Even when we have had to make different commitments. In my case, I have requested it through his smartphone via the pickup address. The most significant inconvenience will come when Juan leaves the country and he no longer has the means to do so. I’ll work on a solution for next week. I will likely encounter similar problems with AirBnB or Google Maps.
Maneuverability and agility: Walking with a smartphone differs from a tablet (iPad). Therefore, the iPad is more cumbersome and less manageable at certain times, such as training on the trainer or the stationary bike. However, it may serve in some way.
Sport: I usually use the Nike+ app to track running workouts. I’ve been using it for about 7 years. I understandably need help to carry an iPad in my pants pocket or phone holder. The Apple Watch could be a solution, but doing this would enter the smartphone environment again. The best solution would be to use the sensor and bracelet when I used this service for the first time. I’ll investigate if this is still available.
Sleep: this last year, I have been using the sleep cycle to measure the quality of rest and the hours spent on it. It has given quite good results. I have slept more hours, so my sleep and rest have increased considerably. This has allowed me to face everyday life with more energy, conviction and optimism. I haven’t used it for 8 days, and although I’m sleeping even more, I’m missing something. The measurement of these parameters may be possible. I will look for an APPS for iPad with the same functionalities as the sleep cycle.
Social media: The images are of lower quality. What might have seemed precious or “amazing” before is now good enough or average. This is demonstrated in the photos I upload on Instagram, Facebook, or X. On the first platform, they get less range. This could be a clear disadvantage, but you know? It is an advantage, vulnerability, and imperfection of daily life. Nothing I do is that amazing; this could be a way to continue spreading that message.
Advantages of living without a smartphone:
Distractions: There are no incoming calls that are continually distracting me. However, that does not represent a significant change since I had silent calls for about half a year. Regarding the distractions of the notifications, I had not noticed a change either; when I was preparing Ultraman, I disconnected them all, and since then, I have never activated them again. While it is true that now there is no WhatsApp to check, for example, although before you would only use it a little, now there is absolutely nothing. Thus, the number of applications I previously used and the time spent consuming (or using) them have decreased.
Proactivity-productivity: being exposed to zero external inputs, having nothing to react to, and that, friends, is excellent. If I have to make a call, I do it through my phone on Skype (it appears on your screen like my usual phone). If I have to send a tweet, I send it from my PC or tablet, the same on any social network or SMS (currently iMessage, which you can send via Mac or iPad). Now, more than ever, I choose when to create a stimulus and not when to react to one.
Authentic connection: I am more connected to what is happening around me. I had already limited the iPhone to breakfast, lunch, or dinner, whether alone or accompanied, but now it is completely eradicated. This is causing me to pay greater attention to the environment, leading me to reflections, conclusions, ideas, or creative development, in addition to being aware of everything happening around me. I am building better conversations and appreciating insignificantly lovely things.
Work that matters: This week just passed, despite having an average of three work/business meetings a day in different parts of Bogotá, with the respective travel time. I have produced almost twice as much meaningful work as a typical week, where I work without as many alterations to my routine. Significant.
Transportation: Transportation is when travelling fine. It even represents an improvement in every way when it comes to answering emails, writing posts for my blog, preparing conferences or advancing projects, and reviewing the development of our work with clients.
Given everything I have concluded above based on the experiment in just one week, the final results may be more surprising than expected. On the first day without a phone, and with this experiment in mind, I did not plan to spend more than a month without a smartphone; a week later, removing it from my life entirely went through my head.
It’s still too early to decide, so I continued for one more week…
Results week 2 living without a smartphone
Embarking on my second week without a smartphone, I’ve encountered a series of challenges that have tested my adaptability. Yet, I’ve managed to navigate through these hurdles, uncovering new perspectives and unexpected benefits along the way.
Overcoming challenges:
Transportation and mobility: After speaking with Uber, I have enabled the desktop version to use the service. I have also installed it on the iPad for times when I can be connected via WIFI. As a second alternative, I enabled Tapsi (a taxi application here in Colombia).
Sleep and rest: solved. I downloaded Sleep Cycle for my tablet, which has made up for my lack of sleep since I stopped using my smartphone.
Social Media: I am taking advantage of daylight to get better-quality images. This achieves better results, for example, in my daily publications on Instagram. Although it is obviously still not the photographic quality of a smartphone or the camera of an iPhone XS.
New challenges and disadvantages:
Money transfers and other transactions: some banks operate by verifying bank movements through a telephone number. For example, you transfer a considerable amount and immediately receive a text with a validation request using a password that arrives on your phone. The same thing also happens when you purchase or reserve train tickets. Having an active phone number is a problem when dealing with these situations. If it is true, at the moment, it is not a complication because it has not occurred, but without a doubt, it will soon become a complication. I will work with my bank on how to solve this handicap.
Urgency: This past week, I discovered several emergencies from my team of advisors, including new business opportunities, confirmation of conference dates, and last-minute scheduling of some commitments, which they tried to resolve over the phone without success. In these cases, when the intention does not come from me, the immediacy that a smartphone provides you is lost.
Contact and connection: This week, some close people have reiterated that they don’t know anything about me, we are losing contact, and whatever we have in hand is getting cold. Not having that possibility of contact separates you from the people you care about. The rest doesn’t matter too much.
Changes: Without the handling and manoeuvrability of a smartphone, you are more vulnerable to last-minute changes such as cancellations, delays, advances, lateness, etc. This week, we experienced several situations of this type that finally ended with a missed meeting, about three wasted hours, and several apology emails.
Positive findings and advantages:
Disconnection: on the one hand, as I said above, it could be an inconvenience to be out of contact with other people; on the other hand, being disconnected from applications, smartphones and instant messages allows you to focus more on yourself and what you do during the day, talk, play sports, read, listen to music, go to the theatre or have a work meeting. That more profound disconnection generates more tranquillity and calm and not that frenetic pace of what could happen while you are not connected to the world.
Productivity: likely, the situation I live in now is not the most normal, being outside my most natural habitat, my country where the pace of life, customs and habits vary considerably, but in this specific case, I am achieving many more things than before doing the experiment. This is due to the interruptions caused by a smartphone; yes, you may have all your notifications turned off. I have had them for over a year, but tell me that occasionally, you don’t check your smartphone to see what has arrived/happened/written on WhatsApp, email, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. This small or slight interruption deactivates your concentration on what you are doing, harming the final result. Work excellence now comes much easier than before. I continue to be productive when I do workouts; for example, on the spinning bike, I have the iPad; it is even more productive than the smartphone because it is more practical when writing, viewing information and working with applications such as Keynote, Evernote, Dropbox, Basecamp or WordPress, productivity goes up.
Freedom: if something goes wrong, I’m sure that when I know it, I will work to fix it. If anyone is unhappy with me, I will apologize as soon as I find out. If someone needs my help, I will help them as soon as I can contact them. If there is someone who He misses me, supposedly, I’ll know when we connect again. If I have something important to do, I will do it when I remember. If I need to make a commitment, I will do what is necessary to fix it. I’ll find out if the Transformers come to Earth and the Decepticons invade my city. Until then, the moment is more intense and squeezed, without ties, restrictions, or obligations; it is the freedom I have felt this week without a smartphone. I continue to fulfil the responsibilities that make my businesses, projects, ideas and intentions work; I have succeeded in all of them. This type of freedom (or the idea of it) has given me more energy to face each of the daily challenges I happily encounter.
Commuting: I have changed my smartphone for my Mac, which means a boost in anything I previously did with my smartphone.
A new phase is on the horizon. My business partner has left Bogotá, and I’m about to embark on a journey to Lima and then Bolivia. The anticipation of the new challenges and advantages these new contexts will bring is palpable. Stay tuned for the exciting updates in week 3.
Results week 3 living without a smartphone
Solving problems and challenges:
Travel and commuting: I thought that not carrying a smartphone and not being connected when travelling between countries would be a big deal, but, no, I was wrong. It is possible that the tablet sometimes acted as a smartphone; what was certain is that during these trips, I was not as tied to the iPad as I was to the iPhone. As you have more time when you travel, you are more often even more connected to the smartphone unit. Not having it, I used the Mac more, which was favourable; it allowed me to be more productive in the tasks necessary to advance my work. At the same time, this is important; I had a better time appreciating the trip, getting to know the people who sat next to me and enjoying my favourite airport pastime, people-watching.
Independence and freedom: By this, I mean that when I decided to start this experiment of not being connected, perhaps it was easier because I was with my business partner, which meant that I could be less independent in case of energy or need. However, these days, there has been little difference, as far as the technical and technological aspects are concerned, in terms of whether there is a difference in the human factor. At the end of the day, I have learned that a smartphone is not essential. However, the idea of living without it becomes unbearable. Perhaps because of the fear of missing out on something magical, not receiving that call that means a jump to stardom, or being disconnected when the email comes in from that client demanding a five-figure consultancy. A secret: none of this usually happens when you are so connected; that is the result of being connected at the moment, establishing those human relationships that will determine the subsequent outcome. It is a consequence.
Unresolved complications when I was not connected:
Sports: As I said in the first week of the experiment, I am totally addicted to using the Nike Run Club APP when I go out for a run. I haven’t used it all this time, and it frustrates me not being able to. My friends at Nike have done their gamification job exceptionally well since I have been somewhat hooked on it for years. This still needs to be resolved.
Other challenges and disadvantages:
Emergencies: in the same way that happened last week, in emergencies when you are most vulnerable by not using a smartphone, or at least that’s how I see myself. That’s when you turn to your small device to make a call, send a voice message, email, or check something. Especially if this happens outside your home or workplace. This could increase further once I am in my country, where I am no longer connected to WIFI points but to a 4G/5G network. Today, we had several complications due to company bureaucratic procedures. I quickly worked with Skype and its international calls to solve it, from the Mac to the iPad.
On some days, I feel empty when I want to reach someone. I usually reach out through instant messaging, such as WhatsApp or iMessage (although I can still use the latter). Although I am not a very intense user of the telephone or WhatsApp, both tools allowed me to connect with people I now know very little about.
Empowerment and advantages:
Carefree: that is what I feel increasingly; I feel carefree not being connected to the things that before seemed very important and now seen from another angle are not so important. Let me explain: I no longer remember when I got out of a taxi or came home when I felt like I was in my pockets. Something needs to be added; I no longer worry about how many messages I will have the following day. Or if someone has called with a complaint or suggestion about my work. I no longer live thinking about the person who called me with an unknown number. I have never felt a sense of relief until now, mainly because the manipulation of mobile devices is so subtle that you barely realize that you depend on it and not the other way around.
Content: I post less on social platforms now; I have less temptation. I’m measuring publications in the different online spaces and publishing 50% less. However, the publications have had higher quality due to the index of connections, email contacts, comments, and even job proposals. It could be luck. We’ll know over an extended period when I can measure everything more accurately.
Dedication: First to my clients, friends, and family, and then to my community, my ability to interact with all of them has increased almost double. This is paradoxical because I am supposed to be more disconnected than ever. No, now the hallway to all of them is clear, and getting there is faster and more efficient.
Holistic well-being: I don’t know how to explain it to you; it’s the sum of these three weeks of experimentation, but I feel better than when I had a smartphone. I see things more clearly, and my concentration on the tasks and responsibilities that matter to me has increased. It shows that personal and professional relationships are more respectful and attentive.
Productivity: In Rescue Time, I am reaching weeks of 55 hours of work with productivity rates that I only came close to when preparing for the Ultraman Challenge; I’m talking about 83%. I have more — and I think — better ideas. I notice that my reaction and attention capacity are tremendously greater. And I don’t feel like I’m always connected, which is good for my curiosity and creativity. This experiment has shown me the untapped potential that lies beyond the constant digital distractions.
I am eagerly anticipating the next phase of the experiment as I prepare to arrive in Spain in a few days. The exposure to these inputs will be considerably higher, and I am excited to see how it will further shape my perspective on living without a smartphone.
I must confess that I am impatient for it to happen, and what I am learning from this experiment exceeds my expectations. I hope and pray that it delivers something of value and usefulness to you, too. For now, at least upon arriving, I have decided that I will not run to the first Apple store to buy an iPhone (or to another store to buy any other brand).
Results week 4 trying to live without smartphone
Today, I’ve reached a significant milestone in my experiment-32 days of living without a smartphone. I’ve been eagerly looking forward to this week, knowing that once I’m back in my home country, the dynamics of this experiment will change drastically. The challenges would be more pronounced, the frustrations more frequent, and the complexity heightened. In a nutshell, everything was about to get a lot more interesting. I’ve already started experiencing some of these changes since last Sunday when I landed in Spain, and I’m excited to continue this experiment.
After four weeks and close to week five, these are the results of the living without a smartphone experiment:
Challenges and disadvantages of living without a smartphone:
Accessibility: The scarcity of Wi-Fi access points in this country, both public and private, makes connecting to the Internet with your PC or tablet more complex in case you are “on the go” and need to work. Living without a smartphone and therefore requiring a data rate makes it more difficult to access the Internet dynamically and comfortably. And in case you have an emergency like the one I tell you about a few points below, it is more challenging to resolve the situation favourably.
Limited connection, manoeuvrability reduced to almost zero: after a long trip, you arrive home, tired, wanting to finish the work in front of you and go to rest; when you arrive, you realize that your wireless data connection does not work. You try to solve it, but you can’t call the operator because you don’t have a phone; you can’t call from Skype either because you don’t have an Internet connection. The multi-SIM on your iPad is disconnected because you blocked your phone cards when your smartphone was stolen a month ago. So, there you realize that from your home, you find yourself with your hands tied, unable to do anything more than go out to look for a place to start a telephone conversation or Internet connection so that the operator can solve the problem. Not having a smartphone (or telephone, failing that) here considerably reduces the options for comfort and agility in cases of breakdowns and unforeseen events.
Online card payments: this has been bold. Train tickets and most Internet purchases in specific online payment banking systems require authentication through a code that they send to your phone. I have had quite a few problems here, from buying a new hard drive for the laptop to increasing the balance for Skype calls or reserving train tickets. Fortunately, I have had no problems purchasing in some online shops. If possible, I will solve these complications mainly through PayPal payments or bank transfers, which are not so convenient but accessible. I tried to enter the phone number of a close friend, but it was not possible because it was already listed in the bank’s database; I will continue trying other numbers.
Passbook: before, it was convenient and relatively simple; I bought (or they sent me) the plane or train ticket or hotel reservation in passbook format, downloaded it to the “passbook wallet”, and that’s it. You arrived, showed the file with your smartphone and went ahead. Now things get complicated; either you download and print it or send it to your email and change the format to read it from the tablet. Otherwise, you must return to the conventional method of arriving and printing the ticket or doing the queue to get to the counter and check-in.
Pickups: it may or may not get a little complicated when you are called upon to be picked up when you arrive at the airport, at the station or at the hotel or taken from point A to point B by someone hired by your client or the company with which you work. You work at that time. It should be simple when the person has the sign with your name, knows who you are (photos and videos, Google), or even has your email. The phone is optional, but we will see if the smartphone has made us lazy this coming Monday, the first test.
Troubleshooting:
I have had several problems with the telephone operator with whom I am a client. To repair the Internet fault in my residence in Spain, the technician had to be in continuous contact with me to be able to square my vision and fix the fault. Not having a phone has been more complex and has taken longer than usual; my uncle here acted as “Isra García” while he and I exchanged instructions for the technician. Finally, it has been possible, but I admit it can be more rocky for urgent things and with third parties.
Procedures and bureaucracy: here, there are two ways; if you are in the middle of bureaucratic procedures of any kind, the telephone (not email, not WhatsApp) can help you understand the situation before arriving at the place of action and realizing that you must start again. New or return for other documents or authorizations you need. It helps clarify the solution. The email, in these cases, is more abstract.
Advantages:
From last Wednesday to today, adding while maintaining the sales that total in weeks one, two and three, there are few more to tell, except for these two new ones that I detail below:
Meetings: How do you meet someone when you don’t know their location? When you’re not talking to her or him every second about where she is, what colour she’s wearing, whether jeans or chinos, and whether she has long or short hair (in my case, there wouldn’t be a problem with hair at all)? Meeting someone for a meeting or date is more interesting this way. It helps you sharpen your senses, intuition, and memory, which we should stimulate more often.
Detachment and separating myself from the smartphone: this is how I feel about my phone right now. Living without a smartphone, I have neither the need nor the interest to use it; I don’t feel tempted at all; yesterday, I had an iPhone in my hands, and it even felt strange to touch and handle it; it was a very curious and peculiar sensation. The detachment is such that I have even made a duplicate card for my lifelong number. I have associated it with a smartphone that is always at home due to loss or misplacement, and I have given it to my mother so that she can keep it. And she will use it until she returns around. My parents are going to make better use of it than I am. A plan is activated, and not consuming it means losing money; my parents will receive and make calls with my phone number. No WhatsApp or other applications have been installed. Later on, we will meet again and then see what happens.
Better connected: the multi-SIM service that I have contracted will allow me to use the portable Internet connection from the tablet and, perhaps, with luck and audacity, link it to my computer to have an Internet connection “on the go”, at least while you are in the country. It may be possible, but I have yet to try it, but I will try it in the future. If it didn’t work, Godzilla would not wipe out the continent.
For now, I will continue living without a smartphone for another month. Then, I will conclude this experiment and draw the final conclusions from all of it. So far, they are being optimistic since I have learned both the good and the bad; not knowing it, we all know it in theory, but living it in practice, staying on one side or the other and assessing the repercussions in each area. Very satisfied with making the decision to live without a smartphone for another month when I have had it in the palm of my hand, connected, and I have not felt the need to connect to an already too-connected world; I pass a part of my connection to the other, the one with more direct impact, more human, more sensations, more experiences, more alive.
Maybe there are some complications and disadvantages, great, that will allow me to look for new paths.
After four weeks of living without a smartphone, arriving in Spain, and experiencing the feeling of being “isolated” from the world in “your world,” things were not as bad as they seemed. I decided to continue and extend the experiment some more. At that time, I will return to Spain and turn on my iPhone at home.
Without a smartphone, you die.
Is that so?
Nowadays, only the question of whether or not to own a smartphone attracts my attention. I found it very curious when I presented the experiment at Disney Spain or IAB Day Colombia; some faced the audience, some were incredulous, others seemed to throw their hands up in horror, and others shook their heads. When I had the opportunity to talk to some of them at the end of each event, I asked if it was really true that I didn’t have a smartphone; they couldn’t explain how that could be. During this time, I have spoken with many people about the subject, and the majority feeling is this: “I couldn’t; I would die.” Really?
This is not a post to tell you how much I have learned with this experiment; there are already four other posts that explain it in depth; although I feel that every week that passes, I learn something new, I also experience uncomfortable situations derived from not having a smart mobile device. This is a post to give you a little jab in the ass, the kind you like, I think.
It could be a scandal.
Are you ready for 15 days without a smartphone?
This is my little challenge for you, my dear friend.
What would happen if you put away your smartphone for fifteen days? Would all your sins be redeemed, and would you go straight to heaven? Would you connect more with the world around you? Would you enjoy staying still? Would you take more advantage of the moment and the people you decide to invest your time with? Would you improve your ability to pay attention? Would you acquire more human and healthy skills?
Fifteen days, can you? Could you? Would you dare to do it? Yes, fifteen days, not a month, not a year, just fifteen days without any contact with your smartphone and everything that that means, everything that goes in and out. I want you to feel a part of what I have thought in these almost two months.
So that is the challenge that I am giving you, spending fifteen days without a smartphone and writing down advantages and disadvantages and learnings, and now comes the important part, once you have managed to place yourself at the “other extreme” and yes, I hope, you have managed to see your life without being connected instantly, continuously and with greater intensity. Then you will realize it was happening at the other end (the one where you lived “hooked”), and I am not the one who will tell you what happens there; I prefer to let you discover it for yourself.
The goal behind all this
The idea — or the objective — is not that you live or work without a smartphone, no, nor that you are the “cool” guy who now does not use this type of device or that you isolate yourself from the reactive (although the latter is mighty). Still, instead, you may place yourself at the opposite extreme, even for a short period. Place yourself on the opposite side and then find a healthier, more efficient, optimal and robust way to use what the economy puts at your disposal and not the other way around. The latter is something that most of us are not willing to accept, or we are simply so seduced by this new and apparently necessary addiction that we do not see the universe outside of this mini-wonder.
Could you try it? The only thing you can lose is the ability to think for yourself. Don’t worry; it will only be for a while, and then you can go back to not overthinking.
Bonus: After the experiment, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery, going for four months without a phone and four more with only calls and texts. This unique experience transformed my life, allowing me to truly understand what it means to live without a smartphone in an era where it often takes precedence over personal connections.
