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Like many others, I find myself in the weird middle of wanting (needing) some of the conveniences of modern tech, but not liking its pervasive domination over my life. Smartphones in particular are a source of need but don't want tension.
I've tried a lot of approaches to dealing with this and am now 24 hours into the latest try:
I got a used Apple Watch (starts at $130) with cellular capabilities. Added it to my mobile plan for an extra $9 a month.
Found a little case for the watch on Etsy for really cheap.
And my smartphone now basically stays at home, plugged in, more or less untouched.
When I go out, I carry around the "watch phone." I can text, call, listen to music and podcasts. Even check the weather, find directions, record a voice memo. I paid for coffee and a lemon blueberry glazed pastry using the watch phone today.
I don't wear the watch on my wrist, where it can distract and annoy. It stays in my pocket. And while I do need the phone for some things, like mobile banking, so far nothing there's nothing so urgent that it can't wait a couple hours until I get back to it.
2d ago
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Honestly so smart! On my flip phone browsing the internet is pretty easy and the weather app I feel is actually more accurate than on my old iPhones for my area, but the one thing I wish was easier was maps/directions. Apple Pay with the watch set up is also convenient, but honestly that was never really a big thing for me anyway.
2d ago
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i have been on a journey to untangle my tasks from my iPhone.
i'd be out in the world someplace, pull out my phone for something as menial as checking the time, or as well intentioned as capturing the moment in a pic, and immediately get sucked into texts and instagram™️ and all the virtual things happening in this tiny lil demon light box.
the goal: pull my phone out of my bag ONLY for phone things. that's texting, calling, and apps that can't be replaced
the solutions so far:
🕰️ i started with a watch (shoutout Casio) and i wear it every day. once I broke the habit of checking my phone for the time, I felt legitimately freed from something Major
📷 I bought a small digital camera to leave in my bag. the pics look better and I don’t get distracted by the virtual world when I'm trying to capture something in the now
📚 I bought a kindle. It fits in my jacket pocket (literally) and gives me something to do when I'm on the train or waiting for an appointment that isn't scrolling
I just realized so much of the time I spent on my phone was not intentional. It was a thing I was doing in between Other intentional moments. my screen time is still several hours a day (don’t get me wrong) but I think my brain has healed at least 3%.
welcoming other ideas as well💡
Sep 24, 2024
I've been rocking the flip phone since March - went through a few different models till I landed on this utilitarian workhorse; the Sonim XP3800. This thing feels like it can stop a bullet. The battery lasts for 3 days. Service is 5 bucks a month.
remixed my brain:
-got lost a few times (feels amazing + found my way back)
-bought an iPod mini (eBay, refurb 256gb)
-forgot about 1 million people that I didn't need to remember
-missed brat summer entirely (found out in late September, loved the album)
-learned how to wait and do nothing
-minimized unnecessary / instantaneous communication
-started taking photos with real cameras again
-started reading again
-stopped impulsively buying instagram shirts
-phone can be turned off during the charging cycle (not possible with iPhone)
-regained control over the flow of information into my brain
-restored my relationship with the computer as an appliance bound to one physical location
Am I a better person for this? Probably not. Is this all of this a bit loaded and pretentious and boomer esque? Definitely. But it feels good to know that I have the freedom to say no to smart phone tech that has been foisted on us as an essential to living for the sake of convenience - convenience which has a cost. I could go on and on and on about this but I would highly recommend that everyone gives this a shot for while even if it's just an experiment. You will be surprised by how you feel after a few weeks.
Dec 11, 2024
I’ve converted to a flip phone and it’s honestly so fun lol. I think the way we have access to everything, and everyone, in milliseconds is rotting our brains and making us such an entitled society; entitled to other people’s time and energy on demand, their lives, business, etc. but I also think the way we get sucked in with links from app to app, ads, videos, and doomscrolling, everything is designed to be addictive and it leads (at least for me) to less productivity and more procrastination. I think having to work just a little harder, even to do something as simple as research something, can be good for us.
So what I’ve done is essentially converted my iPhone to a wifi connected iPod touch like from the old days. I’ve left on certain apps like FaceTime, banking apps, Spotify, kindle app, I kept this one to use occasionally and all my saved recipes on my phone of course, etc. but I leave it in my room and just use it in the morning or before bed for reading or checking emails, music for working out, stuff like that, and leave it at home for everything else.
Screen time of course is way down which is nice, it’s also really nice to not feel like I constantly need to be checking something, opening a message on an app, etc. I also have found so far and think it will continue to help me not spend so much money impulsively on things I don’t actually need.
Aside from all of the benefits, I think in general I just find it funny and all of my friends think it’s hilarious lol. I’ll have to figure out what I’ll do for airports, maybe bring the old iPhone with me, connect to airport wifi, scan boarding passes with it. I’ll figure that out when I get there.
Feb 26, 2025
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