I’m guessing I’m among a majority when I admit my smartphone goes where I go. Even just to different rooms in the house.
So when I decided to go smartphone-free for five days it turned out to be a bigger challenge than I anticipated.
I rely on it for everything from shopping and snaps to banking and boredom-busting.
But I lose hours a day mindlessly scrolling, whether through social media, news or shopping apps.
Three hours 20 minutes a day to be precise, according to my screen time from the previous week. Apparently that’s on par with the average British adult.
‘Dumbphone’ rules for my smartphone-free week
So for five days I turned my smartphone into a ‘dumbphone’. I switched off bluetooth and notifications to reduce temptation to pick it up.
I restricted my use to calls, texts, alarms, calendar and calculator – the functions before mobiles became smart.
I’m a Generation Xer who got her first mobile – what we now call a dumbphone – around age 20. Surely this wouldn’t be too difficult?
Here’s how my smartphone-free week went.
Monday
My alarm goes off I press snooze on my phone and notice there’s not the usual list of notifications demanding my attention.
Normally I’d check the weather app to see what clothes to wear and look at the news.
Instead I turn over for a cuddle and drop off to sleep for a few more minutes.
When the alarm goes again I open a news app and realise my error when a headline flashes up. My first fail just minutes in! How automatic a response that has become!
I allow myself a brief rule break for the greater good and set a stop sign picture as my wallpaper to remind myself.
Having not wasted 20 minutes scrolling I have more time than normal to get ready.
Over breakfast I read an article from The Courier’s Saturday magazine instead of checking emails.
I wait until I’m logged on to my work laptop to check my personal emails. But it’s been so long since I needed to use the password I have no idea what it is. Reset it is.
I’ve got an interview to do for an article I’m working on. It’s likely to be a longer one than my shorthand could cope with. But I won’t be able to record it on the app I usually use so I dig out my old dictaphone. Thankfully, it still works. But listening back later the sound quality is terrible.
After dinner out for husband Keith’s birthday I deliberately leave my phone in my handbag.
As we watch television and chat I feel the occasional compulsion to pick it up from the arm of the sofa where it would normally rest. Not for any particular reason either. This must be similar to the habit smokers or vapers feel.
But there’s a sense of ease without the repeated ping or vibration of notifications.
Tuesday
I need to let my son Alex’s school know he’ll be late in as he has a dental appointment. I’d usually email or use the school app to do this but eventually find a text number.
On the way home I try to save time by making a phone call from the car, forgetting I’ve disabled bluetooth. Grr!
At lunchtime I head out for a run with my dog Ivy. Considering my Garmin watch an extension of my phone, I’ve disconnected it. I guess how far we go. Have you even run if it’s not on Strava? (IYKYK).
I decide to take a snap of us for this piece and have to lug an actual camera with me. It’s been gathering dust for 10 years. There’s no selfie mode so it takes a few attempts to get us in frame.
Wednesday
It’s pay day, hurrah! I’ve got some banking to do and, of course, can’t use the app which opens with facial recognition. After resetting my forgotten password I get into the desktop site. It’s not changed since I last used it several years ago and it’s really clunky. My bank’s IT guys clearly prioritise the app experience.
I’m in the office today and often while away my lunchbreak scrolling. Today I head out for a stroll in Dundee city centre and enjoy a bit of people-watching.
The compulsion to pick up my phone is reducing. I’m appreciating more and more the notification silence.
Thursday
I notice I’m drifting off between morning alarm snoozes when I’d normally be checking the weather or reading the news. That last bit of sleep before you absolutely have to get up feels the most precious.
Normally I get my shopping delivered on a Thursday evening. Ordered on an app, of course. I couldn’t face another forgotten password debacle so brave the supermarket IRL. I forgot how uncontrollable full trolleys are. But I come home with a few different purchases from my normal ‘favourites’.
Friday
The compulsion to pick up my phone has definitely waned and I’m less aware of it.
In fact, when I go out for a lunchtime dog walk I forget to take it with me. Even though we survived going out with mobile phones before pre-1990s, we worry about our safety now without one. What if we fall? If we get lost? What if the car breaks down?
I don’t feel like I’ve missed out on anything the last few days. It doesn’t matter that I’ve not kept up with the news, or don’t know where acquaintances on Facebook have holidayed.
I’ve probably saved a few quid by staying off Vinted (I’m addicted). I’ve read more, had conversations I might not otherwise have had. When I’ve had time to myself, I’ve enjoyed just being.
Lessons from my smartphone-free week
On Saturday morning, I must confess I’m glad to have my smartphone back. Oh, the convenience!
My smartphone-free week has been a real eyeopener to how reliant we have become on our pocket computers. And also how useful they are in so many ways.
We take for granted the instant access to information, entertainment, communication, practical tools.
But I’ve learned a few lessons and have made a few changes.
Over the five days I’ve repurposed almost 17 hours I would have been staring at, listening to or otherwise interacting with my smartphone.
So I am making a conscious effort to leave it out of arm’s reach. I am resisting the urge to pick it up every time a question springs to mind.
I want to be more engaged with the people around me.
I’ve left notifications switched off.
My smartphone will respond to my demands not the other way about.
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