I stopped using my smartphone for a month. (And maybe you should too.)

This week we're going to cover my experience without a phone for a month.

The setup:

At the end of January, I had some friends over and I asked them a question, jokingly at first; “Would you stop using your phone for a month if I did too?”. And much to my surprise one of them said yes.

So, two days later, we bought two dumb phones from best buy, and my everyday carry for a month went from this:

To this:

Our woefully under-featured friend on the left is the Nokia 225 4g. Able to make calls and texts.

I ended up replacing my notes app with a physical notebook and pencil, they lived in my back pocket the whole month, serving as my reminder and calendar apps, and my replacement for googling every question I had. I would write down questions and look them up when I got home.

The casio F-91W remains untouched, as does the leather wallet I’ve had since I was 10.

The earbuds came with the phone, and were useful when making long calls so I didn’t have to hold the phone to my ear the whole time.

The Good:

• More enjoyment: Without the constant need to check my phone, I found that I was able to enjoy experiences more, to be more in the moment. I didn’t have to always search for the best picture to take, or what place would look best posted on instagram. I just had to enjoy what was happening, while it happened.

• More connected: Now I know this one sounds like an oxymoron. But it’s true. When you don’t text people constantly, and when social media isn’t constantly updating you about their lives, the conversations you do have feel more genuine. More real in the sense that you both have to make the time to talk to each other, not just fit each other in the in-between times of your schedule, running from home to work to the store.

• More social: This was one I honestly wasn’t expecting, but I guess, in retrospect it makes sense. Without the ability to video call with people, and the horrible texting experience on the phone, I would find myself calling friends and asking if they wanted to head over to the park or maybe catch a movie at my place.

I also found myself talking to random people more, as I didn’t have something to distract me while I was waiting in line or sitting in classes.

• Freetime: The freetime that I used to spend on my phone, was now spent doing more productive activities, like reading, walking, and finishing up work. I was a lot less stressed about deadlines and due dates because I didn’t have the constant distraction of a phone pulling me away from my responsibilities.

The “bad”:

• Music: As there were no streaming services on this little phone, I was forced to find other mediums to enjoy music, such as vinyl and the radio. And honestly this isn’t a problem if you already have a collection of physical media.

• Navigation: I thought this was going to be a problem, but I really didn’t go anywhere I didn’t already know, and even If I did, I would just look up the directions before hand.

• Texting: I think this one is device specific, but the texting experience on my Nokia was superbly horrible. The messages were sent out of order, the time stamps made no sense, and I had to download every MMS message individually. This was most definitely the worst part of the whole experience

• Camera: This one wasn’t missed that much, becuase I rarely take photos. but as I was saying earlier, the lack of a good camera did help me to live more in the moment.

So, would I do this again? Totally. The only reason I’m not still using it is because it doesn’t support my usually carrier (I got a prepaid sim for 30 days.). I encourage you all to do the same, its a really freeing experience.

I hope you enjoyed this one, I know its different than usually, but I wanted to share my experience.

Stay curious,

-J.P.