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Getting rid of my smartphone was without a doubt the most positive thing I ever did for myself. I'm sure some people have the self-control to use it sparingly.
by perlgod 6y ago
Getting rid of my smartphone was without a doubt the most positive thing I ever did for myself.
I'm sure some people have the self-control to use it sparingly. But for me, not having to constantly fight the urge to check my always-connected magic pocket internet portal has freed up a huge amount of my mental willpower, which I can now redirect to other more important things.
Now that everything is closed, I don't even miss having the convenience of Uber/Google Maps. Additionally, without social media, I remain blissfully unaware of whatever corona hysteria or political drama is consuming the minds of my peers.
These devices have a veritable legion of engineers working to make the smartphone experience as addictive as possible. For some people, the only winning move it not to play.
- geocrasher 6y agoI get the same thing by A) not watching the news B) turning off notifications for almost all apps C) the real magic key to keeping control of your smart phone, instead of letting it control you is <buzz> <buzz> hang on Hello? Look I'm right in the middle of something I'll... yeah. I know I ... I KNOW. Look, I gotta go. Anyway, as I was saying... uh... well anyway. Phones suck.
- r00fus 6y agoI am very brutal in ignoring calls and sending SMS text replies to known IDs that might have something urgent. I know the prefix is for all of my key numbers like kids schools, hospitals and simply don’t pick up if the prefix is not right.
- DiffEq 6y agoI have had my office phone on Do Not Disturb for 5 years and my cell phone has all notifications turned off and the ringer is set to off. The only time i turn it on is if I am expecting a call - which is hardly ever. Same with my PC - no notifications...it helps a great deal to keep the tool a tool instead of letting it become your master.
- gadabout 6y agoCulling down notifications was a life-changing action for me. Like you, I turned off almost all notifications. My only notifications were texts/calls from people that depended upon me (my wife, my parents, my best friends). Interacting with apps and my phone in general after that became something either I chose or chose not to do. My phone was no longer an algorithm or other person controlling me, but instead a useful tool. This is obviously a luxury that I am able to work and live like this, but I would encourage everyone to turn off any notifications they can and see how they feel after a week or month like that, then revisit and turn off more if possible. I would also say that some form of control is still required. Whether that is self-control, technological control, or control via absence. I struggled a lot with whether I should delete Reddit from my phone to make sure I don't end up in an abyss of lost time. Eventually I settled on moving it a ridiculous number of empty screens over by itself in an unusual spot. If I want to open Reddit now, it is a very deliberate action that gives me time to ask myself "you sure?" but also doesn't take away that option of my life.
- nottorp 6y ago> This is obviously a luxury that I am able to work and live like this, but I would encourage everyone to turn off any notifications they can and see how they feel after a week or month like that, then revisit and turn off more if possible. Why is it a luxury?
- gadabout 6y agoI mean, my boss - who is the central hub for a lot of communication - can not live his life this way unless he finds a new job. Obviously that is a choice he has made but either way, I count myself lucky.
- nottorp 6y agoBut his job is ... to communicate? Even then he could tone it down outside business hours. Most HNers' job is to write code :)
- thelean12 6y ago...What? In what situation does this happen? If I'm busy then I'll let it go to voicemail and call back.
- burkaman 6y agoWhy would you answer if you can't talk? That seems a lot more rude to me than not picking up and calling back when you have time.
- waterhouse 6y agoIt gives the other person a chance to tell you if there is an emergency / tell you the urgency of their request, and also lets them know that you know they want to talk to you.
- bargl 6y agoI have a rule with everyone who could have an emergency, 3 calls in a row. I know it can be burdensome, but I don't answer in an emergency but if I ever see I missed 3 calls then I know it was an emergency.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- waterhouse 6y agoThat works too. Both Apple and Android have built-in support for do-not-disturb policies that will let someone through if they call twice in a row (defined as "within 3 minutes" on Apple and "within 15 minutes" on Android, it seems).
- tomjen3 6y agoI paid way too much for it, but I have the oneplus 7pro, and it has a slider on the side so I can set it on silent with a single flick of my thumb. In addition to that I have it on DND during the workday and at night.
- stevensawtelle 6y agoCan you talk more to the practicalities of getting rid of a smartphone? Have you seriously found that the loss of the conveniences they bring haven't been that burdensome? I am really intrigued by the idea but find it almost inconceivable to work for me (which might speak to an addiction, so I feel compelled to understand this further)
- apetresc 6y agoSpecifically what functionality do you feel is so critical? The only thing I really struggled with at first was: - 2FA codes, but a self-hosted Bitwarden and a Yubikey solved that well enough - Maps. This is a legitimate sacrifice, especially for someone with as poor a sense of direction as I have. But between the mapping application in my car and looking things up before I leave somewhere on my laptop, it's not been a huge problem.
- codr7 6y agoI got a simple CAT-model that runs KaiOS. It sort of supports Maps, but is inconvenient enough to kill the temptation to use it for everything. As an added bonus, it's water proof, doesn't crack when dropped and the battery lasts a week.
- SamBam 6y agoFor me: Maps and WhatsApp. I could probably ditch Maps (by using my spouse's when needed, not sure if that counts...), but I have family abroad and other family here), and kid photos to send etc etc. It's true I could do most of that via email, but the rest of the family is on WhatsApp and I would genuinely feel more disconnected from them then I already do.
- beefield 6y agoYou can install whatsapp on a virtual android machine on your desktop/laptop. I did that for a while and used a dumb phone (new nokia 8110) as my main phone and hotspot for a while. I kind of enjoyed it, but a couple of things made me give up for now.: First, abysmally bad battery life when using it as a hotspot (and no auto wifi disable when no devices connected). Second, laughably slow charging. Like, not even net charging when using lots of data via wifi hotspot and even in best case something like 4 hours to charge from empty to full. I am still keen to buy a dumb phone that fixes these.
- kemonocode 6y agoBest thing I've done this year is to simply get a feature phone. They're cheap, they're hardy, and they're mostly free from distractions to give you. This one I have does have an Internet browser and some kind of Facebook functionality but the experience is so incredibly miserable, it acts as a very effective deterrent.
- wtetzner 6y agoI wonder how much benefit people would get by just putting their phone in airplane mode for long chunks of time.
- geocrasher 6y agoMy favorite part of going camping is unplugging for a couple of days at a time.
- Jtsummers 6y agoI used to take week long trips to Maine with my dad to learn to make furniture. Those were some of the most relaxing and restorative weeks I've ever experienced. 8+ hours of physical work, go home and shower. Then walk around the downtown or go hiking (skip the shower in that case). Eat out or cook dinner, read a book. Never touched a computer, and minimally used my phone (more on the last trip because I'd just started the relationship which is now a marriage). And I only used the phone for communicating with specific individuals (close friends, family) not mindless web browsing and games.
- nicbou 6y agoThen you return and there's an underwhelming number of notifications. You're caught up in about the same amount of time as if you left for an hour.
- ChrisCinelli 6y agoI started doing it. Or at least turning off data so I am still reachable.
- umvi 6y agoI recently bought a Jelly 2 on kickstarter, here's to hoping it will have the same effect as what you describe.
- richajak 6y agoI recently realized that I slowly lost my ability to do simple calculations that was used to be easy, eg total bill of grocery shopping before going to the cashier. I put the blame to the calculator app on my phone
- foxdev 6y agoI could never do math in my head like this (with reasonable speed and accuracy), so I didn't lose anything. I put an estimated cost by each item on the grocery list, total it at the bottom, and note whether the real prices are higher or lower than the estimate as I get things. It's never happened, but I can at least know if the register total is at odds with expectations.
- shados 6y agoThe urge to use it right before bed (and at the same time wrecking your sleep quality, and then messing with your next day) is huge too.
- fullstop 6y agoI don't have a problem with this, at all. With that being said, my phone (OnePlus 7T) has a "Zen Mode" which locks you out of the phone for a set period of time. You can make and receive phone calls, and take photos, but that is it. I don't use it, as I am not a heavy phone user, but I can see where it may be helpful for some people.
- Accacin 6y agoI also did this, although only for a while. I first removed all notifications and apps from my phone (although I do not use social media anyway), and eventually went to some cheap flip phone. However, once I had to go rescue my wife when she locked her keys in the car.. And it took me 2.5 hours when it should have taken 1 hour because I got lost... I've taken to using my smart phone but leaving it at home as much as I can, I only take it out if I'm going out for a long period of time now and I'll take my dumb phone so my wife can contact me if possible.
- reificator 6y agoLooking at these comments I'm realizing I might be an outlier. If I'm traveling to an area I've never/rarely been before, I'll use turn by turn navigation the first few times. But once I'm familiar with the area I just look up the specific place for the nearest cross streets before I leave. I kind of assumed that's how everyone navigated, minus taxi/delivery/other professional drivers who probably use GPS more.
- tgb 6y agoThis is what I do if I'm walking, but I mechanically follow the GPS if it's on and I'm driving. Means I have no clue where things are unless they're in walking distance.
- Aerroon 6y agoI'm the same. I look at a map beforehand and try getting there on my own. If I can't then I can always use some navigation assist later.
- reificator 6y agoI'm not ashamed to say I've gotten lost doing this occasionally and either turned on directions or just double checked the GPS. But it's fairly infrequent and it doesn't happen twice in the same place.
- wool_gather 6y agoHeck, sometimes it can be fun to get a little lost. "Oh, _that's_ where $FOO is!", as you accidentally go by it. Or "That looks like a cool $BAR, I'll have to come back and check it out"
- waihtis 6y agoThis is definitely part of the fun. I sometimes take new routes to places I’ve visited before without particularly checking beforehand if road XYZ actually connects to the intended destination (it’s enough if it leads to it’s general direction) - once in a while you end up in a cul-de-sac, but mostly you end up with your described situation
- pier25 6y agoMy strategy is to have a crappy smartphone.
- kilroy123 6y agoIf you're using an iOS device, and now on iOS 14. I highly recommend putting the screen time widget front and center so you can see just how much time you're spending on your phone. Terrifying to watch.
- siengu 6y agoI'm using iOS Content & Privacy Restrictions to dumb down my Iphone SE as much as possible while retaining the needed functionality (Calculator, Camera, Notes, Calendar, Clock, Phone and SMS). I uninstall other apps that can be removed. Safari can be disabled using Content restrictions. I install Here Maps, download offline maps for the nearby regions for when I need navigation. Data & WIFI are always off. The phone is not signed in the app store. Content & Privacy Restrictions are protected by a pin code that I write down and store in a relatively hard to reach place. This way I have a relatively modern phone that is not a distracting toy. I could get a dumb phone (I used one up to somewhere in 2018), but currently there is no dumb phone that would take some half decent photos and provide a possibility to navigate offline.
- duggable 6y agoGah, I need to do this so bad. Lately I've admitted to myself that I'm truly addicted to my phone. I go through phases of blocking safari, deleting all my non-essential apps, etc, but they always find a way to slowly creep back into my life ("5 minutes of reddit won't hurt while my kids are playing on their own...."). I'm realizing that I am just one of those people who can't handle even having it as an option. Thanks for inspiring me to take the next step.
- jacobmoe 6y agoSomething I realized recently is that I'm not addicted to social media or any apps in particular, but I am addicted to my phone. I managed to give up pretty much all social media, save for an occasional peek at reddit and this site, but still take out my phone about as often as I did before. Mostly I just check the news for the umpteenth time in a day. My current plan is to keep using my phone, but switch to using it for more productive things. For example, I started using Anki for memorization and I use a bunch of music theory/sight-reading apps.
- duggable 6y agoSimilar realization here. Just can't get myself off the damn thing - doesn't seem to matter what I'm using it for. Hopefully the more productive route works for you!
- sjy 6y agoI have an entrenched Anki habit – I picked it up while studying for an exam, and now it says I’ve been using it for an average of 17 minutes a day for 2 years. It’s a great tool and I recommend it. But I don’t think it helps to fix the phone addiction problem. Getting to an average of 17 minutes was hard work that required a lot of willpower. I’m sure most people with a phone addiction problem are spending much more than 17 minutes a day on unproductive scrolling.
- yipbub 6y agoWhat's your recommended Anki app?
- frereubu 6y agoI have two things which stop me, and it's not "muh gps"! I'd be interested in how people dealt with a situation like mine: 1. I have a Mac, and carefully organised contacts. How do I sync them to a Nokia that has 4G tethering (so I can work on my train-based commute) without going through Google? 2. How do you deal with music? I have AirPods and Spotify, which I absolutely love to have with me while walking around. (I'm from the Walkman generation, and the idea of walking around with music in my ears is still magical, particuarly with wireless earbuds). There's a part of me which thinks about a Nokia banana phone for calls / 4G tethering combined with an iPod Touch, but I don't really want two devices.
- threentaway 6y ago1. NextCloud supports Calendar and Contacts sync if you are comfortable going down that route. 2. They're just bluetooth ear buds, they work with every phone that supports bluetooth.
- jethro_tell 6y agoHow does next cloud sync to a dumb phone? The question is where do you store the music since it's a dumb phone
- threentaway 6y agoCron job to copy both to a microSD card?
- jethro_tell 6y agoReminds me of my old casio watch that synced calendar reminders via a sweet dock. Physical actions to do syncing and remembering every time I left my desk wasn't that long ago.
- sjy 6y agoYou can load and play audio files on a feature phone. Many people did this before iPhones and streaming services existed.
- leptons 6y agoThe smartphone is an incredible tool to have, but it completely pisses me off any time I have to pay attention to it. I hate any message that comes in through it, any notification from any app (I have all notifications turned off except the Samasung notifications which I'm locked-out of disabling - fuck you Samsung Account). The smartphone is only a tool for me, for maps when I'm out, for search data, and accessing my files at home on rare occasions while I'm away from home (via VPN). It's my mobile command center. But when I'm at home - fuck off phone. I'm also in the tiny minority of people who aren't on zuckface, or other popular social media apps. So maybe I just naturally care less about my phone. I've never had a problem ignoring it. I get very few phone calls, almost none, and since COVID happened, I've reduced my data plan to the bare minimum because I just don't really need it anymore working at home. But used as a tool and not entertainment, the smartphone is absolutely invaluable.
- dmje 6y agoMe too. https://variousbits.net/2018/05/11/im-happier-without-a-smartphone/ https://variousbits.net/2018/05/11/im-happier-without-a-smar...
- nottorp 6y agoJust turn off all notifications :) In time you'll stop checking constantly.