Dumb phone. Smarter You!
With the amount of digital distractions around us, it is completely understandable to feel like you need a break from it all.
Most people I know are very active on either one of Twitter(X) or Instagram. And people who say they are on a break from social media (including myself sometimes) go ahead and spend hours on Youtube everyday, sometimes watching videos about digital minimalism 😕.
Smartphones offer digital wellbeing features which work to some extent but have you considered disconnecting yourself from the network for a bit? The motivation could be a better headspace, focus, productive use of time or a mix of all but recently I felt like I needed a break from my phone.
Have you considered disconnecting yourself from the network for a bit?
I love my S24 Ultra, having a set of kickass camera all the time is great, access to 100s of apps, staying in touch with people and Google search by our side is helpful. But it is also a major distraction.
Do I need a 100x zoom camera, 100+ apps and the power to receive texts from 100s of contacts in my pocket ALL THE TIME?
Sometimes you could just go out for a walk without the urge of taking an Instagram ready picture of every cat around the corner. Or not scrolling through Twitter while you’re in a morning business meeting on the 🚽. Or maybe just having a conversation with friends while having coffee instead of also looking up everything you talk about on Google or Amazon in that moment.
What can we do?
The solution is not that simple or easy. I realised that based on my lifestyle I must have access to a few things i.e. Calls, Music, Maps, Payments, a basic Camera and a way to talk to family.
I liked using an LTE smartwatch, so when I am on walks I can leave my phone at home and still get calls but being stuck to one watch in terms of design and another gadget to charge everyday is boring.
Surprisingly there are dumb phones which support UPI payments but they lack the other important features. Also, what if I need access to Digilocker or Google Drive to provide some documents, not having that is a little worrying.
The Dumb Smart phone!
Till date this has been my favourite solution and an escape out of the world of digital distractions.
I sourced a used Pixel 6a from a friend which was not in use, uninstalled everything except the stock apps like clock, calendar, maps and phone.
Then I installed the must haves i.e. Youtube music, Google Pay and Telegram. I did install Whatsapp but turned off all notification so I check it when I have time and not be distracted by it.
I disabled the Google Search, Play Store and Chrome apps (This proved to be very important). I don’t want the ability to access the entire internet all the time. In an emergency I can enable it and access but otherwise it’s out of reach.
I’ve been using this setup for about a week now and would document my experience in the next part, spoiler alert — I am enjoying it!
~ Love All
