Two months with a dumbphone

an honest review

Dear reader,

At some point in the beginning of this experiment, I committed myself to having my dumbphone for 90 days minimum. I figured this would give me enough time to get used to what it’s actually like to have a dumb phone. And honestly, in my humble opinion, any experiment that lasts 30 days or less is really just a taste test.

So, I’m (over) 2 months into the experiment and I figured, what better time than now to do a review?

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Firstly, here’s my initial post about why I hopped on the dumb phone train:

Also, here are two pieces of content that have helped me in this journey:

• Your phone is why you don't feel sexy by

  Catherine Shannon

• 1 month using a flip phone - is it realistic in 2024? by

  Charlie Rewilding

I won’t mince my words: having a dumb phone is hard. After years of being used to a certain flavor of convenience, it’s no surprise that the adjustment to something simpler is full of peaks and valleys, highs and lows.

I have so much respect for people who have had their dumbphones for years and years and years, who have stuck with it and remained true to their moral center / values / low screen time / not giving a fuck about modern conveniences / the list goes on.

All of that said, though, I feel that I’ve adjusted genuinely well to having a dumb phone. I enjoy it, I like being somewhat disconnected, I like having to carve out intentional time to be on social media instead of having access to mindlessly scrolling, and the simplicity works extremely well for my brain & attention & presence.

Some additional thoughts:

🌀 inconvenience

A consideration I had at the beginning of this experiment was whether or not I would feel inconvenienced by having a dumb phone. The answer is: sort of.

For the basics—texting and calling—there hasn’t been much of a change (albeit now I am far more prone to typos). Also, the Light phone still has tools that make daily life convenient: an alarm clock, calculator, hotspot, calendar, timer, music, and podcasts. (There's also GPS, though it’s much better for walking directions than for driving.)

That said, receiving photos is tricky, and voice memos are completely off the table. I didn’t realize how much I valued these forms of communication until I didn't have the option to utilize them. In order to send photos or voice memos, I have to use WhatsApp—which is fine, except that it requires me to take my iPhone around, which I feel resistant to.

Also, I have no internet access on the Light phone, so I can’t easily Google or research things like when coffee shops close or random miscellaneous curiosities that pop up throughout the day. This really hasn’t bothered me so far — I actually appreciate being able to sit in not knowing instead of always having access to Googling something the moment I think about it — but I figured it was worth mentioning here.

⚔️ double devices

This brings me to my next point: carrying around two devices instead of one. It’s really not that big of a deal, except for the fact that I don’t necessarily want multiple screens on me at all times.

I really only carry around the iPhone if I need access to driving directions, Whatsapp (I’m in a group chat for work on there), or the camera. But I guess sometimes I feel mildly frustrated about taking along two devices when my desire in the first place was to have fewer screens/screen time.

💌 fomo

With a dumb phone, there is really no way around fomo. Generally, I’m not someone who struggles with fomo — I’m more of a joy of missing out kinda gal anyway.

However, for anyone wanting to try a dumb phone, this should certainly be a consideration. It’s just true that I don’t see everything I used to, be it Instagram posts or friends sending me photos or life updates via voice memos.

It’s up to me to contend with whether or not I’m okay with that, or if it’s actually really important for me to see and receive some of that communication. I haven’t quite figured this one out yet.

🤳🏽 is it the iPhone or is it social media?

Honestly, I think the real villain is social media. Obviously, I still have my iPhone to use Maps and occasionally Spotify, WhatsApp, etc. And I have noticed that my iPhone isn’t really…. all that interesting.

Since I removed social media apps from the home screen, I’m not drawn to it in the same way. It doesn’t take up my time or keep me out of the present moment. And because it’s on grayscale, it’s just… boring.

So, I’m inclined to think that my iPhone on its own, without the bells and whistles, isn’t really the problem. It’s the incessant noise of social media that I struggled with in the first place.

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Ultimately, do I think you need to get rid of your iPhone to heal your attention span? No. But it certainly helps!

My attention span has a greater capacity now than it did two months ago, and I feel more comfortable being present or sitting alone without the urge to scroll.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was curious about what it might feel like to return to using an iPhone. Can I apply the screen boundaries and distance I’ve learned with my Light phone to an iPhone? Is deleting social media and keeping the iPhone in grayscale enough? Or is the iPhone just too stimulating to have the same boundaries around usage?

Perhaps that will be the next experiment.

<3
Christie