Despite thinking I was already significantly curbing smartphone use, notifications revealed I used it for up to 4 hrs/day. I couldn’t believe it! I decided to go a month with no smartphone for a 2022 NY Resolution. We were at home deep in the Costa Rica jungle and I thought it would be easier with natural distraction! I wanted to see what life in 2022 is like without a cell phone since we’ve become conditioned to use one so frequently.
The first few days with no smartphone after being a daily cell phone user for over a decade were by far the most difficult. “What have I done”? I thought on day one when I wanted to snap a photo. “How will I ever do this”? on day two and feeling like I was severely “missing” something on day three and so forth until about 5 days into the experiment when I just sort of accepted that I no longer had a smartphone. I didn’t shun technology completely, just the little handheld device with the ability to make landline calls. Full disclosure, I still accessed emails and messages through laptops or browsed Twitter on a tablet before bed.
Advantages
- Cell phone battery battle, no more!
- No Calls, No one can ring you!
- More free time in general
- Less time spent mindlessly browsing
- Appreciating moments more in person instead of thinking about capturing them on a phone
Disadvantages
- Unable to complete 2 Step verification locked me out of credit card, grocery and government sites
- Not being able to contact people by phone or make calls
- Unable to check crypto balances or update social media stories as easily
- Missing a photographic moment or video opportunity
What happened when I used smartphone again?
After successfully avoiding a smartphone for one month in 2022 I was the most shocked by my body’s reaction to the device when I first took a look at it again after 31 days. My eyes could not focus, it was so overwhelmingly bright. My eyes were shaking and darting all over. While I was quick to re-adapt to smartphone I wonder if this phenomena could turn off a great number of elderly first time users who perhaps show disinterest in tablets and smart phones. We have become so accustomed to the devices to realize how stimulating they truly are!
Watch the video and try the experiment yourself to see if you can go without a smartphone for a while!
