I ditched my Smartphone!

A Smartphone detox story

There are a lot of trends going on the internet, ranging from diet to quirky things on tiktok! A recent one i came across was the "Smartphone Detox". It was on my mind from sometime, to ditch my smartphone, but seeing others, and particularly young people who successfully done it, I am willing to give it a shot!

The idea is to just get a dumb phone for the basic needs, like calling and texting, if you could spare some extra money, you can get a KaiOS phone ( Nokia, Jio ) with a few extra things like mail, whatsapp etc! 

First the cons, what could you possibly lose when switching!

Upi payments 

The first problem i came across was losing the ability to scan and do cashless payments. I later figured out a way to do payments, but still that requires me knowing the persons phone number linked to his account, and asking that is another small hiccup.

Spam calls

Smartphones show a bit of a red hue on top for spam callers, i just took it for granted. Because i would just cut the calls if I saw that red part. I thought i was getting many advert calls nowadays then i realized it just that now i have to lift the call to know whether it's a genuine call or a spam

Internet on the Go

Mainly maps, but due to corona restrictions there were no travelling, so i didn't had that trouble. But if i have to travel, i would be bad if i didn't have maps on my phone. Emails, imp browsing i could do with borrowing a friend's phone if I really have to. 

The pros

Not to brag, but now i can feel the time pass. Before when i am sitting somewhere, waiting for an appointment, order to be delivered, or just travelling i would have took out my phone and scrolled through it. Now as i don't have that luxury, i just have to sit there, waiting, and it will give you a rough idea of how long 10 minutes can be. I think i found a new appreciation for my free time. 

In school they used to have periods of 45 mins each, as they were of the opinion that that was the concentration span of the human brain! but no thanks to youtube, internet articles it came down to near around 10 mins. Articles on the internet became shorter, because they realized people can't concentrate for that long on a single topic, and so one can finish reading something and in a few mins jump to another. New apps make this even worse, making content last for even smaller time, a mere 30 -60 secs, and making the brain crave for something more and something new! It's ok, if all this doesn't affect one's daily life. But being a student it can hit you hard. The topics you need to study are longer, the hours you have to invest are more, even the exam lasts 2-3 hrs! Can't lose your concentration in the exam hall!

For entertainment when out of house, i used to just grab my phone! now i just read! Make use of the time which could've been wasted scrolling through feeds!

.................I'll add more pros and cons i come across, and how long i can use a dumb phone in this smartphone age!

Edit: I had to get a smartphone in November, roughly after 8 months. We had some frequent power cuts, and I had some exams lined up, so I needed some apps for practice.

But I am looking forward to again go back to my dumb phone, which worked perfectly, and is still in very good condition. I may again dump my smartphone next year