[thawaway1837]

I was without a phone for a out 3 months.

After the first week of constant anxiety because it constantly felt like I had forgotten something, it was incredible, getting used to not having Google Maps at all times, and drawing up the courage to ask strangers for help with stuff like using their stores phone to call a friend who I was waiting for, for directions, etc. it was absolutely incredible.

I felt like a literal weight had been lifted off my shoulder and felt more independent and free than ever before. I explored a ton more, and had a great time overall. I was also less stressed out and did much better at work due to the significantly reduced distractions.

Of course, I was completely single at the time, which made all of this possible. I’m not sure it would be doable either when in a relationship or married.

Also, a lot of people are commenting about retreats and stuff, which also I have done and is great. However, living your normal life without being hyper connected and your face in a screen at all times (basically going back to the 90s) is a very different and refreshing experience.

[zikzak]

After a smartphone died a while back I went to a flip phone. I used a variety of cobbled together solutions to get SMS messages with calendar reminders, todo items, etc. The only thing I missed was Google Maps and Email. I was fine with both of these. Email should not be "urgent" and Google Maps was barely a consideration in a city I grew up in. But then we decided to sell our house, and instant back and forth using email, web links, etc was important. Going to new locations was happening a lot as we viewed homes. So I got a new smartphone. I really enjoyed the time without one. One trick I adopted after that and still use from time to time is putting my phone in ultra power saving mode. All the functions are still there but it is far less tempting to pick up. Example: no reddit app, so you are stuck using the browser, so you have time to ask yourself if you really need to go on reddit right now.