I want to give up my smartphone but how the hell do I navigate modern life without it?

[TheWoozer]

I'm addicted and I'm sick of it.

I removed tiktok, I sit watching Facebook. And YouTube.

Im ignoring my kids to just scroll bollocks.

Am thinking of getting a basic £30 phone to stay contactable during the day.

But everything is online now. Accounts, banking, communication, WhatsApp etc.

Is it possible?

I went to a gig a couple of weeks ago. I had originally chosen print at home tickets but because the venue changed last minute the company re-issued them as mobile only. It really annoyed me. It meant I had to download the app onto my phone, and actually I sometimes don't even take my phone to gigs with me (have a back up simple one for emergencies)

I have an addictive personality as well and I have deactivated all my social media this month because it was having a negative impact on my mental health.
I know lots of people love the ease of doing it all on your smartphone but I find it invasive and wish companies HAD to also continue to provide an 'analogue' option.

It's things like needing 5 different parking payment apps because all the sodding car parks in my area use different ones!

It’s damn near impossible; I tried for a year.

I've got a smartphone but I don't use it for anything other than texting, phone calls and photos.

You can use an ATM machine or telephone banking to check your wages went in or find out the balance on your account. Cash hasn't been outlawed. Neither have debit cards. You can make a bank transfer by calling them. Bills can be paid in the post office or wherever there's a PayPoint sign (often convenience stores) or you can sign up for direct debit.

You'd miss out a bit socially. People tend to post on Facebook then assume absolutely everyone has definitely seen it. If you put in the effort though you'll end up with your close friends being others who don't live their lives solely online.

I could easily give up facebook but whatsapp I really like plus you tube.

I did this for years I loved it. I had an ipad for emails and online banking. I could Google stuff if I wanted by had no apps. The school had my house number and work number as if I wasn't at work it was because I was sick so at home. I actually loved not having a phone. I got one again through pressure from other people.

Aeroplane mode helps and having somewhere physical out the way you put it when you get in the house

I have been through this thought process, and concluded that I did still want a smart phone, I just didn't want to be able to waste my life on Facebook and mumsnet . The solution for me has been to use an app to block me out of various apps and websites (all of the fun time wasters, basically, although bbc news is pushing the boundary of fun...). You can set it to allow you 5 minutes an hour, or only in in effect for a few hours a day - mine is most effective when I allow myself my lunch hour and nothing else. The one I use is called Lock Me Out but there are probably several different apps that do the same thing.

Sometimes I literally put my phone in my bedside drawer and get on with my life. It’s astonishing how much time I can waste scrolling absentmindedly. I deleted my Facebook app years ago and find I never actually look for it anymore either so that’s one good thing! Instagram and mumsnet though are time sappers for me so I shove my phone in a drawer and if anything comes to me when I’m at home than I’d like to ‘quickly google’, I literally write it down with pen and paper and do it later.
Has actually worked wonders for me.
I mean, I’d be lost without it longer term but it’s a good little system.

Delete the problem apps and access them via a laptop

You do it the way people used to before smartphones were invented

Plan your bus journey in advance and stick to your chosen timescale so you don't miss your connection

Loyalty cards come in the form of an actual card for your purse or a smaller one as a key fob

Program the phone number of some local taxi firms into your phone

Always carry a small amount of cash with you so you've got £10-20 on you if you've lost your bank card. You won't have forgotten it because it'll be in your purse which is kept in your bag, which you take with you every time you go out.

If it's so urgent it can't wait until tomorrow, giving you time to look on your computer, you can phone the bank to find out the opening hours for your local branch

Directory enquiries exists solely to provide people with phone numbers to places. You'll learn to keep the phone number for the car garage, breakdown people, local restaurants, playgroup, children's school, children's friends, doctors, dentist etc stored in your phone

Thank you for the link, any other recommendations on the topic would be hugely appreciated. The Social Dilemma is also really informative.

I used to do those things like look up and print out bus timetables before leaving the house. A lot of that could be solved by putting aside some time to prepare each morning or night before. The rest if you have the right smart watch you can pay with Google pay without your phone. You might need a phone plan too though, probably not cheap but their will be workarounds.

Another option would be to carry a tablet/laptop and a basic phone you can hotspot with. You could go on a very basic pay as you go with current phone so you don't have data left for mindless scrolling. You could put an app on your phone to remind you to turn off, use a timer or use an app like the parental controls people can use to limit time use on DC tablets. So it would kick you off if you're on too long.

Gosh I don't use most of these things yet I'd still say I'm addicted to my smart phone.

My useage is here, FB, one of my gmail accounts (main one on laptop), WhatsApp, actual phone, texts, looking stuff on Wikipedia like if I recognise an actor from a tv show.

I've never been on insta or til tok. Deleted twitter a decade ago and never missed it.
YouTube- maybe occasionally I'll watch something on it on the tv like an old show that's not on a streaming service.

I do use maps to check my cars sat nav.

I'm quite young too (millennial).

I only have a smartphone because the tariff I'm on offered it along with a dumbphone, which I gave to mum.

I don't have a landline so rely on the mobile for calls. No social apps, no banking apps. I do that at the laptop. I asked people for directions when
I worked in a new city.

The examples you gave - use cards and call for cabs.

Have you read Johann Hari's book Stolen Focus? Even the sample chapter is excellent and allegedly helped reduce my MN use!

i bloody hate tech, apps etc.

Your basic phone will have an inbuilt radio feature. That's what the earphones it came with are for. They sometimes work as an antenna or you may be able to use any earphones or play it aloud.

Alternatively there's lots of MP3 (audio) and MP4 (audio and video) players around.

Husband And I put our phones in the bedroom in the wardrobe most evenings after we get in from work to try stop the excessive use 🙈 I’d struggle without whatsapp as I speak to my mum in Ireland everyday on there

Oh I'd be interested to know if possible. Is there a way round MFA?

It’s unfortunate that these devices and the apps they run have become an integral part of life in the 21st century & have been designed to be highly addictive by some of the smartest people on the planet. Other than deleting FB, Insta TikTok etc etc, I’m not sure what the answer is.

Funny, I see this as one of very few positives.

Next step is to turn mobile data off. You have to consciously turn it on to look something up.

This works for me. I turn off data (and Wifi, if you're in places where your mobile will automatically connect) AND set default mobile data to off for each individual app. (I got used to doing it when I was travelling and usually had data caps on cheap PAYG SIM cards.) Most of the apps you may really need "on the fly" - maps, real-time transit info, Uber/Lyft, mobile banking - aren't time wasters; you open the app, do your task, and then close the app (and turn data back off). Other things that MIGHT work are a phone case that you have to open and close, or keeping the mobile tucked away in a designated place (both at home and when you're out) when you're not using it for a specific reason.

I definitely think that COVID has accelerated the shift from mobile being a very attractive convenience to an almost-necessity. Just for example, I had to fly into Canada during lockdown and there were two apps to manage, immigration and health. A couple in front of me in arrivals had no devices between them and a staff member immediately took them aside and did everything for them on his tablet - which was impressive as they didn't seem to speak much English or French. For the follow-up (getting COVID test results and reporting that you'd ended isolation) it was easiest to do via mobile but could also be done by calling a freephone number. I think there are other ways for almost everything if you're determined to get rid of all devices completely, but they'll take more planning and communication (and possibly wait time).

I only got a mobile this summer. Unfortunately it because impossible to anything without a mobile number. I got a smartphone as it was as free and obviously charges are no difference in price. I don’t use the smartphone features because I have no idea how.
However I do waste a lot of time on my iPad mini. Lots of apps on there. So basically I think you are screwed either way. Really it’s just about finding the motivation to not be “that person” stuck on a device.

But a smartphone is basically an iPad (tablet) with a SIM. If you can use a tablet you can use a smartphone ( not saying you should but there’s no operational differences between them)

@illiterato of course but I can’t even type properly on the piddly little phone keyboard. So Facebook and MN are out. I’m still addicted to the iPad.
I’m not sure “switching” would work really. Unless she kept herself out of places she could log in to use the iPad for most of the day.

I was going to say this.

I sometimes leave my phone upstairs when I'm downstairs or vice versa. You can just not use it or delete the apps. I dont think you need to get rid completely fo you?

Because I'm addicted.

I can't leave it upstairs. It will drive me mad until its back in my hands. It's totally an addiction.

It's like telling an alcoholic to just leave the beer in the fridge.

It's a compulsion.

If I put it down, 2 mins later I'm physically itching to pick it up and check MN or FB or YouTube or tiktok.