Written on October 5, 2023

A few months ago I switched from a smartphone to a feature phone and honestly, it was one of the smartest choices I've made recently. For reference, I use the Nokia 105 with a subscription to calling and texting only, it has no internet access and no music player. I have been using this setup for about 3 months now.

For those who are thinking about doing this as well, I highly recommend trying it. It is a stream of peace that comes over you. Normally, every time I had the time I would grab my phone and start idly scrollinag on whatever platform was available. I didn't realize it at the time, but this caused me stress.

A person is made to have regular rest, to think about nothing for a little while and to heal themselves through meditation. This never happens if you're constantly on your phone during every break you have. You never give yourself the break your body and mind need and you are constantly busy with preoccupying yourself with things that are nothing but a distraction.

Just like everything else in life, everything is okay as long as it is in moderation. If there's something you really need a phone for, or there's something you really enjoy doing on your phone, then there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The problems come with addiction and almost everyone these days is addicted to their phone to some extent, which is not surprising, because this is what smartphones and their apps are designed for.

The longer you use your phone, the more data they will collect and the more money they will make. This is what platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are made for. They bombard you with content that they expect that you will want to continue watching, such as content that scares you, makes you angry or that you want to know more about.

You don't even have to necessarily like the content. In the meantime, they collect all kinds of private data about you and you will later be forced to watch their personalized advertisements on their platforms.

You can trust me when I say you won't miss these distractions. In fact, even the opposite. I wouldn't want to go back to those rushed and stressed days of constantly checking updates for things that are actually so unimportant that now that I no longer have a smartphone, I don't even look for them anymore.

They are just distracting you of the things that are actually important in life.

Written on May 13, 2024

It's been about a year now since I sold my smartphone and started using a feature phone and I'm happy to say that I'm still using the same phone, the Nokia 105, which still can't access the internet and still can't play music.

Because I still have my computer when I'm at home, I'm not completely cut off from the internet. I still do all the things I used to enjoy doing, but I just don't do them all the time now.

Since I sold my smartphone, I can no longer distract myself every time I have to wait 5 minutes or while traveling. Instead, I can now enjoy the moments as they happen and, since I always have a book with me when I travel these days, I've even ended up reading more books.

Instead of doing the things I used to do on my smartphone, like scrolling through the news and watching short videos to make the time go by faster — things that I now consider major wastes of time — I am content to do nothing in those moments but enjoy my thoughts, the view and the little things in life.

I'm happy to say that I still recommend replacing your smartphone with a feature phone and that I personally haven't regretted the switch.