Giving up smartphone.

 

Alright! This is my very first blog, and the reason why I took up this interest is the subject matter of this blog itself. It's been a couple of months since I gave up using a smartphone. Due to the same I often find myself seeking for things to keep myself involved and writing this blog is one of them.

 About one and a half years ago, I was more than excited for my parents to buy me a new smartphone as soon as JEE results were out. The fact that 'I was residing in a hostel back since 9th and hostelers weren't allowed to keep a smartphone with them thus did not have one for four years', had its own share in my excitement of getting it.

CONTEXT:

My aversion started after a few months in my new college, as I became conscious about how much time I was wasting on my phone. Thoughts like 'how I had thought I would get a lot of free time in college for things like reading novels and stuff instead I was wasting hours scrolling through irrelevant stuff on Facebook, and Instagram' worried me. I would instinctively pull out my phone whenever there was a bored of anything. I didn't either feel happy about how relied I was on this device, I would rather afford to forget my room keys behind but not my phone. Apart from looking at the screen until I fell asleep, I sometimes used to do the same in the morning for quite some time lying on their, wrapped in my blanket, before actually getting out the bed. And like this, the list will go on, but the nexus of all these acts apparently made me realize how my life was detained by a gadget and this thought discomforted me.

BEFORE SWITCHING:

Like everyone who would want to get rid of this addiction before giving up their smartphone, I too, tried things like removing all social apps and kept only that served a functional purpose. I left only music, Quora and podcasts as means of passing the time. But there were still idle moments when I scrolled through Quora absentmindedly or scanning through my playlist. I continued this way for a month but again due to lack of self-control, I changed over. I did this experiment twice and concluded that I needed a permanent solution that was switching to a dumb phone.

SWITCHING:

It took a lot of time for me to finally make up my mind cause I knew once decided it was going to be final. At first, when I asked my father to buy me a basic phone he denied saying 'having a smartphone can become critical at times and also comes in handy while traveling alone', he also thought it was a waste of another three thousand bucks(as I was obsessed to buy a Nokia 3310 cause I found it damn cool). I agreed to all of it but these were the sacrifices I had to make.

AFTER SWITCHING:

So, I gave it up! And It turned out to be pretty good. It seems like my life has slowed down(in a positive way), at the end of the day I can recollect it all and not have simply, spent it. If I had to put in another way would say I have time to do "nothing". I have time for an endless stream of thoughts.It is incredibly liberating to sit and not even think about whether I should check the news or Whatsapp but to simply not have that option. I think I have become more receptive to things which you may find bizarre and stupid like 'how the wind brushes the leaves of trees' etc. So far, I don’t miss anything. I feel lighter. I think I am now more patient as I cant straightaway google any question or curiosity that crosses my mind.

DRAWBACKS:

I have to rely on friends for short notices that are sent to us like cancellation of a class or reminder for a submission which I won't be aware of until I open my Mail. I miss the convenience of using payment apps it was so easy and fast whereas its alternatives for me are net-banking(not handy) and Paypal(very few people use it) and Paytm. Nowadays I have to live without being able to click pictures of views that i Find enticing. I also miss listening to songs online from a playlist depending on my mood. For keeping in touch with friends and family WhatsApp and other such apps are very suited I and miss texting, as it is very tiresome to send a text message on a basic phone but again I feel this way you are bound to directly make a phone call which is always more effective than short superficial conversations now and then.

AT LAST:

For how long will I continue this way? Of course not forever since smartphones are becoming more essential than ever now. I will need to switch back at some point but for now I am being able to manage without it. By the way, you too can try this for a day or a weekend and share your response. I'm glad that you have taken the pain to read all of it.

Thank you!😊

Peace.