Making My Phone More Boring

Not More Dumb

There are numerous reviews of the new Light Phone III going around – and this has invigorated discussions about having a dumber phone. There are also Android e-ink devices going around, with 🖇️ or without 🖇️ a SIM slot, which are cool. A friend of mine is considering how far he can get with the combination of an Apple Watch with a SIM and a Boox Palma. 👌🏻

I’m 100% in the category of too dependent on my phone. However, I don’t think having a dumber phone is the solution for me. I want one that’s more boring.

The problem with out phones isn’t that they’re too useful. It’s that they’re “too fun”. And by that I mean “too fun” like how junk food is “too good” for our own good.

Because, things like being able to buy transit tickets, pre-heat my car, and control my lights are not issues for me. And neither is easy access to a camera, calculator, music, weather forecasts, etc.

I do have some issues with my phone, though…

I have ADHD – and also a history (and not only a history) of anxiety and depression. So I really struggle with being uncomfortable with my mind wandering and being left to its own devices. This has led to me “needing” to fill every void with … something.

I want to try to work on this – especially as we’re expecting a baby next month.

Before mentioning what I have done to my phone: One thing I’m choosing not to tackle at the moment, is my over-usage of podcasts. Not listening to anything makes me uneasy. And often music isn’t even enough, and I require something like a podcast. That’s because the latter demands more of my mind. To put it a bit exaggerated: I want to listen to a podcast while going out with the rubbish. I intend to think more about this – but at the moment, I haven’t deleted Overcast or anything.

I do want to try to have it be more quiet around me, though – or at least “only” have music. (However, I know that will make things less quiet on the inside…) So, I’ve deleted the YouTube app from my phone. I don’t want to never use my phone for video, though – but maybe more intentional TV shows, etc. instead.

I also have an issue where I want to fill every little sliver of free time (like waiting a minute for something to load) with reading something quick – often in Mona (Mastodon) or Narwhal (Reddit). So, I’ve deleted all social media apps like this. I’ve kept Lire, my RSS reader, for now. I’ve also loaded up my phone with some ebooks.

I don’t get a ton of emails et al., so I’ve kept that and messaging platforms. However, I’ve tweaked notifications to make them more restrictive.

I don’t play games that much on my phone. However, as I might if I had less other stuff to do, I’ve deleted everything a part from Chess and Sudoku. 🤓

Lastly, I’ve turned my phone into almost greyscale. (I did make the toggle easily accessible in Control Center, though.) This serves two purposes: Making it more boring, and reminding me of this experiment. I also turned on the Differentiate Without Colour option (or whatever it’s called in English).

Great news for my iPad!

Even though I only have a Mini phone, I’ve almost stopped using my 2018 11-inch iPad Pro. However, as I haven’t done any of this to that as of now, maybe I’ll use it some more! I don’t mind that, though – as picking that up is more intentional.

Some things I didn’t want to do:

I have several problems with something as limited as the Light Phone. And some of them are that I would be making life harder for others. Suddenly, I’m not available on the messaging platform we’re using, for instance. People I’m with would also have to do things for me – when we’re out-and-about for instance. (Like navigation.)

I also don’t use a wallet, as I pay with my phone – so having to start carrying one of those would be annoying. And again: Me paying for stuff with my phone isn’t a problem in and of itself. It’s that it can easily lead to other things – so I’d rather try to eliminate those.

Having access to things like 1Password and notes, calendar and tasks is also important. The latter also helps with my ADHD – both by helping me remember stuff, and by allowing me to dump things I suddenly remember.

Now, let’s see how long this lasts…

I haven’t gone for something that radical. For instance, we’ll see how much I’ll just jump into doing the same problematic stuff in the browser… I also haven’t started being even harsher on notifications, or tweaking even more with Focus Modes. But it’s still interesting to see how annoyed I’ll be…

However, I do think I’m onto something: Phones don’t necessarily need to be dumber – just more boring. Heck, I’d even argue a more boring phone is a smarter phone

I’ll report back!