Smartphone or No Smartphone?
And how to put control (and trust) back in ourselves
When it comes how we are always connected to our digital devices, I am sure we can all agree that we should do something about it. It might have even made someone's "New Year's Resolution" list. Cutting screen time—and by screen time, I am explicitly referring to smartphone screen time other than using it as a reading app like Kindle or Books—has been on the top of my “do something about it” list. But it had remained as an aspirational goal with no actionable plans, until I read this New York Times article. (No, I am not going to ditch my iPhone—I have been a staunch Apple fan since iPhone 2G came out in 2007—and nor am I going back to a flip phone.)
I am not a retro kind of person. I prefer forward looking. Not everything in life has a rewind button, especially when the society as a whole has moved on just as Cory Doctorow explains in this (very long) lecture1 why FaceBook was so hard to quit no matter how much you hate it now—because your friends and family are on it. That is not to say, we can’t make changes moving forward.
I love technology innovations, and I am aware of what has been lost in the midst of all the changes to our ways of life, and what has been lost along with the gains to the convenience of living. (No, I am not going to talk about “productivity”, which deserves a future post on its own.)
A smartphone has long ceased to be the device solely for making a phone call. I use my phone for sending messages, not just the native SMS texting, but messages on Messenger, Whatsapp, WeChat, Discord, Slack … I am sure the messaging app list of Gen Z (someone like my son) is much longer than that of Gen X (someone like me). I use my phone for taking photos and recording videos, and then edit and share the photos and video right then right there on the phone. I use my phone for looking up information (sometimes just to win an argument with hubby), obtaining directions, making reservations, arranging transportation, and taking notes—writing prompts anyone? I use my phone for banking, for two-factor authentication, and for operating home security system. There are more and more apps that use the phone to scan a QR code before providing services, from paying street parking to ordering food, and from airline boarding to sharing contact information. How could I go back to life without a smartphone?
Then I remembered the time I spent on the phone reading and writing emails and getting on conference calls. Doing that was the culprit that blurred the line between work and life, chained mind to work, and made “being present” a rare virtue. And while I am no longer part of that “working” world, I find myself still checking emails often, on my phone.
Suddenly, the (easy) first step towards my goal of “less screen time” presented itself to me. Today, I turned off notification on my email apps and moved them from the Dock (that static bottom row of the phone) to a folder on the last screen.
Care to share your first step to cut down digital screen time?
Back to the NYT article on how to quit your smartphone. I want to applaud the Newark-based cabinet company Fabuwood and its CEO Joel Epstein for implementing the “No phones allowed during meetings” policy. What a simple yet genius way of diverting the attention back in the meeting room, the attention that we have long lost to the void of the digital world.
I still remember my first presentation at an IT industry conference, at a time when people brought note books not phones to meetings. I remember the eye contact, the head nodding, the raised hand, and most of all, the energy that challenged, engaged, and excited everyone in the room. Little by little, that energy started to leak out of the room when we became more and more connected to our digital devices, and locked eyes became lowered heads facing handheld devices.
One of my teams used to manage the installation and operation of the WiFi network for our company’s annual conferences. I remember once I wondered what would happen if WiFi service were to become unavailable in the meeting rooms, just for one hour …
Once I was done with the first step to cut my digital screen time, I felt so good that I could not stop but keep going: repeat step one for all social media apps, and then all video conference apps.
I feel empowered! Ask me in a month to see how I am doing 😊.
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The main subject of the lecture was on “enshittification”, or “platform decay”, something Mr. Doctorow coined and was selected as Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society in 2023. The script of the lecture is long but in my opinion very much worth a read, and maybe a future posting.
I worked for a federal government agency where no phones were allowed in the buildings. There were carrels located outside each building and you locked your phone inside before entering. I find it astounding that phones are EVER allowed in meetings. I'd like to ban them from all types of workplaces -- hospitals, construction sites, caretaking facilities, medical offices -- basically anywhere anyone should be paying attention to their work, which is not on their phones.
I've been teaching English overseas for about 14 years, most of it in SE Asia. And I can tell you the transformation that phones have brought into the classroom is a little heartbreaking. In the past, you'd walk into the class and the students would be chatting and socializing. Now, they sit quietly on their phones, or just sit there. Some schools have a no phone policy, while others allow them to use it during their breaks, etc, but where I'm at the kids are allowed to bring them and while most of them don't look at them, they are a distraction, and you can see the kids peeking down at their devices.
I applaud you trying to use your phone less. Yes, they are damn amazing and convenient. I, too, use it for everything, it seems, but for me I remind myself that it's a tool. I use it, not the other way around. Airplane mode is your friend ;)