Untethered
February 21, 2021•224 words
644
A month ago I said goodbye to my smartphone. It was one of the best decisions I made in a while.
During this past month I:
- Read five and a half books
- Watched four movies and one four-part documentary
- Spent 30% more time with family
- 20% more time with friends
- 90% less time on social media
Getting rid of my smartphone has made me feel untethered, in a way. I am free from the constant demands of being always connected, always online. When I go on a walk now, I don't listen to podcasts. I listen to the birds, the trees. I listen to myself. When I'm hanging out with friends/family, I don't pull out my phone when I'm bored. I can't. I'm always present. Or, when I'm traveling by public transit, I'm reading books, because that's the only option.
I consider myself a technologist all the way. Technology can be amazing. But, when technology is always with us, the law of diminishing returns kicks in. A life without a smartphone is a life in the present, with margin, without noise.
Everybody should do this. We already know that it is possible to live happy lives, do great things, without everyone having a supercomputer in their pocket at all times.
Maybe it's worth coming back to those times.