Dumbphone Diaries

My journey of moving to a dumb phone began a few years ago. I began reading about virtue theory and learning more about the Christian moral tradition – particularly the seemingly innocuous tools’ impact on our lives.

I was bouncing around the Moral tradition of Aquinas and Pope Gregory I and came across the notion of sloth. In Gregory’s treatment, he folds in the following ideas into the capital (head) vice of sloth: malice, resentment, cowardice, despair, slothfulness in fulfilling the commands, and a wandering of the mind on unlawful objects. What really struck me, though, was Aquinas’ move to speak of sloth as shunning the unpleasant good. In my particular instance, I was too quickly drawn to technologies for what pleasure they might bring me or the service I could gain from them and to avoid the good available to me through suffering(s).*

*Suffering here is informed by Aquinas’ definitions, namely the notions that humans suffer when we are not able to be who we ought to be and when we are kept from the desires of our hearts.

These impulses could be anything. Like needing an immediate or perfectly optimised answer from Google, time-wasting and procrastination by scrolling through social feeds and jumping from app to app or buying a book and reading the preface only to get dragged down the rabbit hole of yet another juicy footnote on page seven. Having these things at hand also meant that I spoke too much. Way too much. I had nothing valuable to say; I was ready to talk. It made me fidgety and often left me with a constant state of dissatisfaction if my productivity levels were diminished.

I found myself thinking more and more that as a culture and as a person within said culture, I needed more intentional celebration of the good for which I had to work for, even toil. Some things are worthy of the labour and work required. The struggle becomes as much a part of the good that the task is achieving on its own!

During all this contemplation, I was watching an episode of Pints with Aquinas, and Matt Fradd mentioned an affiliate discount that he had with a product by Techless. Techless is an innovative tech company from the States who built a smart-looking dumb phone. There are a few on the market now, and I was instantly intrigued. It took me a few years to really contemplate and consider the switch.

In 2022, I tried experimenting with a Nokia 225. I ran that as my mid-week phone for about 3-4 months, and it was good, but it was tough going. I realised that it lacked some critical features that I felt I needed.

In late 2022 – after a tonne of research – I landed on the Lightphone II. But it was only on pre-order, so I had to wait it out and really consider making the switch. The few people with whom I spoke about it were sceptical and thought it wouldn’t stick or that I wouldn’t be able to hack going completely smart phone free. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised I was tired of bitching about how bad my smartphone was for my life without taking any powerful or meaningful steps to affect change in that area of my life. I spent too much time on Instagram and YouTube and browsing the web and watching stocks and checking the news, and monitoring 7+ avenues of communication all the time. It stopped me from being genuinely present and peaceful. (Anyway, I could go on and rant about the anti-smart phone thing, but we all saw The Social Dilemma, you know how bad they are for us)

Enough preamble; here’s how it’s been.

20 Dec 2022

I received my LightPhone II in the mail. It cost me $490 AUD and took around a week to arrive from America. I unboxed it and set it up. It felt novel, which I loved and learning something new was exciting. I was initially thrilled with how much it could do: maps, podcasts, music, hotspot etc. But what really got me stoked was how little it did and how much it slowed me down.

The phone is designed to be used as little as possible, and I love that.

The screen is dull, the keypad is quite lame, and the lag is real, but I didn’t care. I felt freer.

27 Dec 2022

It’s been a week of using my new dumb phone. I loved not having my work apps on the phone, and I actually really enjoyed showing people! Most people thought it was cool to have made such a big step, yet some didn’t think it very convenient and therefore not worth it – and they all thought I was crazy for paying $400+ for a phone that did very little.

I didn’t mind, though, because I felt like I’d already spent my time more effectively and meaningfully. My wife is a bit upset that we can’t lie in bed and watch Instagram reels as easily anymore. But I still have my laptop!

03 Jan 2023

I was away most of this week camping in rural NSW with friends, so I was hardly on my phone at all, though I did switch the SIM back to my smartphone as I needed to have a flashlight, ultra-reliable maps, and Messenger for communication. But the timing of being away and not on my phone a lot anyway sure helped with the transition. I copped shit for changing back, though; some people are so harsh!

10 Jan 2023

It’s my second week of having my dumbphone and living in my typical day-to-day. I’ve annoyingly asked my wife for a few smartphone things and now and then missed a social media thing, but by no means am I complaining. Peace of mind is through the roof! (I should say that I have retained my smartphone and use it on wifi occasionally at home, but I will try giving that away to a friend to see how it goes being completely off my smartphone. (If you can’t tell, my self-control is not incredibly developed, and from time to time, I just treat my dumbphone like a landline and spend time on my smartphone anyway)

I still think that the product is offering what it says it does. It’s designed to be used as little as possible, and I have certainly been given back the gift of undistracted living. I’m happy to take the inconvenience hit for that payoff.

30 Jan 2023

Well, I did it. I went cold turkey today – I gave my smartphone away to a friend after deciding that the remaining 2-3 apps that were exclusive to mobile were not necessary for me to access, or I had devised a suitable workaround. So, I’m doing it! I’m into my third month with it and still really enjoying it. I don’t think I’ll return to a smartphone at this point, but who knows what the future will hold.

One thing I did not expect was that I am not yet accustomed to filling the time I would usually spend on my smartphone. For example, I love baths. Love them! But I now have to be mindful of which book I bring to read. It requires more of me to notice what mood I’m in or what my headspace is doing. Also, when moving from tasks or between moments, I find myself thinking, ‘what do I want to do?’ It might be that I feel like learning something or like playing with my camera, fixing something in the house, doing a chore, doing some food prep, watching a tv show on my laptop, making a phone call, or messaging an overseas friend. Yesterday, I wrote a letter to Melan, a wonderful girl we sponsor through Compassion. It wasn’t her birthday, or in response to one she’d just written me or whatever; my thoughts were simply carried there, and I was available to respond and decide that that was a valuable task for me to do. I liked that. I had space and time in my life between the mundane that I was about to mindfully use.

My wife still gets annoyed if I use her phone to check a calendar detail or to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, but c’est la vie.

My morning routine has also improved dramatically. I’m currently reading through the Pentateuch with my Bibliotheca volume, which I love because it provides an uninterrupted interface with the story. I used to be on my smartphone within 30 minutes of waking up – mostly doom-scrolling if I’m honest. I’m not doing that anymore, which is great for my mental health and general disposition toward the world. I used to call out to my wife, “the world’s going to hell in a handbasket, Love”, after a good session on Twitter at 7:39 in the morning; there’s not so much of that now.

13 Feb 2023

Not a tonne to write about this week. It’s become quite typical that I am more mindful about my time usage or preoccupations. But not in a disappointing way; I am enjoying the peace.

26 Feb 2023

It’s the first Sunday of lent today, and I think I’ll invite people to join me in my tech-less life, even if it’s just for the Lenten season. I’ve really enjoyed the benefits it has brought about in my life. The reason I’m entering this period of abstention and prayer is summed up in a thought from Aquinas,

“Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust and kindles the true light of chastity.”

I might keep blogging on this, but I think I’m done for now.

Thanks for reading.