Or why I haven’t used my phone out of silence mode for the last 6+ years.

Nathan Trampe / Unsplash

I have stumbled across San Do’s article on his experiment on quitting social media on his phone for a month and couldn’t relate more.

Have you ever taken out your phone and ended up in a social media app without actually knowing why?

San Do vividly describes what we all probably have sinned at, some point or another — pointless scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, procrastinating things we want to do, not paying attention about what is happening right outside and in front of us, all just for that subconscious dopamine-shot worth of scrolling. (I probably don’t even have to point out the fact, that social media was designed that way to keep us hooked up.)

I still have Instagram on my phone, I still use Facebook but only through my computer and from time to time, I still fall into the meaningless scrolling pattern, especially if nervous of bored — although admittedly, I managed to change my very negative habits to become less negative and now those scrolling patterns include educational article pages, which at least let me learn something new along the way.

San Do also mentions the benefits of using your phone in silence mode — and I can totally back this up.

I haven’t used my phone out of silence mode for several years now, and the results are astonishing.

It all started somewhat 6 years ago when I lost my phone for the first time in my life.

After the initial shock and the realization, that with that device also all my personal data on it was lost (my times before Dropbox or iCloud), a few days later, suddenly came the moment of calm.

It was when there were no more calls or sound notifications where I realized for the first time in my life, how much they were actually bothering me.

During that time, I was living outside the city and my daily commute included one hour each way. The time in the public transport was mainly spent chatting with people, checking social media or reading articles. Living outside the city also meant passing beautiful forest areas, between lakes and a lot of green scenery.

It was not before I lost my phone, that I actually LOOKED and SAW the beauty, the nearly raw nature next to a big, turbulent city.

This made me sharply realize how much I was actually missing out, and not only during my way to work. How many times did I disturb my creative flow moment by checking WhatsApp messages? How many new ideas and thoughts did I lose because the habit made me take my phone out and senselessly turn the screen on? How many things did I actually missed seeing right in front of me because of staring at someone's vacation photos?

The things you start to see, when you stop gluing your eyes to the mobile screen, can be truly revealing.

I decided to spend the next few months without a phone.

In this time, I learned new habits.

I started drawing in the metro.

I took books with me, and actually finished all of them.

I started to become much more conscious of my own actions and impulses, and why I do them.

I became more conscious of my thoughts, as I started to reflect on my actions.

Furthermore, I actually started to trust myself more.

Those who know me are aware of my seemingly complete lack of orientation. I get lost with Google Maps.

Yet here you are, having to find a place in a big city jungle without your smartphone, just like basically all generations before you. Scary. But in the end, you do. You use some parts of your petrified brain, you find the way, you get lost, you ask people, you arrive. You trust yourself more.

And above all, you have a clearer mind.

We are all constantly bombarded by an information overload through ads, wherever we are. Cutting down on ads, ideas, pictures, memes coming from your smartphone are a big deal and a noticeable difference.

At some point, I got another phone, fell into the same patterns, realized that, and now try to keep a healthy balance between using my phone as what it is — a useful electronic device without falling into the pit of compulsive impulses.

I try to keep my phone off my bed, in another room when working (same as San Do) and take long walks without it in my pocket. I also deleted most of the time-consuming apps and basically made it as boring as possible. And it works.

My phone is always in silence mode, even when at first I had some complaints from people because they couldn’t reach me when they wanted to. But I use the phone on my terms. I check it when I want to (unless my brain decides it needs to compulsively see the time). I don’t have to be reachable 24/7.

People get used to it.

And if I am waiting for an important call from someone, I either add this person as an exception or turn silent mode off for a short period of time.

Or just call back. Maybe.

What do you think? Can you relate? I would love to read your opinions!

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