Thoughts: Addicted to my smartphone

A couple of months ago, I got hit by a car and my phone broke down. I switched to the model I've been using before that, which is a bit slow but got the job done. But now that this model broke down due to water damage, I decided to switch to a "dumb phone".

Some background info

Its getting more obvious to me that many people cannot live their lives anymore without a smartphone. It's very convenient to have a pocket pc that's simple to operate with you at all times, it can even be used as a replacement for a debit card! "Free" calls and messages over applications like whatsapp, QQ and LINE.

I used to be very against smartphones because I saw my sisters being completely absorbed into it. But now that I have one for myself, I understood why. It can play MP3 files, take pictures, entertains me when I'm bored, makes sure I always stay up-to-date with messages (FOMO) and I can play one of my favorite games (Genshin Impact) on it too! It truly is a very handy device and can do most of the things I love to do in my downtime.

However I notice that its demanding my attention more, that I carry it everywhere with me (toilet, dinner at home, etc). Checking it on impulse to see if I got new messages on social platforms that I need to be aware of but could've waited until I check my pc. Those kind of things.

A replacement

I chose to replace my defect phones with a Samsung Galaxy Young (1st gen) because I'm not as hardcore as using a traditional Nokia with physical buttons for the keyboard (because I prefer a touch keyboard much more) and I don't want to carry a MP3 player with me while riding my bike. It is a very robuust phone so I don't need to worry about water damage. It's battery life is really good as well. It's OS is old enough that I can't use the online functionalities anymore.

Sadly also means it can't find my bluetooth earpods because well... the bluetooth chip is wayyyyy too old, so I will be using my cable headset again whenever I use my phone as MP3 player.

Conclusion

So far it's been a success; I sleep better at night and wake up earlier because I don't check my phone. Still have to grab my cabled headset so haven't used it as a MP3 player yet, but I know I have more space in my head to think about things.