62 Comments
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Rae πŸ’‹'s avatar

Carrying more, and analog items feels so good - I revived an ipod and I've gone back to physical notebook keeping (PaperRepublic with 3 notebooks inside) for ideas, stream of consciousness, and planning. It has been game changing to just drop everything on the page and put my phone away to rely on my brain.

candice's avatar

10/10 no notes for you 🫢🏾

Jasmine Leann's avatar

Love this! I just wrote about this in my last piece, about 1. giving the internet a destination again and 2. how ease of access to literally everything on our phone is where we went wrong.

I used to LOVE my nintendo DS, I think you may have inspired me to get one again

candice's avatar

thank you <3 I'll have to give your piece a read! and yes definitely get a ds! i have no regrets getting mineπŸ₯°

Jamila O. Edwards's avatar

I love this!! I’m getting ready to write about my experience switching from a smart phone to a flip phone and house phone lol. I too, am learning to carry more things around. I guess I need a slightly larger purse! It isn’t easy but it feels so good to untangle myself from my phone.

candice's avatar

omg and a house phone! you're living my dream. only thing stopping me is that I don't always want to talk but people know I never leave the house so I'll be obviously ignoring phone callsπŸ˜… go get you a bigger handbag for all your important things!!

Jamila O. Edwards's avatar

I feel that! I told my sister that if I couldn’t do iMessage on my laptop this whole situation would be a no for me lol texting on a flip phone is not it. But thats why I appreciate you sharing so much, because everyone’s situation is different and we can all take steps in ways that makes sense for us. I’ll be happily headed to the thrift store this weekend to look for a new bag!

candice's avatar

haha that's so real, the number keypad was cute and there is the option to use an on screen qwerty keyboard but it was getting a little annoying I have to admitπŸ˜… but exactly, I'm all for people taking steps in their own way in their own time

Michelle Lee-Ann's avatar

I can't wait to get our landline! My want started out of ease for my daughter, but I miss having one spot for the phone instead of having to look all over the house for your cell phone. (Although, cordless ends up in that problem at times, too lol)

Jamila O. Edwards's avatar

I'm about a month in and I love our landline! I try to put it right back on the dock but I def find myself running around the house looking for the handset when a call comes in lol.

Meg's avatar

I really love this! When I use my phone for things, it’s way too easy for 15 (or more) minutes to go by before I realize that I am doing something completely unrelated to what I originally started. Single use items require me to commit to what I wanted to do and use them with intention! I started a commonplace book recently and I’ve really been enjoying it. Flipping through and connecting new ideas has been both fun and relaxing for me.

candice's avatar

the amount of times I've spent about 20 mins on my phone, put it down, and only then remembering I never did the thing I picked my phone up for!! absolutely, I have more of a chance picking up a dictionary and following through with whatever it is I picked it up for, even if I get distracted by another word or something haha it's a wonder any of us get anything done nowadays

Oatmilk Allison's avatar

"sometimes taking the scenic route home, although a little longer, gives us a little reminder of how lucky we are to be alive." so true and so beautiful. I am so grateful for the small things

Danielle Wraith's avatar

This made me rethink how often I reach for my phone simply because it’s easy. There’s something comforting about choosing tools that ask a little more of us, and give more back in return.

candice's avatar

absolutelyπŸ€Žβ€‹

em's avatar

to add - I love using a watch to check the time instead of using a phone!!

Michelle Lee-Ann's avatar

Ohhh yes. I want to buy myself a new watch and start wearing one, again.

I always do on trips so I don't pull out my phone. Need to continue in regular life, too.

krys's avatar

oooo this is a good one!

Soph's avatar

Oh I love this and I definitely need to introduce more single-use devices in my life. I think a particular thing about convenience/reliability of smart tech is we're being stripped of the ability to make our effort worthwhile - as in, do I actually care to research that thing or is it just because it's easy for me to Google it? There are so many rabbit holes I go down that I don't really care about simply because I can keep searching and searching.

Bayls's avatar

i love this! i have been thinking about getting rid of my iphone an just doing a basic phone & carrying around journals and such for note taking. what phone do you have in the photo? (if you don’t mind me asking) it’s so cute!

candice's avatar

I think you should try it out! and it's a duoqin f22 pro 🫢🏾 there are a few youtube videos of people making their ones really cute hehe

Aude Konan's avatar

I’m going back to a more analog life style and having these two types of notebooks is pretty smart. The fact that we’re going back to the past is wild to me. Makes me wonder if we truly need all that technological advancement…

candice's avatar

right, there's such a resurgence going on, I think it all really means something. i think we're flying a little too close to the sun with all the technological advancements going on, some black mirror episodes have become reality for goodness sake, it's a little scary lol

Clover's Spin's avatar

I've been heavily considering doing something like this. I really dislike how much time I spend on my phone. I've already put app times on my social media but I'd like to reduce it more.

James Clarke's avatar

I've stumbled across this much later than everybody else but what a lovely read! I really do need a stream-of-consciousness journal, I have so much to say but I'm so paranoid that *somebody* might read it. Also: a dedicated music player is something I've wanted to pick up for so long but keep procrastinating (e.g. looking at my bank account balance and saying "not today"), I think it'd be great to bring on walks or trips where I can just listen to music without the nagging feeling of checking another app.

JamieLivesWell's avatar

Cutting screen time slightly (especially in the morning) made me feel way less scattered. Didn’t expect such a small shift to have that effect.

Zofia's avatar

I love the idea of having a little dictionary on hand! It transported me back to when I was learning English as a 17 year old at my summer house, no internet, just Harry Potter in original and going to town on my Oxford dictionary. Simpler times, one would say.

Jane Bracher's avatar

Random comment from a quiet reader, but I love this list! I have always kept a very personal + private journal since I was a teenager, but this year I decided to take my to-do lists and general life planning out of digital and onto a separate notebook. The tactile quality of this has been sooo much more soothing (and necessary) for my mind πŸƒ Now need to pick my Switch back up again πŸ•ΉοΈ

candice's avatar

thank you jane I'm glad you enjoyed the post! and even more glad i encouraged you to get back on your switch heheπŸ₯°

Shanna Lea, Author's avatar

Love this! I love your mini dictionary. I’ve been reading more for the last year to get away from the scrolling. I still use the phone kindle app for reading at certain times when I can’t have a physical book, which I prefer. I’d love to get another Kindle like I had eons agoβ€”had the newspaper type screen to it (can’t remember the word for that), but it was sooooo easy on my eyes. My old one just won’t update anymore.