No Smart Phone for 10 Days (Thoughts)

Tuesbetter Newsletter #47

Hey! It’s time for another Thursbetter Nursletter!

Wanna feel better? Let Alan Watts tell you how to not force anything.

How are things? For the past few weeks, I’ve been (too slowly) editing the documentary I mentioned in a previous issue. And I haven’t been thinking about YouTube video-making at all!

I can’t remember the last time I’ve gone this long not thinking about YouTube video-making. It’s a nice break. I think I’ll come back even stronger!

Also, I haven’t been using a smartphone!

What I’ve Learned From Quitting My Smartphone for 10 Days (so far)

All right all right all right. I need to give my usual disclaimer that it’s incredibly hard to know what affects what because life happens all at the same time!

But some things I’m noticing lately

1. Less Stress (maybe)
   

   This could obviously have to do with not working on YouTube, but it makes sense that quitting the smartphone could have an effect.
   

   I generally feel relaxed, calm, peaceful, nice, and other good words. Truly. I’m not reading all the doom and gloom of the world every free moment or over-checking comments and analytics, emails, daily tasks, etc etc.

2. I have complete thoughts
   

   I have discovered that when I feel even a tiny bit of anxiety about something I have an urge to grab my phone. I didn’t realize this was happening before.

   
   But now, rather than reach for immediate distraction I just sit a fully process whatever I’m thinking about. Probably healthy?

   
   Same goes for non-stressful stuff. Like if I suddenly have a theory about something, rather than look for answers via Google or Twitter I actually ponder the thing for a while (which is probably better because a Google search would likely lead to unrelated rabbit holes).
   

3. Better Sleep
   
   I had been in the habit of using my phone (mostly for the crossword, but also social media or random articles) in bed before going to sleep. And then when I inevitably wake up (which is still happening) I would go back to the phone sometimes.
   
   Now that I’m not doing those things I think it’s leading to more sleep. It still ain’t perfect but I’m certainly waking up in the morning feeling more refreshed.
   
   But what am I doing instead of reaching for the phone?
   

4. More Reading
   
   Before bed and in the middle of the night I’ve been digging into Watership Down (I had never read it). And I’m reading at a much higher rate than before. Plus, reading induces sleepiness much more effectively than the internet on the phone. This is a good thing.

Those are my main thoughts. All in all I’m enjoying it extremely. There are a few downsides and I imagine more will crop up if/when I do some significant traveling.

Texting on the Lightphone is, well, not great. It’s slow and awkward. Also, I don’t have a lot of confidence in the phone’s map system. I’ll probably use Apple Maps on the iPhone with the Lightphone as a hotspot when I REALLY need directions.

And I do feel a little out of touch. I thought quitting the phone would lead to just checking the same things on the computer more. It hasn’t. Which is a good thing. But I truly do think I’m missing certain events. This might not actually be a bad thing. I’m discovering that I don’t really need to know everything that’s happening. (I already knew that, but now I think I’m feeling it.)

So far so good.

Craig

Stuff I’m Doing

• Taking a 3 month YouTube hiatus (probably) in order to work on that documentary I’ve been putting off. (It’s about Japanese Green Bay Packer fans.)

• The podcast Two Guys Talking About Lettuce with my pal, Greg Benson. A bunch of hilarious nonsense.

• Reading Watership Down. It is shameful that I never read it. REALLY enjoying it.

• Got a new dog! (R.I.P. Birdie)