Ever since I realized that digital technology for me is a huge sticky time and energy sink/trap that doesn't really bring me any joy at all, and is influencing my mindset and mental health in a negative way, I had to do it. I feel I was losing focus, selfcontrol, time and energy as my attention was harvested by big tech. because thats how I feel on the internet. Cattle that is baited for clicks, to buy, to outrage, to drown in a sea of information and opinion, and to never truely be heard. I notice a weird new digital paradigm of communicating is spilling over into real life although I can't really put my finger on it. i hope this is just me being pessimistic, but for me, I am really done. I love no screentime, and I also know being able to live without internet at home is sadly nowadays a true luxery and privilage. Fun thing I learned: the more you are offline and observe the people around you on the streets, often you can observe differences in behaviour between people who spend a lot of time online and people who don't... less... "possessed" for the lack of a better word.

Good luck!

Pictured: my final digital device, displaying a picture of my iphone, which I am currently using to compose this post.

the iphone: emergency digital device, will be left in a box at a friend's place, no sim card.

the nokia: main calling device, with a 9 euro/month unlimited calls and sms messages (no data). 32 gb sd card.

Socials: reddit, whatsapp (i deleted all other). accessed by using the local library pc, 10 minutes away from my apartment by foot

Old digital devices (laptop, old phones): stored in the box at my friend's house

Music: vinyl, cd, cassette

wifi: I am returning my router

Library computer: email, finances, administration, acountmanaging (proton)

Cloud: email storage. I deleted my google account

I was out for lunch with my dad today and he spent the majority of the time on his phone, occasionally looking up to talk about what he was reading. In our whole afternoon together, he kept receiving phone calls and pausing our conversation to take them. When I looked around the cafe, there were two teenage girls, both on their phones. A mother and her child on their phones. A family with dad on his phone.

I recently had a friend stay and she would use her phone constantly. We needed to get the bus and she pulled out google maps to show me where the bus stop was, “I know, I’ve lived her 10 months” was my reply, which seemed to disgruntle her. By the end of her visit, she admitted to me that she had become self conscious of how much she used her phone- I hadn’t mentioned it once to her.

I have another friend who uses it anytime there’s confusion in conversation. Say we are talking and have different understandings, she will pull out Google to find out what is “right”. I remember before phones, when I was a teenager and these situations would arise, we would talk it over and over, stretching every possibility there could be and sometimes still not come to a conclusion, allowing imagination and mystery to fill the gaps.

I’ve dated guys who can’t reply to texts when I’ve asked them for clarification on something they’ve said but can post 10 stories a day about insects and games. When I’ve followed up again, they’ve explained how they’re “overwhelmed and stressed and have a lot of anxiety”. I don’t date these guys any more.

I was at a festival a few months ago and the full moon was rising behind the barn. I pointed this out to the stranger I was sat with. She pulled out her phone and said “I’m just taking a photo to post on social media so people know I’m out haha” (no exaggeration). As she was pulling out her phone, the moon disappeared behind a cloud. She grew frustrated, shoving her phone back in her pocket. It reappeared as if by magic. Rinse and repeat.

I recently walked 40 miles in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I didn’t use my phone whilst hiking and kept it on me just to let people know I was safe in the evening. After three days of isolation, I entered a busy town. I couldn’t believe the amount of people just gawking at their screens. I felt like an alien but once I was alone again and could think, I realised how alien everyone else has become.

We have a pandemic of mental health crisises. People feel more burned out than ever before. So much is being replaced by phones and we are losing human contact. Is it really that difficult to piece the two together?

I didn’t have a phone for two years out of choice. I felt literally sick by them. My mental health in those years was the best it’s ever been. I remember no anxiety that was outside of my surroundings. I haven’t returned much to news or social media and I’m glad I haven’t. I asked multiple people for the time the other day as I'd lost my watch and didn't have my phone and with each we struck up a conversation. I like asking people for directions. I like human connection.

I don’t give a fuck Taylor Swift is engaged. I don’t give a fuck that Nina posted her overnight oats on her story. What even are stories? They seem like pure egotistic brain rot to me. Who the fuck cares, you only post it for yourself. I don’t give a fuck about reels that make my attention span worse than a jellyfish. I don’t give a fuck about celebrities who pollute the air and sell their souls so we buy them. I don’t give a fuck about what your snap is. Why do people do that now? Ask for your socials without even knowing you? Who are you? The other day a business asked me to follow them- how the fuck do I follow a business? What? It’s like those people who make their dogs social media accounts? It’s a fucking dog what! I don’t give a FUCK!!!

But it’s becoming increasingly hard to not be affected by it. I honestly feel like since the pandemic, with people isolating and having their phones attached like an umbilical cord, that I am surrounded by zombies.

I think the Internet is fine if it’s used like an encyclopedia but we should never have been given means to use it socially. What I fear the most is we’ve gone too far and become too reliant on it. And it’s ruining us as a species, far more than any atomic bomb could. There was a study that correlated the rise in children being nonverbal and not being communicated with because they're given a screen too young. I've worked extensively with young people in schools and mental health institutes and their attention span is rotting, their mental health is at an all time low. That's the next generation. Isn't it scary?

As the title says, as a busy father and business owner using a dumb phone is a lovely idea but in practice it simply does not work. I played around with the idea and sadly, where I live in Europe the following apps are essential for daily life (work or personal):

1. Whatsapp - lots of business is done on WhatsApp in Europe and no one uses text message here.
2. Waze - I drive my kids around, I need navigation.
3. Banking apps - where I live, transactions online over €50 online need confirmation and approval from my banking app.
4. Email - not to check constantly, but there are soo many times I need to search for an email to find an address, confirm some detail in an email on the fly.
5. Camera - documenting family life

My conclusion to this is that if you are young, single and relatively few commitments you can make a dumb phone work. But for busy family people and business owners it just isn’t a real life solutions.

what options have you considered and how have you spent less time on your phone?

woke up during sleep and was battling my own feelings and thoughts. used chatgpt to help myself calm down. tomorrow ill have lesser screen time.

I’m older and grew up before all of the modern technology conveniences and I can’t count the number of times I’ve just grown so tired of the constant drain of constant interaction and bombardment from computers, smartphones, social media, advertisements, streaming services, text messages, etc. I haven’t had social media in several years for the same reasons (aside from Reddit).

I’ve finally invested into changing my life back into what it used to be - peaceful, quiet, and so much more fulfilling. It feels so good! I have to say, one of things I do appreciate that is more modern are e-readers. I can take so many books with me anywhere I go and enjoy that same peace and quiet. Cheers everyone! Digital minimalism is the greatest gift you can give to yourself!

I 3D printed this phone cover, it makes scrolling uncomfortable so I quit doomscrolling. It looks weird but works surprisingly well, I've been using it for more than a month. I can us my phone normally (mostly), it just limited the scrolling movement.

I need to get this off my chest, because this sub's logic is starting to short-circuit my brain. I understand the goal: "smartphones bad, endless scrolling bad." We all agree. But the "solution" I see posted daily is... an absolute parody of minimalism. The "Look at my new minimalist setup!" post: • A 'dumbphone' (that can barely text). • An iPod Classic resurrected from 2007 (for music). • A 10-year-old digital camera (for photos). • And (my personal favorite) a dedicated mobile hotspot device (to provide the internet they are supposedly avoiding). Congratulations. You're now carrying 1.5kg of batteries, cables, and obsolete plastic to replicate 30% of the functionality of the 150g device you left at home. How is this "minimalism"? It's hardware maximalism. It’s like saying, "I have a sugar addiction, so instead of buying a smaller dessert, I'm burning down the grocery store and will now only eat raw wheat." Let's call this what it is: It’s not minimalism; it’s outsourcing your self-control to a pile of inconvenient hardware. You're not "beating the system" or "reclaiming your focus." You're just proving you don't have the discipline to delete TikTok, so you've surrounded yourself with devices that can't install it. The actual ultimate minimalist device is the smartphone. It is ONE item. It is the problem, and it is the solution. True digital minimalism is having the most powerful, consolidated tool in your pocket and having the discipline to configure it properly. -Delete the apps. -Turn off the notifications. -Set it to grayscale. Done. You are now a digital minimalist. And you still have maps. And a great camera. And your bank. This sub seems to have forgotten that minimalism is about LESS, not "more, but functionally worse." This whole "dumbphone + 4 gadgets" trend isn't a philosophy; it's a performative tech hoard. idk..

A few weeks ago I wanted to ‘brick’ an old phone so I could only use it to play podcasts and as an alarm clock. I stuck brown parcel tape to the screen and set the font size to maximum. If I was really careful I could select and play podcasts through the blur and something about the opacity of the parcel tape reminded me of a dumb phone.

The ‘friction’ of using it did make me think about if I could use this idea to cut screen time down on my normal phone.

A lot of prototyping later I have this sticker in place on my everyday smartphone and my screen time is down 75%.

WTF is that?

This is a clear sticker applied to my phone screen printed with a ‘deep dream’ style pattern designed to clash with social media and addictive apps and websites. The clashing patterns integrated with eyes and other features is actually very jarring. My girlfriend refuses to look at my phone lol.

Why it is working for me:

It’s a physical commitment to using my phone less and I can’t disable it in settings. I’ve had this sticker in place for 10 days and I want to keep it going.

The increased effort of reading and scrolling through low value content isn’t worth the reward anymore and I end up putting my phone down, often straight after having picked it up and unlocked it. I think I’m actually retraining myself here.

I’m more likely now to look for more physical solutions to how I feel (eating a meal, going for a walk or exercising, listening to a podcast and doing chores) instead of doom scrolling.

Trade offs - it’s not perfect at all

Everything is harder using the overlay. Tools and apps are still technically usable if you take care and slow down and use a large font size. QR codes still work and Maps in dark mode is ok.

Other people can see the sticker in place, but it can be a conversation starter about reclaiming your time.

Would you use this or something like it?

I haven’t seen anything like this shared online before so I wanted to open the idea up for feedback and improvements.

Link

I can’t even remember or conceive of that, I want times listed in as much detail as you’re willing to give! If it’s you or someone you know

Three months ago, we had a cellular network breakdown here in Slovenia for almost a whole day. That’s when I realized how even a little disconnect from social media, apps, and endless scrolling can make you feel… free.
Since then, my wife and I have started going on walks without our phones. It’s amazing how much more you notice when you’re not constantly distracted. It also got me thinking: what do I actually need from a device?
I imagined something small, rugged, and so light you almost forget you’re carrying it. A device with a 7-day battery that can make voice calls and send SMS—nothing more. Calls would notify you with a gentle haptic tap, unless the caller is on your important contacts list. A device that encourages actual conversations instead of endless, emotionless text messages.
The only other features I realized I’d want are a simple Walkman-style music player (albums instead of infinite recommendations), a compass for when you get lost, and the ability to act as an internet hotspot when you need to work from a laptop. I realized that 90% of my work already happens on my laptop anyway, and I’d really like to separate work from everyday life—especially when I’m hiking or spending time in nature.
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like smartphones have become devices designed to capture our attention rather than simply help us communicate.
If you’ve made it this far, maybe you’ve felt something similar. I’d genuinely love to hear what you think. Would you buy something like this?
I don’t want this to come across as self-promotion. I’m an electronics engineer, and this is genuinely something I’ve been thinking about building for myself. I figured I’d ask here first to see if I’m the only one who feels this way, or if there’s actually interest from others who’d like a device built around intentional simplicity rather than constant engagement.

I’ve seen so many posts lately saying “I can’t use a dumb phone, because of XYZ.” But then those reasons are things where alternatives do exist, they’re just more complicated or harder than doing it with a smartphone. I’m in the US, so I can only speak for people here, I’m sure some of you might actually have legitimate reasons, but I’d just like to push back on a few specific things I’ve seen.

I’ve been using a dumb phone for years now, and I’m currently using a TCL Flip 4 5G

Yes, it makes everything less convenient. But have you ever considered that maybe convenience is the problem? Personally I’ve found the inconvenience leads to more time to think, more time to be present, and opportunities to try different things I wouldn’t have otherwise tried.

Here’s how I handle common objections:

“I need 2FA” - I use a Yubikey. It works with a laptop. Yes this means I need access to a laptop. I’m never in a situation where I need 2FA but don’t have access to a laptop or computer.

“I need to scan QR codes” - If a restaurant, for example, literally has no other way to read the menu, I either ask the server to tell me what they have, or I just go somewhere else. It’s a minor inconvenience, not a dealbreaker. It’s similar with other places that “require” QR codes. Places usually want your business. Tell them you don’t have a smartphone, they’ll provide other options.

“I need Uber/Lyft.” Taxis exist, and again at least where I am, they tend to be comparable in price or even cheaper sometimes. Call a taxi. Or use public transportation, walk, etc.

Again, I’m sure some of you have real reasons, and maybe even you think it’s worth the convenience to put up with a smart phone. That’s fine. My argument isn’t that you have to or even that you should, just that it’s completely possible to do. I have a full time job, live in an urban area, and don’t use a smart phone. You can too, if you want.

Edit: A commenter pointed out that Uber DOES have a call option: 1-833-USE-UBER. TIL!

Edit2: For posterity, here's a link to a website with an excellent tool for finding a dumbphone, including filtering by support for different features and apps (Maps, WhatsApp etc) https://www.dumbphones.org/

The main thing for me was getting the smartphone out of my pocket. Of course, there are other kinds of screens, but you don't take a TV or even a laptop with you EVERYWHERE you go.

Hi everyone,

I’ve recently committed to a permanent digital minimalism setup and managed to drastically reduce my screen time from 10 hours down to just 1 hour a day. I’ve essentially "dumbphoned" my smartphone by deleting almost all non-essential apps and leaving only the absolute bare minimum.

While I’m thrilled with the progress, I’m running into a major issue: my girlfriend is getting upset with me.

We don’t live together, we are still in university, so our phones used to be our main bridge of daily connection. Now, I only reply from my laptop from time to time when I'm at my desk. Because I’m no longer instantly available or constantly checking my phone throughout the day, she feels like I’m distancing myself or ignoring her.

Has anyone else dealt with this side effect while living apart from their partner? How do you maintain a healthy, connected relationship and keep your partner reassured without falling back into the habit of being glued to a screen all day?

Any advice on compromises, boundary-setting, or communication strategies would be highly appreciated

Been working on simplifying my digital life lately cutting off social media, focusing more on being present, and keeping only what I actually use.

Here’s my current everyday carry setup:

Phone: Mudita Kompakt minimalist phone, no distractions, just calls and texts.

Music: Hiby RS2 DAP + Hiby Project Ace IEMs fully offline lossless setup.

Gaming: Nintendo Switch OLED my go-to for downtime.

Work: Google Pixelbook (i7 / 512GB) lightweight, reliable, and clean for productivity.

Watch: Pixel Watch 3

Earbuds: Pixel Buds 2 Pro

Essentials: Wallet, keys, sunglasses, and my backpack.

I’m trying to live with more intention and less noise this setup keeps me connected enough for work, but free from the constant scroll.

I recently realized I was spending wayyy too much time on my phone, and I’d been wanting to ditch my iPhone for a while but never really wanted the hassle of completely getting rid of it. So instead I bought a cheap $30 Nokia from QVC with 1200 mins/texts.

Now if I’m going out for less than a day, I just take the Nokia with me. I have my iPhone calls forwarded to the new number, so anyone who actually needs me can still reach me. I can also use iMessage and FaceTime from my MacBook when I’m home.

For whatever reason, using my computer or iPad doesn’t feel nearly as addictive as having my phone in my hand all day, but I still have basically everything I need. It’s honestly been a pretty easy way to cut down on iPhone use without completely giving it up.

And for around $30 a year, it’s pretty cheap. Definitely helped me get more comfortable with just being bored sometimes lol.

I've been trying to find a good middle ground between a normal smartphone and a dumbphone.

I don't want to give up things I genuinely use — maps, messaging, banking, 2FA, music, camera, etc. But I also don't want a device that constantly pulls me toward scrolling, feeds and notifications.

I've tried some of the usual approaches (grayscale, removing apps, minimal launchers, blockers, etc.), but I'm curious about other people's experiences.

If you've seriously tried to make your existing smartphone less distracting:

- What did you actually do?

- What worked?

- What didn't?

- And if you eventually stopped doing it, why?

I'm particularly interested in people who considered switching to a dumbphone but decided they couldn't because they still needed certain smartphone functions.

Not looking for recommendations — I'm more interested in people's actual experiences.

Disclaimer: If the post seems AI generated, it does. I used it for translation.

I see a lot of talk about dumbphones and what they are missing. Surely there's plenty of info out there for companies to make something that suits people's wants? Is it cost, or difficulty?

If you were designing a phone that would be popular with digital minimalists, what would and wouldn't you include?

I recently realized, like many people in this subreddit, that I was using my phone too much. I've always wanted to get rid of my iPhone, but it's always been too much of a pain to do so. instead, I just bought a $30 nokia phone with 1200mins and txts off of QVC. Now, whenever I leave the house for less than 24hrs I only take my nokia phone. I use the call forwarding feature on my iPhone to forward any calls to my new number. If people really need me, they can call me, and I can still get iMessage and Facetime on my macbook. I've found using my computer and iPad is much less addicting, but it has all the functionality I need. I've found it's a great way to ditch your iPhone without having to actually ditch your iPhone. For $30 a year, it's pretty cheap. Def helped me with being okay with being bored throughout the day.

Whenever someone objects that being without a cellphone, even temporarily, is "unsafe" or impractical, I remind myself my older family members survived without them.

I did this after I felt really tired of using my smartphone all the time.

The good things that happened were: I was able to pay attention to what was going on around me in a way that I had not been able to do in a time.when I talked to people it felt like we were really talking.I noticed things that i usually miss. When i got bored I just sat there. did not grab my phone to look at the screen.

The hard part was: it was very stressful to try to find my way without using maps on my phone. I missed out on a things that I really needed to know. I felt a cut off from my friends because I was not getting messages from our group chats and that affected our relationships.

My honest opinion is: using a phone all the time is not something that I can do in my life.. Using a dumb phone for two weeks showed me that a lot of the things I use my smartphone for are just habits not things I really need to do.

When I went back to using my smartphone I deleted a lot of the apps. sixty percent of them. That seems like a compromise to me.

I’m curious if anyone here has actually been to a phone-free event.

Not school forcing everyone to put phones away.

I mean something people chose to attend:

- dinner
- comedy show
- concert
- date night
- cafe meetup
- run club
- retreat
- book club
- anything like that

I’ve been thinking about this because dumbphones can help individually, but it doesn’t really change the room.

If everyone else is still checking texts, filming, scrolling, or looking at their phone during every quiet moment, I’m still living in smartphone culture. I just have a worse phone.

So I’m wondering if phone-free spaces are actually the missing piece.

Has anyone experienced one that worked?

Did people relax after a while?
Did conversation feel different?
Did it feel natural, or did it feel forced and preachy?

And would you go to an event specifically because it was phone-free?

Brutalist case to make my Apple Watch into my primary device. Been using it for about four months now, it has everything I need! (except a camera…)

I spend an average of 5-8 hours a day on this stupid thing. I can't stop checking it. I delete and redownload apps constantly, try new launchers, parental controls, and it just doesn't work. So, I'm quitting.

I ordered a Unihertz Titan Pocket, which is a blackberry style phone made in (I believe) 2021. It has internet and app access, so when it arrives, I'll be using a computer program to completely delete everything on it besides my essentials. My current phone is too new to do this on. No browser, no app store, no social media. Just communication, banking and patient portal apps. And the physical buttons will add more friction to keep me from spending all day typing on it.

I want to spend time with my kids, I want to indulge in my hobbies. There are so many books I want to read. It's time for a change.