Friday Fun: Phone-free Friday 📵

[Dreamsuite Mike]

Having turned 40 in April, I recently came out of the other side of my mid-life crisis this year.  I managed to avoid some of common side effects like buying a sports car or motorbike😀. 

I did however come to realise that there is not a single thing in life more valuable than time and set out on a mission to live each and every day with a newfound urgency.

I have to STOP wasting time, something that I am an expert in.

One of my biggest time wasters is my phone.  It took a lot of soul searching to admit 
"I am addicted"
I don't use my phone, my phone uses me.    

A quick addiction test. 

If you use your phone whilst you're using the toilet without a seconds thought about how gross that is, you are indeed addicted...

The hardest part is admitting it so now I am doing something about it: Up to now I have:

• Removed all apps that don't give me anything
• Disabled all notifications except calls and old school SMS messages
• Moved my phone charger to a corner of the bedroom so it is not within my reach when I'm in bed
• Keep my phone in a different room when working
• I started wearing a watch (first time since the year 2000) so I am not dependent the phone for time
• Have no phone rule when meeting friends and family

My addiction is reasonably mild but younger generations have it really bad

I think back to my very first phone, in 1999.  The legendary Nokia 5110. 

Was I much different back then?  I spent hours calling people with my free minutes, I was crazily trying hacks to get free SMS and wasted hours playing snake

So, my questions for you are:

1. What was your very first phone and what was its most addictive feature?
2. What app on your phone:
   1. Do you waste the most amount of time on?
   2. Can you not live without?
3. Here's the challenge...Will you join in with phone-free Friday, starting right now?!
   1. Put the phone in another room, in your bag, locked in your drawer. Out of sight, out of mind...
   2. Report back how many hours you managed to be phone-free for...

[Trudy Claspill]

Great topic, @Dreamsuite Mike 

I long for the days when cell phones were not considered an integral part of our lives. There is an unhealthy (IMHO) universal expectation that people are always reachable now. 

Cell phones are so ubiquitous now that you didn't even actually say this post was about cell phones. :-D

I don't remember what my first cell phone was anymore, but it was before the age of "smart" phones, and even before clam shell cell phones.

I generally don't use app on my phone except when needed, such as the map/directions apps. I don't apps that are just for fun.

I wish I could ditch my phone for a whole day. Unfortunately I cannot.

1. I have to use my phone for MFA to access work applications, so I can't go phone-free on work days.

2. I have elderly parents, and so must have my phone in case they have an emergency.

I will say that it took me years to succumb to the lure of having a cell phone. I finally caved in when I started shopping for my first house. It was the only way to ensure that my realtor could reach me reliably.

[Summer Hogan]

Great questions @Dreamsuite Mike! I do not honestly remember my first phone, but the first one I had that I actually liked was the Qualcomm Thin! I think I played lots of crappy games on that phone and I had a hard time concentrating on other things due to all the distractions a phone brings.

As far as your challenge goes, no I will not join your challenge (well at least not this Friday) and here's why: I am going to Phoenix Fan Fusion tomorrow. This is the Phoenix addition of Comicon and the whole thing is accessed through my phone. If I turn my phone off I won't be able to look at my schedule and get to things on time, get my barcode for my photo op with Jeremey Renner, get my barcode for my photo op with James and Oliver Phelps or access any other number of things I need to attend. Maybe next time though...

[Amanda Barber]

My favorite phone was definitely my Blackberry, but I know I had a Nokia before that. I loved customizing ringtones and being reachable (as a teenager, that was amazing!) Now, my phone is always on silent and I hope no one ever calls...my, how the times have changed. 

I was wasting way too much time on Facebook and just had some muscle memory causing me to access the app when I didn't even want to. I recently added the One Sec app which has greatly reduced my mindless app usage! I couldn't live without a messaging app since it's how my 12yo is most likely to communicate with me. It's also how I chat with my family/extended family easily and on a daily basis.

I'll give phone-free Friday a try for a bit. It's still Thursday here in Wisconsin, but I'll give it a whirl!

[Dreamsuite Mike]

So being totally honest, I lasted about 2 hours without it. I'm still a work in progress here 

📱😖😂

[Summer Hogan]

I think we are all a work in progress @Dreamsuite Mike!

[Dan Breyen]

Well, not my personal phone, but for work, we had the old Motorola Cell phone that was a good 4 inches deep.  Oh my.  I had an Orange & Silver candy bar phone.  I have been contemplating going back to a flip phone.  OK.  7 AM Central.  Phone going in the back pack.

[Dan Breyen]

I hate it when someone asks one of those "I should know this questions" and I instinctively grab my phone to get the answer...

[Jimmy Seddon]

Great topic @Dreamsuite Mike!

I do remember my first phone, which was a Sony Ericsson T28

I was in high school when I got it during a time when it was seen as the more convenient way to let my parents know where I was.  I think the flip was it's only real feature as it was a phone.

For my current phone, I think I "waste" the most time on Google looking things up because that's the fastest way to settle debates or get answers in this day and age.  However, I had a similar revelation not long ago and purged a number of apps from my phone that didn't serve a valuable purpose.

Much like @Trudy Claspill, my phone is required for MFA for work applications so I can't put it in another room.  But during the day I hardly look at it except for MFA at this point.

Have a wonderful Friday everyone!

[Craig Nodwell]

Great topic.
Being in my 60's, regardless that I've made a 30+ year career in software and many of those years in Telecom I still firmly believe that the phone belongs on the kitchen wall.
I have a phone, it's only purpose is for 2FA to the office.

I love that I'm the only one in crowds not looking like I'm studying for a math test.

[John Funk]

My first phone was a rotary dial with a long cord.  :-)

I have multiple clients and multiple email logins and multiple calendars. Even multiple laptops to keep some clients separate. So I use my phone to have the only consolidated place I have for all of my calendar appointments. And there's an occasional chess game that happens. 

[Andy Gladstone]

You speak much truth @Dreamsuite Mike! As you and many others have pointed out, the struggle is real. 

My first cell phone (I had the same first phone as @John Funk) was the Motorola Flip Phone. I got it senior year of High School, mostly because I was driving 26 miles each way from home to school and JIC anything happened along the road. Before that I sported a beeper - and still remember the 01134 'hello' message and important 1-4-3. 

 

Today I waste way too much time on my cell phone. The worst offender is the YouTube App, and specifically now with YouTube Shorts it's something I can lay in bed at night and go to sleep at 1AM instead of 11PM because of. Can I delete it... not sure I have the willpower. There are many good (particularly Atlassian Community) channels that I use as a pipeline for information. Maybe I can only use YouTube on my desktop...

OK I DELETED IT! COMMUNITY HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE!!!!

The other thing I must do is move my charger away from my bed. Absolutely. Now. 

Thanks for the inspo!

[Craig Nodwell]

Wife and I still use the all important 1-4-3

[Sayed Bares _ServiceRocket_]

My first phone was Nokia 3310 and used to spend hours on Space Impact. It was my favourite game for a very long time. I hardly use my phone now, I only use it when necessary. I am more addicted to my laptop and PS4. Perhaps I need to limit my laptop usage and PS4 some how.

[Dan Breyen]

Today people are amazed when they find out I don't have unlimited data on my phone...