Look around you on the train and everyone is developing neck complaints by constantly looking at their smartphone. The pressure of social media is not for everyone. It is therefore logical that some people choose to put their phone down a little more often: or sometimes even completely. Is there life without a phone? According to the phoneless, there is life without a smartphone.
Advantage: fewer notifications
An average person receives considerably more stimuli per day than fifty years ago. In fact, every time you hear a pling from WhatsApp, for example, a part of your brain seems to become active that becomes sort of addicted to those beeps. The more apps you have (and give permission), the more notifications will arrive on your screen (and in terms of sound). It drives some people crazy, especially if they’re in a lot of group chats that go unmuted. One advantage of going off the phone is that you no longer hear that beeping and feel the need to see what’s going on. Fair is fair, often that is something that can easily wait a few hours (or even a whole life). The end result? More peace of mind.
Disadvantage: you miss updates
Where your friends often exclaim: ‘have you seen x or y on Facebook?’ you have to let it slip in the future that you probably haven’t seen that yet. Of course you can also reach Facebook via the browser, but the chance that you look as much there as on your phone is small. In addition, you will also miss other updates. Without a phone, you also miss WhatsApp, so if your friends plan another fun weekend away, you’ll probably be one of the last to hear what exactly the plan is. There’s also a benefit to not being constantly up to date on everything your friends post: you’ll have a lot more to talk about when you see each other in person.
Advantage: fewer subscriptions
Many people use their phone not only for communication, but also for, for example, watching Netflix, listening to Spotify and other streaming subscriptions. Taken together, these add up considerably when it comes to costs. Unless you’re a heavy consumer of television and use the streaming services there, you might also be able to cancel a few streaming subscriptions without a phone. That saves you money, in addition to the fact that you can cancel your telephone subscription anyway, which also saves a lot of money.
Disadvantage: you are missing a gaming device
Many people have games installed on their phone and if you are a gamer who mainly plays on the phone then you have to look for another way to play games without a phone. That can be on a PC, on a PlayStation or, for example, a Switch. The latter is especially a suitable choice, because it can also function as a handheld. In addition, you can also find many casual games there, if your favorite game is Candy Crush or Mahjong, for example.
Advantage: you find time for other things again
Some people now read posts on Instagram for hours and watch TikTok videos, while without a phone you have more time to read books, study or just have a real life conversation. Chances are that you will develop new hobbies or rediscover old hobbies and that you can do them even more attentively, because you are not distracted by beeps or light up screens. This way you can fully focus on your new/reinvented hobby and that also offers a lot of rest for the brain.
Disadvantage: what if there is an emergency?
Many people like to carry a smartphone with them especially in case of an emergency. If so and you don’t have a phone, how will you be notified? You can choose to contribute an old Nokia instead of a smartphone just to be safe: such an indestructible one, unless you are afraid that you develop a Snake addiction or start texting again. Another option is to have a house phone or to always let someone know where you are, but those options are not ideal. Without a telephone it is quite difficult to always be able to find out immediately if there is an emergency.
Advantage: it saves electricity
Not always having to charge your phone saves power, not having to buy a new phone every two years saves money: in addition to a few of the above, you can save very good money by not having a smartphone. You use less power, which means you work more sustainably than someone who does have a telephone. In addition, you have less chance of fire, because one of the most common reasons for fire is forgotten smartphone chargers in the socket.