While dumbphones help, they are tools at the end of the day. I love my dumbphone, but I know that adopting offline makes a larger difference than switching to a basic device.
JOSE BRIONES
Jose Briones is the dumbphone guru advocating for simpler devices and trying to get offline more. He makes a good point. It is not enough to remove smartphones and social media from your life. You need to replace them with offline options. Without these offline options, you will find a hole that online will inevitably fill again. Here are my personal options for developing an offline existence.
1. Terrestrial radio
I usually go online in the evening when I can fry my damaged brain and pass out from the exhaustion. I am going to bed anyway, so this schedule allows the least amount of disruption to my day. My online time goes from my email to Google News to my Inoreader account. I have given up doom scrolling YouTube videos as the scrolling causes me nausea.
The internet took the place of the newspaper and magazines in my life. I don't do social media, so I don't experience the addiction anymore. For me, the internet is like thumbing through a magazine at the doctor's office. I can take it or leave it.
I have found that my top source for news is listening to the radio. I try and catch The Fox News brief at the top of the hour. Our local stations in town carry it. The rest of the time I listen to talk radio before listening to music. We have a radio in the kitchen, and I have an old Sony Walkman I listen to in the bedroom while I am lying down. I love radio.
Smartphones have the capability of receiving FM radio broadcasts but virtually none have a tuner built in. They will put a camera and a GPS in the thing but not a terrestrial radio. They have apps for that, but that just runs up the bill for the data. I think this is done on purpose.
I used to listen to podcasts, but I find that there are too many podcasts for the hours you have in a day. I will do a single serving of a podcast if the topic or guest is compelling. This is a rare thing. I am grateful for the Joe Rogan clips on YouTube. It saves me from listening to the whole thing which is mostly garbage.
2. Slow reading
I read books made from dead trees. I have an ancient Kindle, but I prefer a real book to an e-book. I read a chapter each night and can easily cover a book each month. I don't do binge reading. This is the number one habit for having an offline existence. Books will change your life.
3. Pencil and paper
My flip phone has a note taking tool, and I started using it when I didn't have a pencil handy. It takes longer to use that digital tool than having a notebook. When ideas hit me, I try to record them as quickly as I can before I forget them. This blog post began as one of those notes. I strongly believe in pencil and paper for the creative person. After that, the computer is just a typewriter with a screen. The real genius happens offline in my head.
Mr. Peasant On His Homemade Pocket Notebooks
4. Going outside
I strongly believe in going outside each day even if it is just for ten minutes sitting on your back step. This would be going outside without the smartphone or earbuds or air pods. Those things ruin the experience. You want to be still and quiet for a bit. People have lost the ability to be bored because of their constant distractions. This is unfortunate because boredom is when the magic begins. I find being outside to be rejuvenating and invigorating.
Conclusion
I am not big on advocating sports and hobbies because I find people today just turn that into fodder for social media and YouTube. Plus, hobbies cost money. I listened to a podcast recently with Yvon Chouinard who said he reads three newspapers each day and listens to NPR. As far as I know, he doesn't use a smartphone or go online. The man is a billionaire and spends his days fly fishing. Without a doubt, the man has an offline existence, but he remains informed. I think his example should inspire the rest of us to develop a similar offline existence.