I turned my phone into a dumb phone

I’m tired of my phone! I want to throw it in the trash! But I also use it to call people I love and, less importantly, it’s a flashlight. So a few weeks ago, I turned it into a dumb phone.

First, I made a mental list of the things I actually needed my phone to do.

And the things I want my phone to do.

I already know what I don’t want.

I know, I just said I need to take 400 photos a day - I just don’t want to be looking at them all day.

And none of these fun things are as addicting, now that my phone is in grayscale.

I also put the font on the largest setting. You know when you sit next to someone on a plane and see that their phone is in font size 90? Now that’s me you’re sitting next to.

Here’s my home screen, and the screen that shows up when you swipe to the side.

The phone can do nothing else! Do I like it? I don’t know. I wrote this post a week ago, a few days after I set this system up. I’m hoping that writing this a week in advance will make me stick with it.

What do you absolutely need a phone for? Do you appreciate the whimsy of getting lost? Did you grow up with a phone? I’d like to hear about your grayscale phone, or your screentime rules for yourself, or your enjoyment of the internet without any limits at all. Do you have a favorite rendition of Hello Dolly?

Thanks for being here, in gray scale or whatever scale you’re in today. I hope your week is full of phone calls from your favorite people and a thousand things you want to take photos of.