While knowing about the latest TikTok feud or celebrity couple makes for a great conversation starter, I wondered if my 80-year-old self would really care …. probably not. It was more than that. I found myself endlessly scrolling TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for hours. I was wasting so much time doing nothing.
Everyone says your 20s are the best time of your life. Celine and Jesse were 23 when they met in Before Sunrise, and the gang in Friends only reached 30 in the seventh season. I decided I wasn’t going to waste my 20s staring at a phone. I was going to use this time to make my future self proud.
As a solution, I got a flip phone. I leave my original phone at home all day and just carry my handy little flip phone around. While the camera may not have the same resolution as the newest iPhone, and it doesn’t come with my Spotify playlists, I can still take retro-looking photos of my friends and tune in to the radio as I walk around town.
By removing the temptation to doomscroll on my phone every 10 minutes, I have tremendously increased my productivity and no longer have to feel hopelessly jealous of other people posting from sunny beaches whilst I’m sat in the library on a rainy day. Ditching my phone has also given me more time to spend with friends, start new hobbies and learn new skills; for example, I’ve already read 2 books and even started to learn how to juggle. At each day’s end, I feel much more accomplished, fulfilled and relaxed.
I won’t deny my original phone is how I stay in touch with my friends and family. However, I can still do this by using my original phone to reply to messages at the very end of each day. But, otherwise, it’s turned off and tucked away safely in my bedroom all day.
I have thoroughly enjoyed using my new flip phone and won’t be switching back to my original phone anytime soon. Therefore, I highly recommend taking a trip back to the early 2000s and getting one for yourself to try as well!