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The people deciding to ditch their smartphones

By Suzanne Bearne
Business reporter

Published
13 hours ago

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Friends on their smartphones Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
One study suggests we spend almost five hours a day on our smartphones

In a world where many of us are glued to our smartphones, Dulcie
Cowling is something of an anomaly - she has ditched hers.

The 36-year-old decided at the end of last year that getting rid of her
handset would improve her mental health. So, over Christmas she told
her family and friends that she was switching to an old Nokia phone
that could only make and receive calls and text messages.

She recalls that one of the pivotal moments that led to her decision
was a day at the park with her two boys, aged six and three: "I was on
my mobile at a playground with the kids and I looked up and every
single parent - there was up to 20 - were looking at their phones, just
scrolling away," she says.

"I thought 'when did this happen?'. Everyone is missing out on real
life. I don't think you get to your death bed and think you should have
spent more time on Twitter, or reading articles online."

Ms Cowling, who is a creative director at London-based advertising
agency Hell Yeah!, adds that the idea to abandon her smartphone had
built up during the Covid lockdowns.
Dulcie Cowling Image source, Dulcie Cowling
Image caption,
Dulcie Cowling plans to use the time gained from ditching her
smartphone to read and sleep more

"I thought about how much of my life is spent looking at the phone and
what else could I do. Being constantly connected to lots of services
creates a lot of distractions, and is a lot for the brain to process."

She plans to use the time gained from quitting her smartphone to read
and sleep more.

About [62]nine out of 10 people in the UK now own a smartphone, a
figure broadly replicated across the developed world. And we are glued
to them - [63]one recent study found that the average person spends 4.8
hours a day on their handset.

Yet for a small, but growing number of people, enough is enough.

Alex Dunedin binned his smartphone two years ago. "Culturally we have
become addicted to these tools," says the educational researcher and
technology expert. "They are blunting cognition and impeding
productivity."
A man watching a video on a smartphone Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Your smartphone can do so many things that using it to make calls is
almost an afterthought

Mr Dunedin, who lives and works in Scotland, says another reason behind
his decision was environmental concerns. "We are wasting exponential
amounts of energy producing exponential amounts of CO2 emissions," he
says.

He has become happier and more productive since he stopped using a
smartphone, he says. Mr Dunedin doesn't even have an old-fashioned
mobile phone or even a landline anymore. He is instead only
electronically contactable via emails to his home computer.

"It has improved my life," he says. "My thoughts are freed up from
constantly being cognitively connected to a machine that I need to feed
with energy and money. I think that the danger of technologies is that
they are emptying our lives."

Lynne Voyce, a 53-year-old teacher and writer from Birmingham, has
moved in the opposite direction - she started using a smartphone again
last August after a break of six years.

She says she was reluctantly compelled to buy one again due to having
to deal with QR codes in restaurants, and so-called Covid passports,
plus making it easier to keep in touch with one of her daughters who
lives in Paris.
Lynne Voyce Image source, Lynne Voyce
Image caption,
Lynne Voyce got rid of her smartphone to encourage her daughters to use
their own phones less

But she plans to give up it up again, if she can. "After the pandemic,
and when Ella [her eldest daughter] isn't living abroad, I might try
and give it up again. It sounds like an addiction, doesn't it?"

When Ms Voyce first abandoned her smartphone back in 2016 it was to
help encourage her daughters to reduce the time they spent on their
handsets.

"They were glued to their phones. I thought the only way to stop it was
to get rid of my own phone. And it made all the difference.

"For example, we'd got to a restaurant, and they would no longer see me
pick up my phone."

Not having a smartphone "took a lot of pressure off my brain" she says,
"I didn't feel like I had to instantly answer things or be available
when out".

Yet, while some worry about how much time they spend on their handset,
for millions of others they are a godsend.

"More than ever, access to healthcare, education, social services and
often to our friends and family is digital, and the smartphone is an
essential lifeline for people," says a spokesperson for UK mobile
network Vodafone.

"We also create resources to help people get the most from their tech,
as well as to stay safe when they're online - that's hugely important."
NHS Covid-19 app Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Smartphones proved very import during the coronavirus pandemic

However, Hilda Burke, a psychotherapist and author of The Phone
Addiction Workbook, says there is a strong link between heavy device
usage and relationship issues, quality of sleep, our ability to switch
off and relax, and concentration levels.

"Many people have a constant drip feed of requests coming their way via
their device, many with a false sense of urgency.

"They feel unable to lay boundaries down, with the result that they
feel compelled to check their emails and messages last thing at night
and first thing in the morning."

If getting rid of your smartphone seems too much but you are concerned
that you spend too much time on it, there are other measures you can
take to reduce your usage.

While it might initially seem counterintuitive, more apps are emerging
to curtail mindless scrolling.

For example, Freedom lets you temporarily block apps and websites so
you can focus more. And Off The Grid enables you to block off your
phone for a certain time period.
Presentational grey line
New Tech Economy

[64]New Tech Economy is a series exploring how technological innovation
is set to shape the new emerging economic landscape.
Presentational grey line

Ms Burke says it would be useful if more people monitored how much time
they spend on their smartphone. "Starting to realise exactly how much
time you're frittering away each day on your phone can be a powerful
wake-up call and catalyst for change."

She also advises carving out short periods when you have your phone
switched off or left at home, and gradually increase the wait period
till you check it again.

Finally, she recommends choosing an image or a word that represents
what you would rather be doing - if only you had more time - as your
phone's screensaver.

"Considering most of us check our phones 55 times per day and some of
us even 100 times, this is a great visual reminder of a more valuable
way to spend your precious time," she says.

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