There are probably better days to get a device designed to keep you off your phone than the day you lose your job.
But mine arrived on exactly that day.
I’ll share more about life since then (I promise) in another post, but for now I want to talk about my relationship with my smartphone and social media, what drove me to buy a Brick, and how my life has (or hasn’t) changed since.
Why did I buy a Brick?
I’ve gone through so many phases in how I feel about my phone and social media over the years.
Sure, I see the benefits sometimes, but for the most part, I’m in the camp of wishing for yesteryear, when the phone was attached to the wall, and we were all a little bit unavailable.
Can you imagine that now? Leaving the house and being unreachable? No texts, no last-minute cancellations, no DMs… sounds freeing, right?
On the other hand, being out in the world with no way to reach anyone might be too much and, frankly, unsafe.
There has to be a balance.
Over the years, especially recently, I’ve caught myself doing all the things you’re not supposed to do, such as:
- Reaching for the phone without having a reason to
- Checking notifications that weren’t important (or even there)
- Opening social media apps with no intention
- Getting sucked into scrolling (I truly hate this) & wondering where the time went
- Checking email when I don’t need to
- Picking up the phone when there are other things I should be focusing on
I started to notice that I was not only wasting a lot of time on my phone, but I was also experiencing negative feelings as a result.
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The Bitter Lemon 