How to make it through Flip Phone February

Like all addictions, smartphones replacement has to have a why and a what next. Also, baking!

As we get closer to the start of Flip Phone February, I wanted to offer a space for people to join and write down what they hope to get out of the experience so I created a Flip Phone February Reddit community.

I spoke this morning with the Founder of The Light Phone, Joe Hollier, and he said they have found that one of the main issues people face when trying to adopt the dumber phone after years of smartphone use is the lack of a dopamine rush. Also there's an added level of inconvenience that makes extended use frustrating for people without a bigger goal they want to accomplish through their dumb phone usage.

He said if people have a goal in mind, or a hobby that they want to pick up, it helps them be more successful in their efforts. Maybe they want to read more or start working on model trains - things that take 4-hour blocks of time that are currently being used to doomscroll and engage in X comment battles.

This echoed the conversation that Amir Hamaoui and I had about addiction recovery on The Side Woo - that it's helpful to add not just subtract when it comes to eliminating addiction behaviors from your life.

And so I ask, fellow February Flippers, what are we moving towards?

I am personally moving towards more mindfulness, and the ability to focus more on my art. I want to rediscover my connection to the creative impulse. I feel like I have lost the natural impulse to be inspired anywhere at any time. I wonder if I make more room for boredom as a result of reduced technology if I will be forced to fill my time in other more fun ways. Aka more art-making.

My goal is to only carry a Light phone with me during the month, along with my laptop for work purposes, and then bring a sketchbook with some pens and colored pencils to do some more drawing outside or while I'm waiting for things instead of scrolling. This is a practice I used to have in my 20s but somehow felt I was too adult or sophisticated for such an old-fashioned practice. Or maybe that was still a time that I didn't have a smartphone. (Hmmm it's all starting to add up.)

I fully admit that I was a little snobby about the idea of drawing in cafes again because it felt too quaint or like what people expect of artists, but I'm going to eat my pride and admit that I would benefit from being more spontaneous with my art. And it might even be fun.

What are you going to move towards? Feel free to try out the same technique or share below to give people ideas about possible avenues for exploration. Also, join me on Reddit to follow along on all the excitement. Or lack thereof.

Also, here's a link to the Light Phone community on Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/LightPhone/ I will be talking to Joe on my podcast in early February and will share more details here and on the FPF Reddit page.

Full disclosure, they are sending me a free phone for this experiment. It was my phone of choice anyway, but because they are currently sold out, I probably wouldn’t have gotten one in time. Thank you Light Phone people for sponsoring my crazy experiment!