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Phone Rant (I hate my phone!!!!)

Okay to start things off I really hate my phone (shocker). Whenever I go on it I feel disgusting. But I can't avoid it. It's how my family reaches me, it's how I talk to my friends, it's how I get directions, it has the weather app, and it has too much crap to get distracted by. I dont even have social media on my phone yet I can still manage to spend 4+ hours on it. Most of it is spent talking to people, but that still feels yucky to me because it doesn't feel like genuine connection.

I really love the idea of having a bunch of single purpose devices, but a part of me feels like that leans a bit into overconsumption. I guess if I only get what I'd use then it wouldn't be too bad. But then again, these devices only really make sense if I were to get rid of my smartphone. Unfortunately, with the way that my lifestyle is, I don't think I would be able to get rid of my smartphone. There is too much convenience and safety that comes along with having a smartphone that I don't think I could realistically give up. And on top of that, with all of the things that require you to scan qr codes or download apps, it makes getting rid of a smartphone practically impossible. Maybe at the stage of life I'm in now I would be able to live without a smartphone, but soon I'm going off to college and I'll need to be able to do most things myself without having my family to rely on.

I really want a way for people to be able to contact me without me getting sucked into my phone when I go to check the notification. I have considered getting a flip phone, but still carrying around a smartphone without a sim card (I can put the sim card from the flip phone into the smart phone) to use when I absolutely need it. But again, that feels impractical and overconsumption-y. I yearn for the simplicity of life before smartphones. Alas how this day and age has made it impossible to live in a way where our relationships with technology are healthy.