A growing number of people are trading in their smartphones for ‘dumbphones’ that only call and text to avoid entering ‘zombie mode’.
The simple devices have skyrocketed in popularity; last year 2.8 million were sold to people in the US and report feeling calmer and more present in their everyday lives.
A California woman told DailyMail.com she made the switch after realizing she’d spent the entire summer on her smartphone, saying she could barely remember the time – she even forgot where she walked her dog.
Caroline Cadwell explained that switching to a dumbphone was impractical at first, but later became liberating.
“Space and time, that’s how I would describe it. It’s amazing how much your relationships can gain when you give it up,” she said.
Companies like Dumbwireless sell the simple devices to smartphone users who are addicted to smartphones. In addition, more and more anti-smartphone organizations are trying to restrict the use of the devices, especially among children.
Activists point to statistics such as the fact that the advent of smartphones appears to coincide with a rise in rates of depression and anxiety – which rose more than 50 percent between 2010 and 2019.
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Cadwell spent 15 years working at high-growth startups in Barcelona and San Francisco before leaving a job due to burnout — and realizing her smartphone was the problem.
“I left a job because I was burned out and spent almost three months in what I would describe as zombie mode,” she said.
“It was summer and I can barely remember — I did nothing. It wasn’t until I was almost done with this time and feeling better that I started thinking about what I could control about my burnout, and the biggest contributing factor was a lack of boundaries with work.”
Previously, she had felt the need to always be available, even if she called at 11 p.m.
But Cadwell didn’t realize the extent of her addiction until she couldn’t remember where she’d walked her dog because she was constantly responding to Slack messages.
She said switching to a dumbphone was impractical at first, but later became liberating.
“Space and time, that’s how I would describe it. It’s amazing how much your relationships can gain by giving it up,” Cadwell said.
She has launched a product called Unpluq, which locks apps on smartphones so people use them healthier.
Cadwell said users spend an average of 72 minutes less per day on their phones.
“I think people are starting to wake up to the dangers of social media and smartphones in a big way – very few people would argue that they are 100% GOOD for us, or that social media is ONLY good,” she continued.
‘Is there room for more people to take more action? Absolutely, and we’re starting to see that, but I think the younger generations will lead the way in having a different relationship with their smartphones from the start.”
Stay-at-home mom and freelance editor Christina Dinur switched to a “dumbphone” after being inspired by a friend who gave up her smartphone because it distracted her from her kids.
‘I’ve been feeling this way for a while, but I didn’t know what to do about it. I failed to set healthy limits on my smartphone use, but buying a dumbphone seemed radical to me,” said Milwaukee-based Dinur.
“Talking to my friend about her experiences gave me the courage I needed to finally make this change.”
Dinur further explained that she was inspired by Jonathan Haidt’s book ‘The Anxious Generation’, which links the advent of smartphones to a rise in anxiety among young people.
“The book convinced me that kids shouldn’t have smartphones or social media, but the elephant in the room was my own smartphone addiction,” she said.
“I didn’t see how I would have a leg to stand on if I said ‘no’ to my kids asking for a smartphone when they saw me glued to my smartphone all the time. That’s solved with a dumbphone.’
Not having a smartphone was easier than expected, Dinur said — and she doesn’t regret it at all, even when she has to jot down directions on a notepad before leaving the house.
‘I feel so unburdened. I really struggled with self-control around my smartphone. I would constantly pick up my phone to check my email and social media, even though there was rarely anything interesting to see,” the mother explained.
‘With the dumbphone I no longer have that option and it is a relief. I feel much calmer and more present in the physical world around me, especially with my children.’
Dinur said she still uses social media on a laptop, but only checks a few times a day rather than constantly.
“Even when I log in for the first time in many hours, there’s still rarely anything interesting to see there, which really drives home what a waste of time it was when I checked it on my smartphone dozens of times a day,” she continued.
Dinur explained that giving up her smartphone has increased her attention span and allowed her to read more books – and spend more time with her family.
Now part of the Smartphone Free Childhood US movement, she makes sure her three- and five-year-olds don’t grow up with unhealthy digital habits.
Smartphone Free Childhood operates through WhatsApp groups in many US states and works with local government and school boards to limit children’s smartphone use.
“Many adults do not have a very healthy relationship with their smartphones. So why would we think that these devices would be useful for children, when their brains and impulse control are still very much developing,” Dinur said.
Stephen Kurczy, author of “The Quiet Zone,” traveled to Green Bank, Virginia — a town with no cell phone coverage due to nearby radio telescopes — and realized that it was clear that many people were experiencing “withdrawal.”
The book examines our relationships with smartphones through the prism of a city where every wireless transmission is tightly controlled.
“While working on ‘The Quiet Zone,’ I talked to many people and heard stories of so many more experiencing withdrawal symptoms while visiting Green Bank, West Virginia, where there is legally no cell service,” he said .
“Younger people seem to get confused when they realize their phone isn’t working,” one local resident told me.
‘Even after visitors have been told that there is no mobile reception in the quiet zone, they instinctively continue to check their devices, like an uncontrollable tap.
“And there’s research to support that idea: People touch their smartphones more than 2,600 times a day.”
While writing the book, Kurczy said his wife was constantly checking her iPhone, until after about a week she began to adjust to the slower pace of life.
“It was a liberation for her,” he said.
Kurczy hasn’t personally given up owning a smartphone because he’s never owned one.
“It’s a way to create a little bit of peace in my life. A lot of research now shows that people are happier and more productive when we’re not online all the time. I understand that a lot of people need smartphones for work or whatever,” the author explained.
“But I’ve found a way to live without it, and I want others to have that option too. I have two kids now, and I’ll be damned if they’re going to get a phone anytime soon.”
He chose never to buy a smartphone, because he found it difficult enough to set limits on the use of his laptop.
“I know I wouldn’t have the willpower to not overuse a smartphone,” Kurczy said.
“For example, today I was cooling off at a pond with my two kids and decided it would be fun to buy a new beach rake.
‘If I had a smartphone at that moment, I would have logged into Amazon and started scrolling for the best rake, and quickly gotten lost in a wormhole of rake, texts, emails, news alerts… Luckily, I was able to stay in the moment with my kids. It’s so hard to be in the moment in general.\
‘Smartphones make it even more difficult.’