To a some extent, I failed. I failed to update my blog in time too. Anyways, better late than never. Here is my experience on an attempt on Giving up my smartphone and using a Jiophone (feature phone).
Initial days
I missed my smartphone really bad. Using T9 keypad was horrible. I freaked out everytime I waited for a consucative letter on a same key, you know, like when you type g and then if you want to type i you have to wait till phone takes g as an input. Most of the time I could not wait and ended up waiting more. Sometimes, I tried to operate by touching the screen. Given the small size of the Jiophone, tapping my pocket to verify I got the phone with me made me skip a heartbeat sometimes.
After a week
I still struggle to type, hence I started responding with a voice recording. It was unconvinient for others though. Navigation never worked and I don’t function without it. Making eye contact is still hard and I reckon it is going to stay that way.
There was some positives too. I was not seating for hours on a toilet seat going through YouTube’s suggestion. I slept early, had nothing to do on the bed. A phone call never interrupted a YouTube video and hence got answered most of the time with more involvement in the conversation. And the battery life man, two or thee days without charging.
After a month
I am dependent on others to order food or a cab, which is kind of okay given you are not alone. I can not make online payment on the go. Directions are pain, I am not good with them, I never was and I miss Google Maps. I discovered I prefer a message over phone call when I am requesting something and typing over feature phone is still terrible.
Falling back to my smartphone
I started missing my smartphone very badly. Thinking I got rid of my addiction, I decided to switch back to my smartphone. Initialy, I was under control as my phone usage was maxing out on 90 minutes. But soon, the control was lost, at least some of it.
Current situation
I failed to give up the smartphone. I think smarphone is essential part of our life now and failing to get rid of it is inevitable for most of us. Still this experiment is worth a try. Though my phone usage is not there where I would have liked it to be, it is significantly less than what it used to be. And I will pat my back for that. Thanks for reading. Bye.