Category Archives: #GOINGLIGHT

#aphoneforhumans, #GOINGLIGHT, #mentalhealth

GOING LIGHT PART 4 – FIRST DAY WITH THE LIGHT PHONE 2

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At the end of my first day with the Light Phone 2… here are my thoughts:

  1. I do feel instantly ‘lighter’. Knowing that I cannot check my social media, email, etc. seems to have helped keep my mind present and less cluttered/busy. My thoughts aren’t wondering to all that ‘stuff’… at least not as much as before. Honestly, it’s a relief to not have access to social media at all times
  2. Years of using a smart phone have conditioned me to the way it works. Using a new interface is going to take some getting used to.
  3. I really, really, really like the simplicity and ‘calmness’ of the Light Phone 2 screen compared to the stimulating busyness of my smart phone.
  4. Smart phones are really easy to text on… again, it’s going to take some time to get used to the new screen and lack of predictive text.
  5. So far (early days, I know!) I’m incredibly glad that I’ve made this change.

A little anecdote… I went to a local coffee shop today and was struck by how many people were in there staring at their phone screens. Inwardly, I felt happy to not be doing that anymore. This positive feeling put a little skip in my step as I left with my espresso, happy to be #goinglight.

GOING LIGHT… DAY 1. I’M LOVING IT!
#aphoneforhumans, #GOINGLIGHT, #mentalhealth

GOING LIGHT PART 3 – WHAT AND WHY

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So let’s get down to this.

What is the Light Phone? The Light Phone 2 is a phone designed for people who want to disconnect from all the digital busyness. It’s for people who find themselves distracted by their smart phone and want to be more present in whatever it is that they might be doing. It basically makes/receives calls and messages.

Why get a Light Phone? There is a rapidly growing school of thought that all this digital connectivity might not be good for us (some of us). Perhaps the ability to access all of this ‘stuff’ via our phones is adding negative noise to our minds. I won’t go into detail on this topic, but I highly recommend Matt Haig’s book – Notes On A Nervous Planet where he talks about this at length.

“It’s great to be able to move away from the Smart Phone world, but still keep an aesthetically pleasing device.”DSC02690-Edit

The Light Phone is beautiful… well in my opinion. It has a sleek, modern-looking design. I love it’s simplicity. It’s great to be able to move away from the Smart Phone world, but still keep an aesthetically pleasing device. Previously, I thought that moving to a phone of this type would require getting a device from the 90’s or early 2000’s. Of course, there’s a certain pleasing retro vibe to that option too. Thanks to the Light Phone 2, you have options!

Ordering one is simple. Their website http://www.lightphone.com is as simple as their phone. It took me about 5 minutes to complete my order. Their company is in the good old U.S.A. and I live in Canada. The phones costs $350 U.S., and this converted to about $500 Canadian. It arrived FAST! I placed my order on a Thursday night and it arrived Tuesday morning!I will say though that I had to pay $50 Canadian duty upon receiving it. It does say on their site that you are responsible for any local duties.

The phone comes simply, but pleasingly packaged. It arrives packaged in a book. Plastics are kept to a minimum. A charging cable is provided and this plugs into a USB port to charge. The phone is unlocked, leaving it up to you to choose a provider. Switching my plan to one without data saved me over $20 a month compared with my previous plan. The phone doesn’t work on every network, but at www.thelightphone.com you can search your country and find a list of all compatible providers.

Phone arrived. New provider chosen and signed up with. Monthly phone bill reduced. Ready to go…

DSC02705-Edit

 

#aphoneforhumans, #GOINGLIGHT, #mentalhealth

GOING LIGHT part 2 – ‘stuff’ math

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“But if you’re buying a new phone, isn’t that just more stuff?”

Very true. In my quest to disconnect from the tech I, ironically, need to buy new tech – a new phone (more stuff).

So I came up with a plan. Sell stuff that I already own. Use this new money to buy the new phone. Apps such as ‘Kijiji’ and ‘Let Go’ enable you to sell things that you no longer need. So, that is what I did.

A Light Phone 2 costs about $500 Canadian. How did this translate in terms of selling stuff that I already own? Here’s the breakdown:

  • 1 guitar amplifier that I no longer use (I have 4)
  • 1 ten year old flat screen T.V. (I have 3 T.V.s for some reason)
  • 1 never opened rodent cage.
  • 1 snowboard (I own 2 for some reason)
  • 1 vacuum cleaner (yep, I own 2 for some reason)
  • 1 blues driver guitar pedal (I have way more pedals than feet)

6 items of stuff sold. 1 new item of stuff to be purchased (Light Phone 2). I have reduced my overall stuff by 5! Stuff math rocks!

It took about 6 weeks to sell all of these things. I saved the cash at home until I had enough to buy the phone. I took the complete amount to the bank, deposited it, returned home, and ordered my Light Phone 2.

Well it wasn’t quite 100K, but I did pay the bank!
#GOINGLIGHT, #mentalhealth

GOING LIGHT part 1… digitally disconnecting

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We like stuff…

Make stuff.

Buy stuff.

Make faster, shinier, more impressive stuff.

Buy new stuff.

STUFF. STUFF. STUFF.

Replace the word stuff with items of your choosing… Make car. Buy car. Make faster, shinier, more impressive car. Buy new car. What other stuff do we do this with? Phone? Computer? Shoes? Underwear? Pretty much everything?

Some stuff we buy and use. Some stuff we buy and don’t use. Some stuff breaks fast. Some stuff lasts forever(ish).

I’m newly bothered by the stuff, even though there is a lot of stuff that I like… guitar stuff, skateboard stuff, biking stuff, art stuff, power tool stuff, stuffy stuffy stuff stuff. Had enough of the word ‘stuff’ yet? I usually end up buying more stuff than I actually need (as my wife likes to say, “How many guitars can you play at once?”) One bit of stuff in particular bothers me lately… my ‘smart’ phone. It’s one bit of stuff that can do loads and loads of stuff. It makes me smarter via its instant access to the internet. Its G.P.S. prevents me from getting lost. It keeps me up to date on the glorious lives of my friends and family thanks to instant social media access. It is a camera that is always with me, a book of addresses and phone numbers, a calendar, a mobile TV, a whole stack of newspapers, and my entire music library. But I don’t like it. I’ve started to ask myself – why do I need all this stuff on my phone? Why do I need it with me all the time?

It’s convenient, yes! But, what bothers me is that my mobile smart device has become a digital distraction. I find myself distracted from the people around me… checking social media accounts, reading emails, watching funny videos, playing a game, or watching a show. Have you ever had that realization that you are out for dinner with family/friends and you are all busy on your devices instead of enjoying each other’s company? I have. I don’t want to be distracted anymore. I want to be present.

So begins my plan – Get rid of the smart phone. Get a simple/dumb phone. See what sort of an impact this has on my life.

I have chosen to go with the Light Phone 2. It is a sleek , modern-looking phone that only does phone calls and messages. Well, it also allows you to set an alarm, use a calculator, and in the future it might allow you to play some music too. But, no apps. No YouTube. No social media. No camera. No games. No email. No INTERNET!!

I’m not giving up social media, YouTube, and all that other stuff. I’ll just do it at a computer, at a time of my choosing. I’m admitting to a lack of will power when it comes to looking at my phone, but fear not, there will still be pictures of my dogs on Instagram!

I’m not saying that everyone should do this. I might even end up hating it myself! There will be advantages and disadvantages to this choice. I’m just going to give it a try and see what happens. And for those who are interested, I’ll blog about the experience here.