I admitted I was powerless over my smartphone—that my screen time had become unmanageable. This crucial step of self-awareness led me to the solution: The Light Phone.
Today, as I start using the new Light Phone III, I feel compelled—out of gratitude—to share how the dumbphone lifestyle that The Light Phone, Inc. champions has changed my life for the better, and how I’ve made it work. I started using a Light Phone II in December 2022, and I don’t plan on ever turning back. If there was a smartphone addiction recovery program, I would now have my two-year chip.
Below, I share my experience with smartphone addiction, the strength I’ve gained through using the Light Phone, and the hope it might offer to others. I share in a general way what it used to be like, what happened, and what it is like now.
Experience: My Smartphone Addiction
I knew I was spending too much time on my iPhone. The “screen time ” notifications on my phone made that painfully obvious—sometimes clocking in four to six plus (!) hours in one day. My iPhone buzzed all day with notifications of new emails, texts, calls, offers, headlines—you name it. And the truth was, I did not have the self-restraint to not look.
May average day looked like this:
- Morning: Wake up groggy because I was up late scrolling. Proceed to:
- Check the headlines—Bad news. Feel sad.
- Check my emails—Stress out about the day ahead.
- Open WhatsApp—Scroll through endless messages.
- Check socials—No new likes. Watch an ad.
- Check dating app—Swipe left, swipe right.
- Open my group chat—Laugh at memes.
- Check snow report—Damn, I should have gone skiing.
- Daytime: Time to get some work done!
- Work for 10 minutes. Scroll on iPhone for 10 minutes.
- Repeat.
- Evening: Arrive home from a long day ready to relax. Proceed to:
- Check socials—Scroll through reels. Watch some ads.
- Check dating app—I got a match!
- Open Facebook—Research new match.
- Check the headlines over dinner—Worse news. Get angry!
- Check my emails—Shit, I forgot to respond to that one.
- Open Amazon—Check order status. Buy a hat.
- Open LinkedIn—Respond to messages.
- Check my bank account—Sigh. Scroll through reels—Whoops, it’s 12:30 am, AGAIN!
- Look at “screen time”—Swear I will not do this again.
I knew I had a problem, and I attempted to limit my screen time on my own. Here are some of the methods I tried: Setting time limits for certain apps, turning on airplane mode, not using it in bed, never using it in the morning, putting it in a drawer, only using it during business hours, never using it when I’m with family or friends, downloading apps to restrict usage, reading books about limiting smartphone usage, researching smartphone-free retreats—I could increase the list ad infinitum.
These half-measures availed me nothing. No one pronounced me a smartphone addict. But I could diagnose myself.
The iPhone was always by my side, or in my face. I was anxiously awaiting the next demand from my iPhone: Respond to a text, read an email, buy this product, read this headline, watch this video, check your bank account, do this, do that! The notifications on my iPhone told me what to do. I was a slave to my smartphone.
I needed a solution.
Strength: How I Make It Work
So, I took action—I bought a dumbphone. The solution was finally in my hands. The Light Phone made sense to me: I liked its minimalist design and appreciated that it doesn’t allow any external apps. I knew that level of restraint was exactly what I needed.
Obtaining a dumbphone did not magically solve my screen time problems, I had to take certain steps. Here are the steps that I took:
- I got a new number. I obtained a new number for my Light Phone with an affordable plan offered by Light. I made this my new personal phone number.
- I separated work and personal numbers. The Light Phone was now my personal phone, and I retained the smartphone number for work. Have you recently filled out a form that asked for your work phone and personal phone? The Light Phone allowed me to once again distinguish between the two.
- I told my close personal contacts my new number. I told the people I contact outside of work—my family and friends—that I have a new personal phone, and my old smartphone number is now my work phone only. I told them if they wanted to get in touch with me, they needed to text or call my Light Phone number.
I was now an official dumbphone user. But I still owned iPhone. I had to make a rules to keep me from using it:
- I retain my smartphone for work only. I use my iPhone strictly as a work device. It is now a tool used for work, like my laptop. I think of it as a computer. It stays in the office. When I go home for the day, I lock my phone up with my laptop under my desk. If I’m going on a business trip, I’ll bring the iPhone because it is a work device. For those who work from home, this may require extra restraint, but you can consider locking it in a file cabinet in your home office after you sign off for the day. I have to stay committed. Whenever I bring my iPhone home, I spin right back into the same cycle. I have to dig deep and hold my ground to make sure I didn’t let it back into my personal life.
Then, I sobered up.
- I detoxed from smartphone dopamine: When I first got the Light Phone, I would come home and have the feeling, “Well, what do I do now?” I stared at the wall for a while. I was bored without my iPhone. I missed it. I would wake up in the morning and grab for it, but my sweet iPhone was gone. I thought of my poor iPhone locked away at the office. I wondered who was trying to send me messages. I wondered what emails I was missing. I wondered if I had a new match. I was addicted to the stimulation. It takes some time to adjust—to sober up from a smartphone addiction, to remove that constant dopamine hit. So, I gave it time—I detoxed. And it was worth it. I stopped waking up in the morning regretting what I did last night on my iPhone, just to do it all over again. I was slowly recovering.
But smartphone addiction is cunning, baffling, and powerful. I found ways to replace the dopamine hits with other smart devices. This may not work for all, but I was serious about a lifestyle change and limiting my screen time on all screens, so I took these extra steps:
- I removed LED screens from my home. Once I removed the smartphone from my home, my screen time reduced, but there was a strong pull from other connected devices like my computer. It was easy to get on my computer to doomscroll the same as I did on smartphone. So, my solution was to get an e-ink screen to replace my computer screen. I use an e-ink screen as the external monitor for a Mac Mini. It’s connected to all my work folders—I can check email, access all my work apps, edit spreadsheets, edit word documents, send proposals, and I can even take Zoom calls from it (they are black and white on my end, but no one else notices a difference). It works great, and all the temptation to watch Youtube videos or scan social media videos is removed. It’s not as fun to watch videos on an e-ink screen. This setup allows me to get stuff done from home when I need to.
- I deleted most social media. One of the most liberating things I did, even before getting my first Light Phone, was to delete my personal Facebook and Instagram accounts—it’s a whole separate topic, but consider it. I realized I was mostly watching political arguments unfold, looking at dumb reels, scrolling marketplace, or watching ads. I retain Reddit and Substack for personal use—and that’s enough. I only access them on my computer. I have accounts on Facebook and Instagram for work, but I only access those accounts through Meta Business. I have a LinkedIn account, but it is strictly for work. I realized the process of limiting screen time means limiting my participation in platforms that demand a screen.
Your response to this may be—“What an order, I can’t go through with it!” But do not be discouraged. No one can maintain a complete refrain from smart devices. The point is, that we are willing to try new ways to limit our screen time. If you have decided you want to reduce your screen time and are willing to go any length to do it—then you are ready to take similar steps.
Hope: I Got My Life Back
Transitioning to a dumbphone and limiting my access to smart devices and screens simply gave me my life back. I was painstaking about this lifestyle change, and I was amazed before I was even halfway through. Here are some of the benefits I have enjoyed:
- I won my time back. The new lifestyle gave me back my time. I now had 4+ hours a day freed up. Cutting back my screen time significantly opened up my time. What could I do with all this free time? What a great problem to have.
- I found rewarding replacements: I simply replaced my smartphone. At breakfast, I replaced it for a crossword puzzle. In bed, I replaced it for a book. In the evening, I replaced it for my guitar. On the weekends, I replaced it building things. I used the time I won back to pursue activities that I thought I never had time for. Before I bought my Light Phone II, I wasn’t playing any music, but now I do regularly—I even sometimes play open mics! That wouldn’t have happened without the time the Light Phone gave back to me. I had to force myself away from the quick dopamine hits of the smartphone to finally learn new songs, to read a book, to write stories—and these replacements, I found over time, are much more rewarding.
- I am present: Now, when I spend time with friends and family, I am present. It’s funny now when I am out with friends and family how often they show you something on their phone: “Look at this! Have you seen this video?” It drives me nuts now. Smartphone apps are pros at pulling you from the present. I finally understand the adage: “Yesterday is history (Instagram posts, news apps, bank apps), tomorrow is a mystery (Amazon order status, dating apps, the snow forecast), but today is a gift—that’s why it’s called the present.”
- I don’t see ads: I did not realize until after using the Light Phone the amount of ads that are shown to us on apps –Youtube ads, Facebook ads, LinkedIn ads, promo emails—it’s insane. Ditching the iPhone made me realize how ads were being fed to me at all times: At work, at dinner, on a bike ride, on the toilet—constant ads. As long as I don’t log into social media on my computer, I can go days seeing any ads other than those that I see on billboards or signs outside shops downtown.
- I have more real conversations: The Light Phone II made it difficult to text, and this led me to pick up the phone to call. With the Light Phone III, texting is much easier, but I will continue the habits I built with the Light Phone II and call more.
- I save a lot of money: Although I now pay for an extra phone plan for my Light Phone, I guarantee the Light Phone has saved me from countless impulse purchases because I simply do not see ads. Thousands of dollars annually. I can’t aimlessly scroll Amazon, and notifications don’t pop up saying: “A Deal Picked Just for You!” Buying things is no longer just a click away.
- I removed the smartphone from my favorite activities: I enjoy hiking, backcountry skiing, biking, kayaking, and other outdoor activities, and I had map apps and stat trackers for all of those. I would be out in the wilderness on a trail but still looking at my phone every 30 minutes to see where I was, check the elevation, check my mileage, or see all the other routes I could be taking other than the one I was on. It turns out I didn’t need any of these apps. It is much more enjoyable to engage in my favorite activities without my smartphone. Paper maps still work great. I could explore again. My iPhone no longer was telling me what to do and how to enjoy these activities.
There is hope—for you and all smartphone addicts currently glued to their screens. No matter how far down the scale we have gone in smartphone addiction, we will see how our dumbphone experience will help others:
- We will know a new freedom and a new happiness.
- That feeling of uselessness and self-pity looking at “screen time” will disappear.
- We will lose interest in apps, and gain interest in our fellows.
- The craving for “likes” will slip away.
- Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
- Fear from doomscrolling will leave us.
- We will intuitively know how to handle situations in which we used to rely on our smartphones.
- We will suddenly realize that our dumbphone is doing for us what our smartphones could never do for ourselves.
Are these extravagant promises? I think not.
Cover photo: Light Phone II and Light Phone II. Photograph by Owen, April 2025