The Ground Rules for A Flip Phone Life

How I'm living daily.

For the backstory on A Flip Phone Life, check out the About section.

Here are the rules I’ve set for myself to live a flip phone life.

My flip phone is my only phone. I don’t keep a burner iPhone in my closet. I gave my wife my smartphone and I don’t know what she did with it, nor do I care to know. My flip phone is not a stripped down smartphone, either. Mine is a SAIET. I’ve never heard of it before but it flips open. It was the first one I found while in a local Vodafone. Its settings are in Italian. I can barely speak it.

There will be no SMS/texting (or WhatsApp). My phone has SMS capabilities but I’ve told everyone in my life to not bother texting me. For one, I won’t be texting you back. Also, I only have an international voice plan, not texting. And third, texting became too convenient for me. If I want to talk to someone, I’ll call them, email them from my laptop or schedule a Zoom. Or they can call me. (Leaving WhatsApp was one of the most difficult choices I’ve ever made.)

I won’t leave home without a few key items. I will carry a map of Florence, an English to Italian pocket dictionary and my flip phone. In due time I will ditch both the map and dictionary.

If I want to Google something, I’ll need to remember to do it later. I had considered carrying a pen and notepad with me as well to jot down things I might want to Google, or things I want to remember, for when I return home and online but that’d be too much stuff to walk around with. But I also know that our brains are hardwired to want immediate answers to every question that comes to mind and, really, that’s just not necessary. I don’t need to know everything right away. I trust that the 1% of stuff I do remember to Google or write down will be because it’s actually important.

There will be regular reviews of my personal data and insights. This includes tracking how much time I spend on my laptop; is getting rid of my smartphone just inviting a game of Whack-a-Mole? Will I end up spending even more time on my computer at home? Will Oura ring tell me my sleep is improving? Do my wife and kids notice a difference in me? I plan to share data and insights several times a year. It’ll be my version of a quarterly earnings report.

There will be monthly goal setting. Adopting a flip phone lifestyle isn’t only about living with less personal technology. It’s about building new, better habits. It’s about bringing in more real-life connections to my life. Each month I’ll set (and share) a goal that requires me to lean just beyond my edge - something that will push me outside my comfort zone but will not crush me. An example: make a certain number of phone calls to friends and family; memorize all the street names within a certain radius of my home.