Taking control of my smartphone

My iPhone home screen

Over the past few weeks I have been trying very hard to be more intentional about how and why I use technology. The most significant change has been in the way I use my iPhone.

Here's what I have done so far:

• I deleted all games, all social media apps, and any other apps I never use or have only used a few times. It's easy to reinstall an app if I absolutely must have it. I haven't had to reinstall any yet.
• If I absolutely must check social media, I use a mobile browser and log out of my account when not in use. When I have the nervous twitch to navigate to a social media site and I see a login screen, it reminds me to ask myself if I really need to be checking social media right now. The answer is almost always no.
• I deleted any "frequently used" or "suggested" website shortcuts from my mobile browser startup screen that might cause me to mindlessly navigate to a social media website or any other such website that has the potential to distract me.
• I completely turned off almost all app notifications and removed all notification shade widgets. The 2 exceptions to my notification ban are phone calls and text messages. But I have my phone on silent most of the time, so I have to wake my phone to see those notifications. For everything else, I have to open the app to see if there are any updates. I check my email and instant messages when I want to, now, not whenever I hear a notification tone or see a lock screen notification message.
• I moved all remaining apps into a single home screen folder labeled "Apps". Whenever I need to use an app, I swipe down on the home screen to bring up the Spotlight Search bar and type in the name of the app I want to use. This is to try to force me to be intentional about using apps. It reduces the risk of being distracted by swiping through home screens and seeing all the app icons. To further reduce distractions while searching for an app, I disabled Siri Suggestions and Spotlight Suggestions in Settings >> General >> Spotlight Search so that there are no extraneous search results or web page suggestions.
• When I am not transporting it from one place to another, I try not to keep my phone in my pocket. When I'm at home I leave it on my dresser, not my nightstand, so that it is out of arm's reach when I'm in bed. When I'm home, my phone "lives" there, connected to its charger. When I want to use it, I go to it and use it there. When I'm done, I leave it there. When I'm at work, I leave it out of arm's reach while I'm working.
• In most cases, even if it would be easier to do a certain thing on my phone, I try to do it another way. When I need to look up directions I'll use my laptop. When I want to read a book I'll use my Kindle...or an actual book. When I want to watch a video I'll use my laptop or TV. When I want to check my email I'll use my laptop. It may be a little less convenient to do those things other ways, but it has actually resulted in me having more time to do what I want because I am not tempted to pacify myself with my smartphone after (or instead of) using it intentionally.

It hasn't been easy. I've slipped up here and there. But overall, I have been able to cut my smartphone use to a fraction of what it was.

You're probably asking why I even have a smartphone if I'm not going to use it like one. I've been asking myself the same question. As "barebones" as it is, now, I still find value in doing certain things with it. It's great to have when I'm traveling and I want to quickly look something up on the web, check a flight, or use GPS navigation. I also enjoy using it to take photos and video - mostly of beautiful or interesting scenery and spaces. It's handy for podcasts, and music. But I'm still wondering if I could find alternatives even for those things and if a basic phone might be sufficient for my needs.

I'm not saying you have to go to the same lengths as I have with smartphones to be a minimalist. Plenty of minimalists use smartphones and get tremendous value and joy out of them because of their versatility and the ability to do so much with a single device.

Minimalism is different for everyone. Each of us has to find a recipe that works for our unique personalities and situations. From my perspective, it's about getting rid of the excess in our lives so we can focus on what's important to us.

I just have to decide if a smartphone is excessive for me or if it really does add enough value to my life to keep around.