Why I'm ditching my 'smart'-phone and why you should be too

When something starts to take control of your life, it's time to stop, reassess, take action and regain control – before it's too late.

How often do you find yourself doing the following (be honest!):

• constantly checking for the location of your phone, like a city banker checking for his stash of cocaine to get them through their working day!
• being distracted and dropping whatever it is you were doing to check your phone each time it dings or rings
• being unable to communicate with your friends, partner, colleagues or children because you are reading or replying to a message
• continually checking for emails or messages despite not actually expecting one
• scanning through your apps to see what to look at for the latest bit of useless information
• watching reels, videos or adverts being fed to you by someone or something with no interest other than to keep you on their product or sell you something
• playing pointless games, such as Candy Crush, Woodoku, Clash Royale or worse, Wordle!
• sitting on the toilet doing any or all of the above!
• taking your phone with you to bed and checking it whilst falling asleep, sometimes with it left on next to you whilst you sleep
• waking up and the first thing you do is check your phone to start the process all over again
• letting your phone rule your life

But how do you know when you are no longer in control? There were many signs for me, but the final one was when I noticed both my wife and I sat on the sofa staring at our smartphones one evening whilst all three of our beautiful children were vying for our attention and being ignored. What example are we setting for our kids and the next generation?

When looking back to my youth, I was one of the lucky generation of kids, perhaps the last to have tremendous freedom alongside opportunities. We could play for hours at the park without parents constantly fearing for us, or we were able to go away on all-day adventures with friends, siblings or cousins of similar ages, returning only through injury or hunger. We were not constantly bombarded by social media and instant messaging. We had no desire to understand what the world was doing, or worse tell the world what we were doing. So, what the hell am I doing now, constantly checking my phone for updates, information, anything really rather than living my life? Well, enough is enough.

My ironically called smartphone is now binned (for at least 3 months) and I eagerly await tomorrow's arrival of my Nokia Tough 800. It comes fully loaded with 4G connectivity (no 5G as not needed) to enable me to make and receive calls, text messaging (for when I can't be bothered to talk), a flashlight - always handy, a 2-megapixel rear camera – so no selfies or on-the-move videos, WhatsApp (messages only no calls) and Facebook (already planned for deletion).

I run my own business and currently spend up to 8 hours per day on my desktop or laptop. This is ample time to communicate for work and leisure, including on the social media channels I use. Why would anyone need more time than that? If I can't get all my work done and say the things I need to say to my clients, colleagues and wider network in 8 hours then something is seriously wrong with either me, society, or both.

And if you are thinking, he's just an ageing guy who wants to rebel. Well, you are right - haha - but for good reason.

When it comes to the massive growth of mobile phones, from initially being merely a means to communicate when on the move, to a personal computer interfering with almost every facet of your life, we have a problem. Of course, there are useful features, such as the ability to carry out banking online, but at what cost? Can this not be done from our home or work desktop, is it that essential that it must be carried out instantaneously?

I hear talk of the push for faster and faster connectivity, and more apps, even the internet-of-things, being essential so that we can see economic recovery. Really? Or is it so that the enormous multi-billion (if not trillion) pound telecommunications industry can expand (and encroach) even further into our lives? It would appear that they already have us hooked, like a heroin addict who just tried it a few times for the kick, and unless we realise that smartphones are becoming the next drug, we could be in for big problems.

So here we are, I'm starting a revolution, right here, right now. Who's with me? Perhaps try it for a week, a month or maybe more. You have nothing to lose and everything to (re)gain.

Here's to less 'text neck' and more free time to enjoy with our friends, loved ones or just ourselves.