The Nokia 3310 Experiment: Day 1

The Nokia 3310 Experiment: Day 1
Day 1: The Nokia 3310 Experiment šŸ“µ

Following my Time Audit I ran during January, I've decided to take things a step further this week.

I realised that every time I picked my phone up to use it, I'd unlock the screen, then get immediately distracted by a notification, and completely forget what I picked it up for in the first place. This is the tech equivalent of walking into a room and immediately forgetting what you walked in for.

So, for the next seven days, my iPhone is functioning like a Nokia 3310.

Calls. Texts. Clock.
No scrolling. No feeds.

The internet still exists, I just have to sit down at my laptop to access it.

I'm keen to see what happens when I remove distraction from my pocket, while still keeping the things that genuinely support daily life.

What I have allowed (and why)

I’ve been deliberate about this. These aren’t loopholes. They’re tools:

Phone
The phone, at it's most basic level.

Messages
For the same reason. Human communication stays, which includes Whatsapp.

Maps
Practical, and required (as I have no sense of direction).

Google Calendar
I still need to know where I’m meant to be.

Banking apps
Money admin is real life. Removing it would create stress, not insight.

School apps
Because school life does not pause for experiments.

Passwords
So I don’t lock myself out of my own life.

Ring
Home security stays. Peace of mind is not negotiable.

Spotify
The equivalent of an MP3 player. Music supports my nervous system. I use it intentionally, not endlessly.

Patreon (cleaning)
This stays because the TOM cleaning sessions supports keeping my environment calm and functional. Less mess, less mental clutter.

Whering
This one is important. It removes daily decision fatigue around what to wear. Fewer micro-decisions means more energy for everything else.

That’s it.

No social media.
No browsing.
No news.
No shopping.
No algorithms tugging at my sleeve.

The rule I’m holding myself to

If something is important enough to look up, it’s important enough to open my laptop.

If I feel the urge to ā€œjust checkā€, I pause instead, and I keep a rough 'thumb twitch' tally for each day.

I’ll be noticing what feels weird, what feels quieter. what shows up in the space I've created.

Day 1 begins.

I’ll share what I learn as I go.


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