In Over Your Head

A Weekend Phone

I’m toying with this idea of having a different phone on the weekend.

I would eliminate from my weekday phone (iPhone) the following features:

  • Email access
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS reader
  • Pretty much anything.

You probably already have a weekend phone. I know I have a few just sitting around all over the place in my apartment, including a Sony Ericsson T610, which is pretty much perfect.

Over the next few weekends I think I’ll just switch the smart card into that phone to see how it makes me feel. They say the more you take features away, the more liberated you feel.

I’ll report back soon. Feel free to try this experiment with me if you like, I have a feeling it’ll be illuminating.

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8 responses to “A Weekend Phone”

  1. Josh Hughes Avatar
    Josh Hughes

    That’s not a bad idea if you’re able to do that. I am not sure work would like it very much if I didn’t answer my BBM or email ASAP.

    That being said, it is very typical for people in the Middle East to carry around two or three phones with them – at one time!

    Reply
  2. Bob Goyetche Avatar
    Bob Goyetche

    I sorta do this – I have my personal android phone and a work Blackberry – each have different #’s and email addresses. Unless we’re actually doing some implementation work or something, the blackberry stays in the drawer on weekends..

    I still get personal mail/calls, but I want those, and since I know it’s not going to be work-related, it doesn’t add any stress..

    Reply
  3. Zeke Avatar
    Zeke

    Howdy!

    Go wild and get completely free, ditch the phone entirely. I haven’t had a phone since 2007 and life is wonderful.

    Reply
  4. Dave Delaney Avatar
    Dave Delaney

    Great idea.

    Dear Montreal foursquare users,
    Get to Home Depot – fast! Now is your chance.

    Love,
    Dave

    Actually, I quite like the idea. I’m interested in hearing how it goes. Keep us posted.

    Reply
  5. Mark Avatar
    Mark

    The restricted feature argument reminds me of our conversation about single-tasking operating systems like the iPad and (at the time) iPhone. You and I discussed the virtues of being forced to do one thing at a time and being focused doing so – a variation of the weekend phone.

    PS Rick Claus has an evening-weekend phone.

    Reply
  6. John McLachlan Avatar
    John McLachlan

    Or, you could do what my partner’s dad always threatened to do (and was somewhat serious about) and that’s put a pay phone at the end of your driveway and get rid of your own phone completely!

    I do laugh at those of us who glom on to all these latest and greatest things, spew forth with such vigour and enthusiasm for connecting and yadda, yadda (I’m guilty) and then do an about-face and start stepping away from it all when we realize that it’s not the best of all worlds at the end of the day (or weekend, in this case).

    Back to 1980 it is. Sign me up. I was 30 years old at the time and it was ok by golly.

    Reply
  7. Diane Begin Avatar
    Diane Begin

    I sort of do this already. Unless there’s a particular reason to be tweeting or be accessible, I sign off most weekdays after 5-6pm and don’t follow anything on the weekends. It is absolutely liberating, plus you enjoy life way more and I know the people around me appreciate it too. 🙂 Colbert had a funny quote about this last night to the effect of there’s nothing like being with a bunch of people and completely ignoring them to stare at your phone.

    Reply
  8. Ricardo Bueno Avatar
    Ricardo Bueno

    I like being connected but there comes a point where it all gets to be too much and I have to disconnect and refresh for a bit. For me this includes a trip to the beach to watch the sunset and just chill, completely disconnect from technology. I try to do this on weekends of course and sometimes I’m more successful than others but it always ends up feeling really good.

    Reply

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