Was Life Before Smartphones Boring? Let’s Unpack This Together!

Mindful Discussions
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I stumbled upon this Reddit thread, and it got me thinking:
“Was life before smartphones and WiFi actually boring?” :thinking: Or… were people just better at being present?

For those of you who’ve grown up with a screen in our faces, it’s easy to assume that the pre-smartphone/ wifi/ internet era was a wasteland of boredom. But maybe it wasn’t. Maybe people had this magical thing called outside to explore, with the added bonus of uninterrupted conversations, fully immersive experiences, and the occasional oh-my-gosh-I’m-actually-bored-let’s-get-creative moments.

I know that on the FOUUM, we’re all about mindful tech use and breaking free from digital overload.
So, here’s our big question for you:

:no_mobile_phones: If you’ve experienced life before smartphones, what are some things you did to stay entertained, connect with others, or simply pass the time?
If you’re NEW here & :herb: If you’ve only ever known the digital world, what’s your best guess on how people lived without instant memes and Google Maps?

I’d love to hear your thoughts (and maybe even your stories of epic non-digital adventures)!
Let’s have a fun discussion on whether life before smartphones was boring, or if it was just a different kind of exciting.

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Life certainly was not boring. I just didn’t have any devices demanding my attention. If there was a device, such as a Walkman etc, I chose to pick it up and listen to it rather than it pinging me a notification telling me to pick it up. I’ve become a slave to these little devices and it’s time to break free. I used to be outside more, I used to read an awful lot more. I used to explore libraries and bookshops, in an effort to find a gem. I played guitar ALL the time and I used to draw a LOT. Life seemed slower and yet I got more done. Calmly. I fully expect myself to ditch the smartphone entirely in 2025. I just don’t think I’m going to need it. And I am starting to see other people in life getting a bit sick of being a slave to it.

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Life was not boring without smartphones.

Parents told their children, “If you are bored, then it is because YOU are BORING.” Children learned from this that THEY – not their parents or other people – had a responsibility to make their lives interesting.

Compared to today’s smartphones-filled life:

  • I visited book stores more often, and I read more often.
  • I listened to entire albums more often.
  • I loved to audition new music at music stores. (Do those even exist today?)
  • I played card games and board games MUCH more often.
  • I looked at the night sky more often.
  • I used paper maps more often.
  • With film and photo processing not being free, I took photos more deliberately and intentionally.
  • With paper and postage not being free, I corresponded more deliberately and intentionally.
  • With cash and checks – instead of credit cards, debit cards, and other types of digital currency – as the only forms of legal tender, I spent money more deliberately and carefully.
  • I called people more often.
  • I left home more often.
  • Conversations were more fun, because nobody felt compelled to use a smartphone to resolve an uncertainty. Not knowing added to the fun of conversations.
  • I felt more responsibility to be knowledgeable, because I could not use a smartphone – or ask someone else to use a smartphone – to look up something.

Life before smartphones was deeper.

We dove into the world, instead of skimming the surface.

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My grandma used to say this to me.
In the early 90s, when I would visit my grandma for the summer (my parents would send me there from the US), the slowness of PL rural life (right after the fall of communism) vs. the US in the 90s, was literally like going back in time. My grandma had a spinning wheel (to make wool yarn), a manual Singer sewing machine & a butter churner.
So, there was ALWAYS something to do around the house. My grandma rarely had a still moment in her day. So, when I came from the US & claimed I was bored. She always found something for me to do.

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Ahhh, the oft uttered “Muuu-uuum, I’m booooored.” It seems like a lifetime ago, pre-wifi before the masses of communication towers, satellites and ‘smart’ technology devices.

It was a simpler life as one didn’t require an internal dictionary of software and device terminology, brain-on-board device operating procedures, or vast knowledge of multiple device, company and network provider interactions. One didn’t require ANY knowledge of it because it didn’t exist!

What we had instead, were those beautiful human abilities of using our intuition of what is fun for us, coupled with our brain’s innate creativity, to ‘cure boredom’ - thus we created fun using what was available to us. Very handy to have a similarly bored sibling in such situations, to co-create fun and get into a bit of harmless trouble. Such joy to come inside covered in dirt after an afternoon of playing outside!

These days we still have those beautiful innate human abilities available to us. All we require is the space and motivation and openness to look within, trust ourselves and get creative! Put the ‘sucked-into-tech-brain’ aside for a time and pull over the ‘creative-present-engaged-in-life brain’.

Lack of smart phone distraction has allowed me the space to explore my creativity and I can honestly say I don’t recall the last time I felt bored. Now my hands are free for physical creation and I LOVE IT! @urszula I have a spinning wheel that I love to use for meditative creation, playing with Alpaca or Sheep fur is quite a lot of fun :smiley: Do you spin?

It’s a balance unique to each of us… I live in a world where smart phones exist but I choose other simpler tech and turn it off for most of my day - no bings, tings, pops, no electronic buzzing that fizzles one’s nervous system and slowly burns a hole through the butt pocket of one’s jeans.
For me - Fur, fibre, wood, hand tools, gardening, mud - freeing hands from devices allows hands to be free to explore my tactile environment… just like when I was a kid, only better because now I am unabashedly wildly creative… and gratefully free!

Now, please excuse me as it’s raining and I simply must wallow in the mud for a time… teehee!

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@galtions Spinning is something I did with my grandma. It was kinda of our ‘thing.’ We would talk while she would spin & then when she needed a break, I’d take over.
She passed this year in March at 92! I’m not sure I can do it without her. But she did teach me how to make butter from scratch…in a jar (no churner necessary). I still do that today. In fact, I’m about to do it today :slight_smile:

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I enjoyed having phone and home, and returning from school and fun to see who called me, also having small notebook with numbers and memorizing most important. It was more focus on books, imagination, cinema that wasnt bindging, TV in communism was like 3 channels max and 1 movie per day. We played in streets, parks, school protected areas. Swearning, real beating, even thievery did not exist. People used to talk, look in the eyes and be more honest.
Knowledge was worthy and hard to get. Now its easy to get but digested and not in depth.
We tread lightly, but use brain less. Connect less to animals. world and humans.
Today I see youth with headphones in ears staring just at phone, missing potential friends and loves.
And God I hate replacing humans with machines, be it banks, groceries, parkings.
When I imagined IT revolution in ZX Spectrum, Trone, Lawnmover man days, also Bladerunner 1 etc. I expected it to be humans that work with machines, machines libereating people to be philosophers and artists like slaves did in ancient Greece. not pushing humans to poverty and dissacation

Only good thing is easy ability to reach people in corners of world. But people pay less attention to viber or email then used to real call or letter. Everything is easy and fast, but nothing is worthy of focus, thinking and working on onsedlf. There is a false sense of power and people would cry for their smartie and defend it will life, giving more for iPhone then to fun time with loved ones

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Nawwww, our Grammies can be so great! What a wonderful way to remember your times together :heart:

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Life was BETTER before smartphones. Because we didn’t have a slot machine in our pockets giving us dopamine hits constantly we read more, were more present with each other. Life was honestly just better. I find myself now even with my phone just turning it off at 8pm and putting it away, even a minimalist phone I don’t want it tethered to me 24/7 like an extra appendage. The only thing when I go to bed is my Harmony clock, I won’t even have a minimalist phone in my room unless my wife and kids are out and they need to reach me. Other than that during the work week I shut my phone off at 8pm. I plan on doing the same with the Kompakt, although I will be honest the first few days having it, it will be hard to do that ! lol

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100% my experience, as well. I love your 12th bullet point about resolving uncertainties. Not being compelled to look everything up spurs the imagination! I really think it adds a layer of magic or enchantment to life that we otherwise crowd out in our need to know right now!

And regarding your next bullet, about responsibility: I worked harder to memorize things and work through difficult thoughts/word choices/equations/situations. It also forced me to ask people who were smarter than me or had more experience for help, which, in turn forced me to be more empathetic to others and to emphasize good, careful communication.

My one nitpick is about maps. Not having a map on hand, digital or paper, forced me to explore! Since I was raised overseas most of my childhood (Dad was in the military), I had to learn how to deal with new people, new places, and new languages “on the fly”. No better teacher than experience, I guess. But, more than that, not having maps gave me the freedom to get lost and find myself again.

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Before smartphones, I used to physically knock on my friends front doors and ask their parents if they could come out to play. If they weren’t near me, I would call landlines and leave voicemails asking if we could set up a day to hang out. Looking back now I’m realizing just how different the world is and it’s kind of sad. I feel bad for all the kids who don’t and won’t have that.

@forrestaguirre @kirkmahoneyphd and to your points about solving uncertainties, I’m willing to bet this has a direct correlation with the rise in cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

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I agree. There seems to be an obsession among some smartphone ‘addicts’ that compels them to use their smartphones as soon as possible to search the Interwebs for certainty – even if it is incorrect! – when an uncertainty arises in a conversation. Those of us who are willing to let an uncertainty linger – to let it float in the air – must drive them crazy.

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Unpopular opinion but I honestly believe that ADHD did not exist previous to smartphones, or it existed and it’s only increased since the rise of technology. I stopped a lot of my social media usage for the most part and I find that when I used these apps, my attention span would completely shrivel. Thoughts?.

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Personally, I don’t think ADHD is real. I know many disagree with me and that’s fine.

With smartphones, I think they’ve discovered how to tap into our primal brains and control us, but we tend to blame ourselves instead. Its amazing how your attention and focus comes right back when you’re doing something that actually interests you…

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@somastudy We have an article about how smartphones affect mental health.

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I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and I never had these issues in high school or University, it was not until I became a heavy smartphone user that I started having issues focusing so I agree with you 100%

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As someone with ADHD I can vouch for it existing as a set of traits / internal neurological wiring, although I think the jury is still out on whether it’s a disorder or simply a natural variance in humans. It can definitely be disabling in the modern world, especially in classroom/office environments.

I can strongly confirm smartphones are the most ADHD-unfriendly device I’ve ever encountered (hence why I’m here :upside_down_face:). Before my smartphone I “only” got my technology dopamine hits from TV, computers and video games, all of which are incredibly mild in comparison (in my experience at least).

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I hear about ADHD constantly now diagnosed in children, and yet many have smartphones and the schools require them to do all their work on the computer.

It is obvious to me that smartphones fuel the issues of ADHD, and yet people don’t want to talk about it nor attempt to change. It is baffling.

Before smartphones I was able to just be on my own for hours on end with my thoughts, or have uninterrupted time with people and activities. I used to spend waiting time observing people or starting at water/tree/sky, and I never found those boring at all. It has taken a bit to get over the restlessness that comes with having a smartphone but I have found taking away the constant disruptions to be pleasant, and I don’t miss it having a smartphone around all the time with me at all. I almost can’t believe I was living like that.

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I haven’t thought about this before but it makes a lot of sense to me. OCD is - in many cases, there are also other subtypes that have different foci - very much about uncertainity. Hence many forms of therapy use exposures without reassurance as a tool to combat the need for compulsions.

As someone who has OCD, I noticed that I often used my smartphone as a means for reassurance, mainly in the form of taking pictures of stuff to reassure myself that everything that might be “dangerous” was switched off before I left the flat. The more I relied on pictures, the more I needed to take them to feel safe. If I didn’t have that option or only a limited view like on e-paper, I would be forced to rely on myself which is an exposure in itself :slight_smile:

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100%.

I’m sure you know OCD is also known as the “doubting disease”. Whether smartphones could cause OCD i don’t know, but i do know that it enables compulsive checking and reassurance seeking. Living with uncertainty is the crux of managing OCD, and I can only see smartphones exacerbating the issue.

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