The Lawyer With No Phone
The other month I met someone who doesn’t have a cell phone. Never has. Blew my mind. In the year 2025, how on earth could someone possibly function without a cell phone of any kind?
“I don’t know” he told me. “Just haven’t needed one”.
Keep in mind, this is not a retiree hanging out on a golf course every day. This was a practicing attorney.
This tech luddite. Part of only 2% (!!) of Americans who don’t own a cell phone.
My mind spun a bit as it sunk in how much of life revolves around having a cell phone.
Texting and phone calls, duh.
But what about calling an Uber?
Directions?
Listening to music?
Taking pictures?
Using Google to search for anything on the go?
Entertainment via social media or YouTube?
Two-factor authentication into what feels like every website these days?
My, the world has changed in the ~18 years since I got my first cell phone. They’re critical to modern life! How could this guy function?
He said he’s up to date on his email and has a home phone with a voicemail he checks regularly. Simply hasn’t needed one.
He went on to tell me that he didn’t want anyone in the world to be able to be able to contact him at a moment’s notice.
Besides, why open himself up to all the other distractions that comes with being constantly tethered to the internet? The little thing in your pocket means constant temptation to look at email, news, social media, and anything else that could pull him out of focus on what he’s doing.
After the shock wore off, I started to realize his point.
As someone who always has their phone within arms reach, it hit home. Modern phones are masters of sucking you in. Particularly as a new parent, my free time is strained like never before.
I want to start being more intentional with my time. Periods where I can sit and fully focus on one thing are too fleeting to leave open the possibility of distraction.
So, I’m trying something new. I’ve started to leave my phone downstairs while I focus in my office upstairs. For the first few days I felt myself reach into my pocket for a phantom limb. Old habits die hard.
But already, I’m finding longer stretches of deep focus. Work feels less fractured. Short breaks feel more restful without the time being crammed with notifications and scrolling.
I’m not giving up my phone and becoming a monk quite yet. But I am starting to think that maybe that lawyer was on to something.