30 Things We Did Before Smartphones That We Barely Think About Anymore

Sometimes I look at my phone and think about everything this little thing has replaced.

My camera.

My map.

My alarm clock.

My calendar.

My address book.

My weather report.

My music collection.

Half the conversations I used to have with actual people.

It’s amazing how much life has changed during my lifetime.

I’m grateful for a lot of it.

I have absolutely no desire to unfold a giant paper map on the side of the highway again.

But when I think about how we lived before smartphones handled so much for us, I realize something.

We used to practice a lot of little skills without knowing we were practicing anything at all.

There’s also a real term called cognitive offloading, which is basically what happens when we let an outside tool remember something so our brain doesn’t have to.

So no, I’m not imagining all of it.

Some things really have changed.

And some of these make me laugh because how did we live like this?

1. I Actually Knew People’s Phone Numbers

There was a time when I could dial family and friends without looking anything up.

Now?

If my phone died and someone told me I could make one emergency call, I’d have to sit there and think about whose number I actually know.

That’s humbling.

2. I Could Get Somewhere Without A Voice Telling Me Every Turn

We remembered streets.

We noticed landmarks.

Somebody could tell me, “Turn by the grocery store, go two lights, then make a left,” and somehow I got there.

Today I can use GPS to get somewhere six times and still have no idea where I am.

3. Getting Lost Was Part of Going Somewhere

And getting lost didn’t automatically become an emergency.

Sometimes we drove around until something looked familiar.

Sometimes we stopped at a gas station and asked a stranger for directions.

Sometimes that stranger gave terrible directions and now we were even more lost.

But eventually, we figured it out.

4. When I Said I Would Be Somewhere At 7:00 am, I Had to Be There

There was no 6:58 text saying, “Running 20 minutes late.”

Once everybody left home, communication was basically over.

Plans were plans.

Looking back, I think that made time feel a little more serious.

5. I Knew How to Be Bored

Waiting rooms were brutal.

Long lines were boring.

Car rides were long.

There wasn’t always something to watch, scroll, answer, play, read, or check.

Sometimes I just sat there.

I didn’t call it mindfulness.

I called it waiting.

6. I Read Whatever Was Within Reach

A magazine from six months ago?

Fine.

The cereal box?

Apparently fascinating.

The shampoo bottle in the bathroom?

I knew that company’s entire mission statement.

We became readers out of desperation.

7. Not Knowing Something Was Completely Normal

A question could come up during dinner and nobody knew the answer.

And this is the wild part.

We continued eating.

Nobody grabbed a phone.

Nobody stopped the entire conversation to prove somebody wrong.

Sometimes we never found out who was right.

8. Arguments About Facts Could Last for Years

Who sang that song?

What year did that movie come out?

Was that actor in that other show?

Nobody knew.

Everybody was confident.

One person was probably completely wrong.

And there was no Google referee sitting in the middle of the table.

9. I Listened to the Whole Album

When I bought a CD, I listened to it.

All of it.

Even the songs I didn’t like at first.

Music felt different when I had spent real money on one album instead of having millions of songs available instantly.

Sometimes the song I originally skipped became my favorite one.

10. Taking A Picture Actually Required a Decision

Film wasn’t unlimited.

I couldn’t take 42 versions of the same picture and delete 41.

You took the picture and hoped for the best.

Then you waited to have the film developed.

Only then did you discover somebody blinked.

That was your picture.

Enjoy it.

11. I Experienced Things Without Automatically Recording Them

Some moments only exist in my memory.

There’s something strange and beautiful about that now.

Nobody filmed them.

Nobody posted them.

Nobody asked whether the lighting was good.

We were just there.

12. Embarrassment Had a Smaller Audience

If I tripped in public, the people nearby saw it.

That was humiliating enough.

But there wasn’t automatically a chance that somebody had recorded it so several million strangers could watch my worst moment while eating lunch.

I’m grateful my younger years escaped that.

13. People Didn’t Always Know Where I Was

My location wasn’t automatically available to anyone.

If I wanted somebody to know where I was, I told them.

Otherwise, they didn’t know.

And somehow that felt completely normal.

14. Being Unreachable Wasn’t Considered Suspicious

If I was at work, driving, sleeping, shopping, or just away from the phone, people waited.

There wasn’t this immediate feeling of, “Why hasn’t she answered?”

We were allowed to disappear for a few hours without issuing a statement.

15. Leaving Work Actually Meant Leaving Work

Work usually stayed where I left it.

There wasn’t an endless stream of emails sitting in my hand while I was making dinner.

Being off meant something different when the office couldn’t follow us home so easily.

16. I Had to Remember What People Told Me

Birthdays.

Addresses.

Appointments.

Stories.

Names.

There wasn’t always a digital trail I could search later.

If somebody told me something important, remembering it mattered.

17. I Had More Thoughts with Nowhere to Go

Driving.

Walking.

Sitting outside.

Riding somewhere.

There were stretches of time when nobody was talking into my ear and nothing was playing in front of my face.

My mind wandered wherever it wanted.

I’m not convinced every thought was brilliant.

Some were probably complete nonsense.

But they were mine.

18. I Talked to Strangers More

Resteraunts, Airports, waiting rooms, checkout lines and long trips created conversations.

Sometimes because we were friendly.

Sometimes because we were bored.

Sometimes because there was literally nowhere else to look.

The phone has given us a very convenient escape hatch from small talk.

I use it too.

19. Meeting Someone New Took Time

You couldn’t learn somebody’s entire life in fifteen minutes.

There was no scrolling through ten years of pictures before the second date.

People revealed themselves little by little.

You learned things through conversation and time.

I think there was something valuable about that pace.

20. Plans Had to Be Made Ahead of Time

Spontaneous plans were different when nobody carried a communication center in her purse.

You either arranged something earlier or happened to find people where they usually were.

Sometimes you showed up at somebody’s house.

Imagine doing that now without texting first.

Half of us would hide behind the curtains.

21. Shopping Took More Effort

If I wanted something, I had to go somewhere.

The store had to be open.

I had to get dressed.

Drive there.

Walk inside.

Find it.

That gave me plenty of opportunities to change my mind.

Now I can decide I need something at 9:46 at night while lying in bed and have it headed toward my house before midnight.

Progress has its dangers but I am not mad at this one.

22. Comparing Prices Was Work

There was no standing in aisle seven scanning something to see whether another store had it cheaper.

We looked through ads.

We clipped coupons.

We remembered prices.

We drove around.

Sometimes convenience won because eventually I was tired of investigating twelve stores to save four dollars.

23. The Weather Was Something I Actually Looked At

I remember checking the sky.

Watching the evening weather.

Sometimes calling a weather line.

Now I can see exactly when rain is supposed to start and still walk outside without an umbrella.

Technology can provide information.

Apparently, it can’t make me always listen.

24. News Had an Ending

The newspaper came.

The evening news came on.

Then it ended.

Today news can follow us every waking minute.

There’s always another update, another alert, another opinion and another reason somebody thinks we should be worried immediately.

I’m not sure having more information has always made me feel more informed.

Sometimes it has just made me feel more overwhelmed.

25. Dinner Had Fewer Outside Guests

The people sitting at the table were the conversation.

There wasn’t an endless stream of strangers entering through notifications, videos, messages and headlines.

We talked about what we knew.

What happened that day.

Who irritated us.

Who we liked.

Who we absolutely did not like.

Basically, dinner was our news feed.

26. Watching Television Was the Activity

I watched the show.

That was it.

I wasn’t watching television while scrolling through my phone while answering a message while looking up where I had seen that actress before or what happens in a show or movie.

One screen apparently used to be enough.

27. Being Alone Actually Meant Being Alone

Nobody knew what I was doing unless I told them later.

I could have an entire evening that belonged only to me.

No updates.

No pictures.

No proof.

There was freedom in having parts of life nobody else witnessed.

28. Popularity Was Harder to Count

Of course, we knew who was popular.

That hasn’t changed.

But popularity wasn’t sitting beside somebody’s name as a visible number.

There were no follower counts or likes constantly telling us how much attention somebody else was receiving.

We compared ourselves then too.

We just had fewer statistics.

29. Letters Made Me Think Before I Spoke

Writing somebody a letter wasn’t instant communication.

I had time to decide what I wanted to say.

Then they had time to read it, think about it and write back.

Today I can send a message while irritated in six seconds.

There are days I’m not convinced faster communication has improved every conversation.

30. Travel Required Preparation

Before a trip, I had to know things before leaving.

Directions.

Addresses.

Where we were staying.

What was nearby.

Now I can arrive somewhere knowing almost nothing because I assume my phone will figure it out.

Usually, it does.

Which is amazing.

And maybe that’s exactly why I prepare less.

Now convenience fills almost every empty space if I let it.

And I do let it sometimes.

I’m not interested in pretending everything was better before smartphones.

It wasn’t.

I love being able to call my children, find directions, look up information, take endless pictures and know exactly where I’m going.

Well, usually.

What I notice now is that technology didn’t only give us things.

It also quietly took over things we once did ourselves.

Remembering.

Waiting.

Wondering.

Figuring things out.

Getting lost and finding our way back.

Sitting somewhere without being entertained.

Having a moment nobody else knew about.

Maybe I don’t need to give up my phone.

I definitely don’t want my paper map back.

But every once in a while, I think it’s good to remember that I still know how to exist without filling every empty second.

I can let a question wait.

I can drive somewhere familiar without directions.

I can stand in a line without reaching for my phone.

I can have a good moment and keep it for myself.

And maybe some of the things I thought modern life made unnecessary weren’t useless after all.

Maybe I wasn’t just passing time back then.

Maybe I was learning how to live in it.

#EvolvingWomanhood