From 100k views to flip phone

That’s what I thought after feeling overstimulated for what felt like the hundredth time after a long day.

I slept well. Sure, I had some stress, but I always had. Whether I meditated or had spent the night before in a club, I somehow always felt rushed and restless.

My iPhone 14 Pro had become such a normal part of my life that it took me a while to consider the possibility that it might be more of an enemy than a friend.

I’d always had a love-hate relationship with social media. Snapchat and I had already parted ways, much to the disappointment of one of my friends, who could no longer give me a play-by-play of her entire day.

I still used Instagram and TikTok, but mostly because I needed them for work. I ran the social media accounts for my children’s character, Mello the polar bear. If I didn’t promote Mello and the children’s series that came with him, Camping Mello, no one else was going to do it.

I also shared my entrepreneurial journey on TikTok every week. I’m an open book and I love sharing the good things in life, as well as the not-so-good ones, with the people around me.

The fact that those “people around me” sometimes amounted to more than 100,000 people per video didn’t really faze me at the time. But when I picture 100,000 actual people standing in front of me, listening to my story… that suddenly feels pretty bizarre.

When I decided to close my business after a few years, I made a very conscious decision to say goodbye not only to Mello, but to social media too.

I was completely fed up with it.

And deleting it felt like a huge relief.

I’d never really understood why people used social media for fun anyway. Sure, doomscrolling for an hour can be entertaining every now and then, but somehow it never stays at just that one hour.

I’d always said: the moment I no longer need social media for work, I’m deleting it.

So that’s exactly what I did.

I deactivated my Instagram and TikTok accounts. No going back.

Without social media, I started wondering what I actually needed that gigantic iPhone 14 Pro for. I was craving simplicity. Less noise. A little more of that old-school ’90s feeling.

And what could possibly be more ’90s than a flip phone?

Okay, there are several acceptable answers to that question: the Backstreet Boys, Nintendo 64, MTV, beanbags, Tamagotchis…

But I’m talking about the flip phone.

These days, plenty of telecom shops sell “dumbphones” or, as they sometimes prefer to call them, “starter phones.” I knew I wanted one that actually flipped shut, partly so I could dramatically hang up after a phone call and partly so I wouldn’t accidentally call someone from my pocket.

That narrowed down my options considerably.

And that’s how I became the proud owner of a very, and I mean very, bright pink Barbie flip phone.

I didn’t throw away my iPhone. I still need WhatsApp from time to time, and having Google Maps around can be pretty useful.

But whenever I can, the Barbie phone is my partner in crime.

And the difference surprised me.

I feel so much calmer without a smartphone constantly demanding my attention. I look around more. My mind feels quieter. And I’ve started noticing just how much of life happens in all those little moments we usually fill by reaching for a screen.

That experience planted the first seed for The Offline Corner.

I started wondering what could happen if we stopped giving so much of our attention away and started using it for the things we actually want to make, learn, experience and build.

That’s what The Offline Corner is about.

Not getting rid of technology altogether. Technology can be incredibly useful, and I have no intention of pretending otherwise.

I’m not anti-tech. I’m pro-life.

Because it would be a shame to look back one day and realise we spent so much time watching other people live that we forgot to fully live our own lives.

So this is my little corner of the internet for doing things differently.

Welcome to The Offline Corner.

Live more, scroll less.

Quinty