Hello friend, this is an episode of Note to Self, but from when we used to be called New Text City.

Same good content, just the old name. Enjoy.

From WNYC, this is New Text City, where digital gets personal.

I'm Anouche Summerodi. Welcome back to the Board and Brilliant project.

This is day two of Challenge Week. We are putting ourselves and our smartphone habits to the test,

trying to see what might free up some brain space for bigger thinking.

Can I just say congratulations by the way? Yesterday you tried keeping your phone in your pocket or your bag as you went throughout your day.

Was your first crack at spacing out more? Was it hard? I felt myself itching to look at my phone as I walked to the subway.

But by the time I made it to my desk, I realized how much less frantic I felt than I usually do.

I think this is going to get easier as the week goes on, and as we move from giving things up to flexing our creativity muscles.

Okay, Challenge number two.

See the world through your eyes, not your screen.

You can use your phone as usual today except for one thing. Don't take any photos. None.

I think it sounds easy.

I think I would feel rather lonely, either not taking or receiving a photo for a day.

My memory is shot, so I use my phone as kind of a memory aid, meaning I take pictures of things that I need to do later in the day, my parking spot, where I've left important things.

But if I'd stopped using it, I would have far fewer pictures of my dogs.

If a day is lived in the digital age without a photo, did it really happen? I'm going to say yes.

What do photos actually do for us? Do they help us remember? I mean, we sure are taking a lot of them.

A recent Shutterfly study found Americans take more than 10 billion photos every month. Nearly 60% of those photo takers say that they use their phone, not a separate camera.

Greg Colom can definitely vouch for that trend.

That's one thing that's really changed a lot. It used to be just cameras.

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