A Woman On Tik Tok Says We Should Bring Back ‘Hanging Up’ Our Phones

Remember the days when there was one house phone in the kitchen and one computer in the guest bedroom, and neither thing lived in your pocket and went everywhere you did? Simpler times, and honestly, probably easier times for our nervous systems — having the world and all its horrors at your fingertips is overstimulating, to say the least. A lot of people are really feeling that right now, which is why one woman on Tik Tok is trying to bring back hanging up the phone (no, not like ending a call).

Colorado-based creator Mad (a.k.a. @livingmadly on Tik Tok) posted back in July urging her followers to hang up the phone — like literally start hanging your phone on the wall at the end of the day so it consumes less of your time. She captioned the video saying she was tired of how everyone takes their phone with them everywhere all the time, so she made a little docking station out of clay and hung it near her kitchen. She places her phone in it when she gets home from work and said it has been lovely to always know where it is (raise your hand if you also lose your phone constantly), and to not feel the urge to scroll simply because it’s easy and her phone is right there.

Mad posted again recently saying she has seen more and more conversations in the media about people looking for ways to unplug. The comments on her original video, she notes, had so many people sharing their own adorable DIY phone docks and ideas for disconnecting. Some people thrifted cute shelves while others made a phone dock out of clay or crocheted it.

“I get those business card holders from the dollar store and attach them with command strips onto the wall backwards to do this,” one commenter shared. “Mine has a magnet case and sticks to the fridge,” wrote another. Or my personal favorite: “The way I’m about to repurpose a napkin holder to E6000 glue on a sawtooth hanger and use it in my growing gallery wall ahhh I’m so excited.”

A lot of users also shared about Cell2Jack, an adapter that allows your cell phone plan to power a landline when you’re home, so you can still make and receive calls but you could ostensibly put your smartphone away completely for the day.

Hanging up the phone is the kind of thing we all know we should do and that it would be good for our mental health, but is hard to start because, well, it’s difficult to be exercise discipline when you’re addicted to something. This approach feels like an easier way in, because you get to craft or purchase a super cute dock you’ll be excited to use and it feels a little nostalgic. So many of the comments said they miss twirling a curly landline around their fingers during a call. And as one woman wrote, “I remember actually doing this exact thing back as a kid with mine and my parent’s flip phones. We’d plug them all up together in the kitchen and let them charge up while we ate dinner and spent some time together. God, I miss the days of early 2000s tech.”

So if you too are yearning to scroll less and be present more, maybe now is the right time to try hanging up your phone. Pick a new hobby to occupy your hands while you’re at it.