Early next week I'm switching to a 2G feature phone with no camera. I'm sure I'll be visiting HN (and a handful of other sites) much less, I'm sure there will be some withdrawal, but I'm also sure that I won't miss anything and that I'll be much calmer and more focused. I've thought about this for a few years, really since i first got a smartphone, and I'm persuaded that they are a problem, not a solution.
If you're using a iOS device, take a look at Apple Configurator. I blocked Safari and a few other time-sink apps with it and noticed a extreme reduction in habitual phone usage. It's mainly a texting/messaging device with a few critical apps (Mint, Messenger, RBC, Notes) installed. It's a happy medium between a full on feature phone.
As far as calm goes, I started writing again instead of consuming HN all day.
I've been seriously considering this lately. The camera and a location-based game that gets me out walking around periodically throughout the day are the two things I'm not sure I can give up at this point.
I'd love to find one with a decent camera. I have a fairly nice and compact point-and-shoot that I bought a couple of years ago, but it doesn't have a lot of the software-assisted processing that makes it so easy to take good pics with my (midrange) smartphone.
