29/06/2025
Landline mode is trending.
According to Google insights, search interest in:
⢠âlandline modeâ in the past month is at an all-time high
⢠âsocial media cleanseâ rose +130% in the past month
⢠âsocial media detoxâ hit an all-time high in 2025
⢠ânokia brick phoneâ spiked +190% in the past month, and
⢠âhow to break my phone addictionâ was a breakout search
Could we finally be ready to disconnect?
Additionally, Harvard Business Review published an article titled "Do You Have a Phone Addiction?" (2024) where it discusses the impact of smartphone overuse on mental well-being, professional performance, and personal relationships. It also highlights the importance of recognising and addressing phone addiction to reclaim meaningful human experiences. More recently, Google searches for âlandline mode,â âsocial media detox,â and âhow to break my phone addictionâ are all at all-time highs.
People arenât just tired of their screens, theyâre tired of how much their lives now revolve around them. Whatâs showing up is a deeper kind of fatigue, one that comes from being constantly reachable but rarely present.
Often, individuals don't recognise their dependency until it begins to impact their health, work, or relationships. Studies have linked excessive smartphone use to increased anxiety and depression. A survey by Sonder in 2024 found that 49% of Australian and New Zealand employees were experiencing feelings of burnout, exhaustion and diminished motivation. In relationships, burnout can manifest as emotional distance, frequent conflicts, and a decline in both physical and emotional intimacy.
In my work, where people are invited to slow down, sit with big questions, even confront the reality of death, Iâve noticed a shift. Burnout is no longer just a workplace issue, itâs become a soul issue. People are longing to reconnect with what lies beneath the noise. Often, sound becomes the way in, pausing to tune-in to a steady tone, a specific vibration, or the sound of a gentle hum. Itâs not about fixing or striving or staying visible online, itâs about being. Letting go of the need to post, perform, prove something, and face the fear of what might happen if you simply stop.
For many, this becomes the beginning of a spiritual return, not to dogma, but to something honest within themselves. By pausing and listening deeply within, I see a shift in how people relate not only with themselves, but also to their loved ones and colleagues. Itâs fascinating that when someone shifts internally, how their external reality begins to shift as well.
So perhaps switching to a dumb phone isnât just a trend, but a warning sign. A sign that the constant drip-feed of information and digital distraction we live with, is wearing thin. And beneath it lies a desperate hunger for something deeper, quieter, slower, and more real.
Source:
In our digital age, smartphones have become a double-edged sword, offering boundless information at our fingertips while silently ensnaring us in a web of overdependence. Unchecked phone use can erode our mental well-being, dull our professional edge, and disrupt our most cherished relationships. Ye...