Switching to a new SIM

Yesterday, I finally went to Globe to have my phone’s SIM resized. Previously, I was using an old, large SIM card, which was attached to my basic phone. It’s idiotically called a mini SIM (2ff size). I got it changed to Globe’s 5G-Ready Nano SIM.

Why the change? It was all instigated by an app called Huawei Health. This app has a feature called TruSleep™. My sister gifted my 13-year-old son a Huawei smartwatch. Intrigued by the app, I tried out the watch myself to monitor my sleep. Pretty soon, I found myself the owner of a Huawei phone, which to my delight, has no Google.

Why am I so happy to not have access to Google? Well, I have a very unique way of using smartphones. You see, I come from the older generation, Gen X. It’s the generation that did not have cell phones (yes, we call them that!) growing up. Txting was already revolution for us. This was that generation who defined chic by having a pager. I bet most of my younger readers don’t even know what a pager is. My first phone was a Nokia 3210. And it was still my default “cell phone”, up to last week, when I got the Huawei phone. When you say, “phone” the 3210 is what I go back to referring. Now, that needs to go. “Phone” now is Smartphone.

Now, let me explain my decision to go with Huawei, which has no Google access. I actually have two smartphones:

My first smartphone before I got the Huawei, is a Realme. I use it without a SIM attached. It’s where I connect to my Chinese boss via WeChat. It’s where all my Android apps are. I Gmail from here

My second phone is the aforementioned Huawei one, which now has a SIM. There are no apps living here except for the native Huawei apps. I Petal Mail and Petal search with it. When I am using this phone, I am not connected to Google. I purposely sought this out so I will not be disturbed by work when I don’t want to be disturbed by work. It functions like my old 3210 and a landline phone. Now that it is a smartphone, it also works as my sleep tracker, an extra camera, a calendar, and a digital notepad.

At times when I wake up in the middle of the night, I can Petal search (not Google Search), Petal Mail (not Google Mail), and write notes. Work would not intrude on me. There are nights when I want to write, but I do not want to even think about work. If I use my laptop or my Google-enabled smartphone, I will automatically be notified about work-related things via Google. So, this Google-less Huawei option is really a boon.

All the stuff I put in my Huawei can be sent to Petal Mail to my Gmail, so I really do on miss out on anything. Looking from the outside, it seems like a roundabout way to get things done—why not just have one device for everything? But I do not desire round-the-clock connectivity. I have a great need for privacy and quiet. When things are noisy, the anxiety ratchets up, and I feel agitated.

The arrival of SIM-inserted smartphone signals the start of a new phase for me. I have resisted visibility of data, sleep data, health data, for so long. A week of trying the new phone with TruSleep™ changed my mind. I even bought a Huawei scale now, which instantly connects to the Huawei Health App. Now I am looking at both sleep and weight data—both of which are vert important to me because of anorexia and anxiety issued.

The main point of what I want to say is we all use technology differently, uniquely. There are no hard and fast rules. AI can be a wonderful tool, it can be a life-changing, revolutionary tool. I’ve learned how to integrate creativity with technology. In this case, my being planful was supported by technology—It’s far easier to type down content than handwrite it over and over again.

Don’t be afraid of using technology to your advantage, and use it your way, with all the idiosyncrasies you’ve got as a unique individual human being. It will not work if it is not customized to your needs and specific tendencies. Never be afraid to explore… You can explore technology or anything, really. Whatever haunts or taunts you, you can conquer. Just do it your way, just explore it bit by bit, in incremental steps that you can afford to take.

By “afford” I mean what you can afford time-wise. By “afford”, I also mean what you can afford emotionally to invest, at that very moment. What I have found out with this experiment is that sometimes, what other people think is conventional will not work you.

At 40+, I am brave enough to say, “No, I’ll do it my way, even if you think it’s really weird. It is what works for me.” I also realized that I am still a rebel at heart; still unconventional, still somehow against the flow. That’s good—it’s better to rebel against the norm than be stuck with something that does not work for you, right? Quoting Oscar Wilde, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

Trying out a smartwatch and smartscale

With my new smartphone and smart watch, I am able to track my sleep. I am very happy to have welcomed technology in my life. Previously, I have been in the dark about the quality of my sleep, as well as the hours I actually sleep. Sleep data, with the help of an app, changed all that.

I’ve struggled with my so-called abnormal sleep, my insomnia, for years. I think it’s a comorbid symptom of my anorexia.

Anorexia + Insomnia + Anxiety, the triplet witches who plague me, will always plague me, one way or the other for the rest of my life (I guess, until I learn how to manage them.)

Anyway, with sleep data, at least I have an objective basis of how much my batteries were charged for the night. Armed with that knowledge, I can make clearer decisions during the day.

The health app comes with a measure for stress too. But I don’t think it is as well-tuned as the sleep app.

So far, the data for two weeks shows I sleep 7 hours a day. I’ll give it two more weeks to complete a month of data. Also, I am perfecting the timing of wearing the watch. If I wear it to my yoga-before-bed session, the watch thinks I am napping in Savasana.

For the record, I use an integrated system: Huawei smartphone, Huawei smart watch and a Huawei scale.

It works for me this way—I think the Chinese are rockstars with tech products. (Well, I should know since I work for a Chinese electronics company heh).