Ed Sheeran Reveals Best Part of Living Without Owning a Phone

Ed Sheeran hasn’t owned a cell phone in the last seven years, but he says there are important benefits to disconnecting. The “Bad Habits” singer reveals on the latest episode of The Collector’s Edition that carrying the phone led him to develop some poor practices. 

“I don’t carry a phone, no. I haven’t had a phone since 2015,” Sheeran told host Ben Clymer, noting that his time spent glued to the screen led to him becoming “really, really overwhelmed and sad with the phone.”

“I just spent my whole time in a very low place,” the musician continued. “I got rid of it, and it was like a veil just lifted.” Sheeran decided to ditch the phone after he finished his Multiply Tour due to the stress of replying to all of his text messages and phone calls.  “I didn’t so much cut contact with people, I just limit contact with people,” he explained.  

He may be without a cellular device, but he still holds on to other forms of technology. Since he doesn’t use a phone, Sheeran stays in contact with his main circle via email. “Every few days I’ll sit down and I’ll open up my laptop and I’ll answer 10 emails at a time. And I’ll send ’em off and I’ll close my laptop,” he said. “And then I’ll go back to living life and I don’t feel overwhelmed by it.”

The singer says “the best thing about” getting rid of his phone was that he now feels more connected to the people he loves through their uninterrupted moments. Now, he claims the loss has done wonders for his mental health and left him “feeling better about everything.”

Sheeran announced the change to his fans on social media in 2015, telling his followers that he’d grown tired of “seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes.” “I’m taking this opportunity of me not having to be anywhere or do anything to travel the world and see everything I missed,” he wrote, adding, “To my family and friends, if you love me, you will understand me buggering off for a bit.”