Ed Sheeran says he hasn’t used a mobile device in seven years because he didn’t like the pressure he felt to respond to text messages.
“I don’t carry a phone, no. I haven’t had a phone since 2015,” the singer said on The Collector's Edition with Ben Clymer. “I got really, really overwhelmed and sad with a phone. I just spent my whole time just in a very low place.
"I got rid of it, and it was like a veil just lifted.”
Sheeran said he ditched his phone following the Multiply tour and has since relied on email to communicate with people.
"I didn't so much cut contact with people, I just limit contact with people."
Sheeran said he felt pressure to constantly respond to text messages. Now, people close to him have an email address they can use to get in touch with him.
“Every few days I’ll sit down and I’ll open up my laptop and I’ll answer 10 emails at a time,” he explained. "I’ll send ’em off and I’ll close my laptop and then I’ll go back to living life and I don’t feel overwhelmed by it.”
Sheeran said getting rid of his phone has improved his mental health. "The best thing about it is ... the moments that I have with the people I love in person are uninterrupted."
In 2015, Sheeran posted a message on Instagram letting fans know he was “taking a break from my phone, emails and all social media for a while” because “I find myself seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes.”