Technology usually makes our lives easier. It also makes it so we don’t have to practice a few basic skills. After years of smartphone use, many of us can’t even remember a phone number.

Here’s how to get the skills that matter back.It’s easy to cry wolf and lament for a time that used to be. People argue that before technology ruled our lives, we were happier, smarter, and better at general living. That utopian vision of the past is a bit too rose tinted, but the point remains that we’ve lost some basic human skills over the years. Relearning them makes us a little less dependent on technology, flexes our brain muscles, and gives us an opportunity to interact with the world. You don’t have to be a luddite to appreciate most of these skills and getting them back is easy enough for even the most technologically reliant amongst us.

via The Skills We’ve Lost to Technology and How to Get Them Back.