[editor note: sorry this answer is so long. but I just got going and didn't stop. TLDR: lots of things sucked about the transition...but that ended up being exactly the point. I was way too reliant/dependent/addicted to the phone and all its uses. so that now that I am not, I am feel like a human with a much, much healthier brain...and so much about my life has improved]
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Glad you reached out. The answer is very long; I'll try to stick to some basics.
As I said, the phone I carry is only for calls and tedious texts (which I don't even do anymore). Every other function we’ve come to enjoy and/or rely on with the smart phone’s digital universe I either carry out exclusively from my computer (email; longer or group texts; e-commerce; satiated curiosity; checking Reddit, or anything else for that matter; calendar; etc), or I can no longer do at all (too many to list, both subtle and obvious). And I have no interest in going back.

it was HARD to transition, which really only underscores just how much "brain atrophy" I've had since relying on a smart phone for 15 years. At first, it was major withdrawals and just muscle memory of reaching for my phone whenever I had a spare second. But more specifically, those things you mentioned were a tough transition. For example:

Directions. This was a big one, especially since my car at the time (bare bone Chevy) didn’t have navigation. A wrong turn, or unexpected road closure, and it was sheer panic (especially since I live in large metro area, and don’t know it like that). My early work-around was to open the ipad in wifi before I left the house, then use it for navigation. First of all, that sucked for navigation. And second, it had zero ability to adapt if/when I went off course (no wifi). But directions (and everything else that was difficult at first) got better at it very quickly—mostly through more preparation and thinking (more on that in a second); I just had to engage my brain a little bit more and be prepared—and eventually my wife got a new car and I took over her car which had a good built-in navigation. But that’s just car navigation for pre-planned Point A to B travel. Of course I have no way of checking directions for anything while “on my feet”.

But therein lies one of the “virtues” of making the transition: inconveniences. First of all, managing that panic feeling when inconvenienced…it’s insane that I/we would feel that way over such a thing. And it’s now far beyond “managed”; it’s non-existent. Something inconvenient happens and I have no way of solving it? Something I can’t get an answer to? “So what”…I literally don’t care (moreover, I relish the don’t-care feeling. I am SO much more relaxed and at-ease). This might be bizarre/weird to say, but not worrying about being inconvenienced and with no immediate solution almost feels like some kind of act of rebellion. But it definitely feels liberating. Another virtue is that the solution, more often than not, is just casually engaging a stranger to ask for the directions, or for the time (I should really get a watch tbh)…or moreover, problem-solving in ANY way that doesn’t involve my phone has been such a positive. Yes it far less convenient, but I truly value the utility in that kind of new response and new problem-solving.

I’ll say that the things that were hardest (directions, tickets, Uber, calendar, communication) are exactly the cause of the thing I like the most of the post smart phone existence: I will pay a kind of price if I’m not more thoughtful and purposeful in all that I do…so I am. You have to adapt in that way. It has made me immeasurably more present, more thoughtful, more purposeful, more meaningful, and more engaged. I have to *really think* about things, prepare for things, have intention, etc. It has completely re-activated some long-atrophied brain muscle. As for music/podcast...again, everything now is from my computer. Which is already a massive luxury -- I was so dependent on music/podcast filling every moment of "space" I had...but why? Now I can go long stretches of time and just be thoughtful/present. And that's the second virtue: BOREDOM. While awful at first, I have come to really appreciate my ability to live with boredom (to the point where I don't think of it in that way anymore; it's just a chance to fill it with more constructive things).

Finally, while it would ostensibly “make my work more difficult” to be far less accessible and far less digitally connected, I have found the opposite to be true. All of my interests and passions—be them people, work, or hobbies—have been amplified…and I have so much more “space” to engage with them in more meaningful ways.

Thanks for asking. I am careful not to preach about this (it actually takes some privilege to pull it off), so this is by far the most I've ever expressed about my experience.