I’m the sort of person who’s never far from their phone. My family and friends expect to see me with it. I always have it in my pocket, or close to me. If there’s an ad break, the computer’s slow, a gap in anything, I’m checking. What am I checking? There’s always a new notification, be that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email (I have four email accounts), Pinterest – shall I pin some things quickly? What’s going on in Facebook, who’s posted in my groups…. let’s post to Instagram and have a browse… someone’s left me a comment on my blog, better reply… oh, that email looks interesting… there’s a new form to fill in on Facebook…. shall I take a picture?….what’s my bank balance… I’ve just received a payment, better transfer it to my bank… how many page views have I had today?… Let’s check my hashtag and like all the pictures.. I need some tiles for the kitchen, let’s have a browse… are Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani still together? Ask Google (they’re not)… oh that looks like an interesting article/ funny video, something I might never make, let’s read it or save it… where am I going? Google maps… and so it goes on. That’s my train of thought with my phone.
Then my screen cracked when I dropped it, and I suddenly couldn’t even unlock it. It was torture, all these notifications tempting me and I couldn’t get in! I considered getting a new one on the insurance, but then I decided to have it repaired, they promised it would be back the next day. They phoned back later that day (on the land line) saying they had to order me a new screen and it would take 3-5 working days. It was Saturday, meaning it wouldn’t be back until at least Thursday. So I had no choice but to relax about it. I still had access to the internet via my laptop, and a landline phone at home.
How it went
Fine. I felt such a release of the pressure. No more constantly checking numbers, scrolling through social media, checking emails. Nothing fell apart, I still have the same offers of work. My Instagram followers remained the same despite not posting a new photo a day – the numbers didn’t grow though… Facebook carried on as normal and nobody minded that I didn’t hit like on all their statuses. I managed to work as normal on my laptop and if I really needed to look at something I could wait to do it on the computer. I didn’t miss having a phone nearly as much as I thought I would.
What I really noticed was the interaction I had with my children. So many times I’d be looking at my phone instead of them. Trying to finish replying to emails, looking at some silly video on Facebook when they needed me, or just wanted to play. I played with them more, paid attention to them. This is something I’m doing more of going forward. I’m learning that the emails will still be there when there’s a better time to reply, and that no funny video is better to watch than my children’s smiles.
What I did miss…
The sat-nav! That’s genuinely what I missed most. I had to find my way somewhere and I had written instructions that I couldn’t follow, I was on my own with the children and I also couldn’t phone anyone, it was a nightmare. I had to stop at a Tesco garage and ask for help, they kindly wrote more directions out for me and showed me the way, after I burst into tears. I hate being lost and I have no sense of direction. I also missed having phone numbers at the touch of a button, a search engine to answer my questions and an easy camera to hand.
All in all, I’m grateful to have it back and I do need it for work and it helps relieve boredom from time to time. I wasn’t as bored as I thought I would be, I read more (actual books) and felt more content. I leave it behind sometimes now and I try not to look at it when the kids want me – unless they want me to film them or take photos of them!
Have you ever had enforced or self enforced time away from the smartphone? How did it go?
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