Phoneless Freedom

On Saturday morning I woke up to find that my phone refused to charge. I plugged it in, it didn't recognize that it was plugged in. We attempted to switch the battery to see if that was the problem. It is, but it's not the only problem. So, since Saturday, I have been without a phone.

Strangely, I kind of like it.

I have actually been so much more productive and engaging without the option to zone out into Facebook for 10 minutes. And, of course, once I check Facebook, I have to look at Instagram. After that I might as well check Twitter. Then it makes sense to look at my email, make sure I haven't missed anything important. Oh at that point I may as well look on Pinterest too.

Next thing you know, I have totally disengaged from whatever I wanted to work on to stare at a tiny screen for 30+ minutes.

But for the past few days, if I wanted to check my online accounts, I had to get out my laptop, and it was more purposeful. I intended to get online, not ended up there on accident.

As a result, I have done more reading, more projects around the house, and made more of an effort to focus on what I'm doing. It's been nice.

Of course, there are also inconveniences that result from being so dependent on a phone for so long. Like, setting an alarm to wake up. I've used my phone as an alarm for ages, it's just easy and effective. I can't send a quick text or call anyone, which makes my reliability limited. Plus, I keep a calendar on my phone to help me stay organized. I have missed all those details, and for those reasons I am looking forward to getting a new phone very soon (hopefully tonight or tomorrow).

But it was interesting to see just how much I could accomplish without the constant distraction that is my phone, and I would like to make an effort to limit the time I spend on it. I think that disconnecting from my phone will help me better connect with what I'm actually doing in the here and now, which is a much better way to live.

xoxo,
Camille