Phone-less for five days, the irony right? Try being phone-less for one day, or even better try not having a phone for a couple of hours. But of course, you won't try that, not until you are actually forced to like I was a couple of weeks ago. It seems like in today's world we live vicariously through our mobile devices instead of living actually. I guess I was fortunate enough to spend five days without one. It was time to put my abstract thoughts about this matter into an experience for five days, dramatic I know! Below are five actual things I learned/experienced within that five day period of not having a smaller version of the world in my hand.
No Social Media time
Social media is probably the most important thing I learned was actually the least important- did you catch what I said there? I couldn't keep up with everyone's life. I missed out on Johnny from high school eating a cheat meal after the gym and missed the fact a Kardashian was spotted at the beach! Does my sarcasm resonate? Because keeping up with daily Instagram posts does nothing for me. See the point I'm trying to get across? It's just flat tummy teas, selfies, and another video of a chick showing you how to do squats; you're not missing out on anything If you stay off the social networks, I promise!
Set an actual alarm clock
Before I say anything I am aware of how stupid this sounds. I just have to put it up here because it really changed my mornings! How many alarms do you set up on your cell phone before you go to bed? My norm is three but if I wanna be ballsy I'll set up two! In my case I was forced to set up one alarm from an actual alarm clock; yes they still exist. I got up on time every time. Stop torturing yourself with those "five more minutes" and set up ONE alarm, wither you have your cell phone or not.
Unaware of time
I know we all wear the watch but can't tell the time with it. That is what our phones are for! By the third day of not having my phone, I became less and less conscious of the time (meaning less anxiety for me). I felt like every day was a race against time so when I couldn't keep track of it as much, I became less stressed and paid more attention to whatever task I had at hand not worrying if I had the time for it or not. Even when I got my phone back, the number of times I checked the time went down significantly. I learned that time is not mindful of you and to stop giving it the attention you could be giving to something/someone else!
Productivity
What is productivity? Ah-ha! Put your phone away and you won't have to look it up in a dictionary! I obviously occupied myself with other things vs being on my cellphone those five days. I found more time to finish my books and started new ones. I made it to the gym more often without my phone than I did with it and I even made time for this blog post! Most importantly I shifted my attention towards my family. Subconsciously I had more conversations and spent more quality time. It wasn't until I went back to my bedroom and realized that it is much nicer to hold conversations in real time compared to texting. My brain became productive on its own finding meaningful things to occupy its time with. I learned that all the distractions a cellphone might bring were quickly replaced with the real world.
Mindfulness
We instill in each other that we must live in the moment, to be present. But the majority of the world today is shared and seen through the eyes of others. As a society, we feel we have to take evidence of our surroundings otherwise it never happened. We subconsciously do it for social media. I learned it is okay to have a mental memory. To not take pictures of all things I found beautiful. Without knowing it I practiced being present in the moment, to appreciate what was happening around me. There is nothing more peaceful than just absorbing, watching, rather than scrambling for my phone to get a good picture of this moment I will soon miss, whatever it is: A concert, a good meal, a sunset, a cute puppy. The world should learn that some things should be kept for you, and only you. When I received my phone in the mail I somehow felt connected again. Then I asked myself, "who/what am I re-connecting with?" I didn't find a plausible answer but I did learn this: The only wifi connection you will ever need is mindfulness.
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