While we don’t mean for it to happen, our devices have become all that we know. The past few months, I can’t even begin to count the amount of times I’ve wanted to throw my phone at a wall. Coming out of class to 20+ emails, texts, Snapchats, Facebook notifications, and a whole world’s worth of information to read on Twitter can be overwhelming. Even while I sit here and write this article, I constantly check my phone to see if the photo I posted on the Her Campus Instagram has any new likes. We are addicted to these rectangular, way too delicate (R.I.P. to my screen way too many times) devices that control our lives.
That’s why I decided to look up.
This past week, I disconnected. I left my phone at home for a week and didn’t look back. Anytime I left the house, my phone stayed on my bed, the red light blinking at me like a puppy’s eyes, making me want to just pick it up. Whether I was away for one hour or 10 hours, I was phone-less.
The week had some humorous and frustrating results, but in the end, the lessons I learned were worth it all. Not to mention that my battery is probably thanking me with all of its power for not charging it so often.
I had no clue what time it was.
No, seriously, I had no clue. You don’t realize that you rely on your iPhone for everything until you are watch-less and have no idea what time it is. On day one of my experiment, I left the house to go to my job in the campus mailroom only to realize 10 minutes after leaving my house that I had no phone — and no watch. I laughed to myself, because I clearly wasn’t off to a great start. I had planned to grab lunch before heading to work, so I went off to eat. I asked TWO people along the way what time it was — they stared at me like I was a grandma — and I still got to my job 25 minutes early. Talk about misjudgment. I will never leave the house without my watch again!
My social security blanket was gone.
Don’t get me wrong, I am as social as it gets. It’s nearly impossible to get a word in when I’m speaking. If you’re someone close to me, there’s a 90% chance that I’ll interrupt you… I’m an impatient New Yorker. Yet anytime I left the house, I had nothing to protect me from awkward conversations, long silences, or not knowing anyone in my surrounding area. While I sat in the hallway outside of my workout class and waited for the instructor, I was the only one in a crowd of 30 girls, except for a few, who wasn’t looking down at her phone. I couldn’t do what others could — I had to interact. The loss of that social crutch pushed me to engage in conversation with students in my classes and co-workers in the mailroom at times that I would’ve sat on my phone as a distraction. I made a new friend in my Pilates class simply from starting a conversation with a girl who sat next to me in the hallway, rather than checking Instagram like I normally would. Once you take away that crutch, the social interactions are worth it.
I realized it is possible to walk in a straight line.
If we were forced to take a test similar to a sobriety test and were asked to walk in a straight line while looking at our phones, we’d all fail. The switch from walking while texting to walking phone-free is comparable to walking in 6-inch heels versus successfully walking on a tight rope. I did not bump into ANYONE! I dodged, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged (thank you, DodgeBall) those who were glued to their phone like it was my job. I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to walking with my phone anytime soon because of my newly developed pet peeve — texters who walk into you and step on your shoe in the process (rude).
I couldn’t order my Chipotle in advance.
This was personally my biggest issue with the experiment. Numerous times, I went to order my Chipotle, Starbucks, or Tapingo on my phone before realizing I didn’t have a phone. If you know me, you know it’s not surprising that the biggest issue I had with not having my phone involves food. At the end of the day, I did realize that it’s not the end of world having to wait in line… unless if it’s a Chipotle line. Then you have every reason to be annoyed.
I learned that it is nearly impossible to leave the house without a phone.
Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this experiment wholeheartedly, yet it had its constraints. The hardest part was making plans with friends. I couldn’t make any last minute dinner plans, and when I did have to meet someone from the club I’m in, I had to sit down in the student union and turn on my laptop to log onto Facebook and ask where they were. (Side note: I do not have the texting application on my Mac, so I could not even cheat and resort to that!) While I enjoyed disconnecting from social media — something I think we should all do — I decided that in the future, I will carry my phone around with me to communicate when I need to, but I will monitor how often I use it for social media and in what situations.
A weight was lifted off my shoulders at the thought of not having to check social media.
By the time I got home each day, I had no desire to go through Instagram and Snapchat. Needless to say, I survived the day without knowing what my friends were eating, saying, or doing at that exact moment. Sometimes I think back to before Snapchat and remember what it was like when we didn’t know every second of each other’s days. In reality, I felt at ease without social media. What does it do to my day if I spend it caring about what others are doing rather than living my own life?
I looked up. And what I saw was pretty awesome.
Take a minute to think about the things you could be do instead of looking at your phone. You could look up at those around you. You could engage in a conversation in person with your friends to hear how they are, rather than looking at their Snapchat story for a play-by-play.
Instead of looking at my phone, I looked up at the world. I saw smiling faces on the street, and I saw tired faces. I saw familiar faces that I wouldn’t have had the chance to say hi to if I was looking down, and I even met some unfamiliar faces that I would’ve never interacted with. I had the chance to smile at random people on the street…maybe it made their day, or maybe they were wondering why a strange girl is smiling at them. Either way, I noticed them.
I was able to admire the beauty of my campus, a campus that in just one semester, I won’t get to see anymore. While my phone will always be around, some of the experiences I can have now will not. When I explained to an employee at one of the dining locations on campus what I was doing, she said to me, “See, now that’s what I like to hear. I like when I look across the counter and see one of the students smiling back at me rather than at those damn devices.”
From here on out, I plan to smile more often at the world, not a device. You should too.