How addicted to your phone are you? How often do you check it? How much time do you spend on social media? Do you itch to upload photos to facebook, or to comment on what you see? Are you a lurker?
It’s the weekend, and I am tired. Tired of talking, of writing, of interacting. As the days are going by life seems to be getting busier and busier.
Tomorrow I will go away with a group of young swimmers. Some are experienced and will so enjoy the day, the competition and the fun. Others are less so. Today for them will be filled with anxieties as they look forward to and dread tomorrow. For them the competition is a big deal, and their fears very real. I imagine tomorrow will be busy, not just coaching but managing mini 
meltdowns, and drying some tears.Today I also have a full day. So all in all very little time to charge my batteries. To sit and just be.
So this morning I made a decision. I will make my life a little bit less busy this weekend, a little more about relaxing in the moments I am free. How? Very simply. I will ‘lose’ my phone. This weekend I will only speak to the people around me, the people in my real world. I will not read my emails, there will be no facebook, no twitter, no wordpress.
I remember about ten years ago realising that wearing a watch was affecting my life. I was overly conscious of time. If I had to be somewhere I was checking my watch regularly before leaving, to see how long more I had. Instead of having an hour free, I was spending that hour waiting for the next one. This morning as I was thinking about ‘losing’ my phone I remembered those days. I also remember how liberating it was without a watch. I wasn’t ever late, but I definitely enjoyed my days much better, in the moment.
So today I hope ‘losing’ my phone will have the same effect.
Wish me luck. I’ll be back here tomorrow night and will let you know if I succeeded, or if in fact I am a phone addict beyond help.
Ps. The irony is that I just have to answer a couple of emails before I begin!
My thoughts on a page. 
Much more addicted to my Mac. Can’t live without it.
I hear you! I spent so much time wondering about this topic today that I still wasn’t “in the here and now”; I don’t wear a watch either 🙂
I am now miles behind in all my comments and reading! However since my experiment I do feel I am less addicted than before. I wonder could I do it on a less busy weekend though?
I am totally addicted to my phone and computer. They are my connection to the outside world…plus my relaxation, news source, reading material! Can’t and don’t want to give it up for a second! 😀
I get you Deb. I think if I were in your situation I’d have the same attitude. I do sometimes though feel it owns me instead of vice verse so I am now trying to be a little more in control.
I need to take away electronics from myself. If my kid spent as much time surfing using their device as much as I do, I’d have to take it away from them! Oh now I’m even thinking about punishing myself! I have gone looney! 😜
My family vacations in a place with little cell and no internet. It’s easy to access at the neighbor’s, but I don’t bother. For about a week I am unplugged and don’t really miss it. I think you will enjoy your time away.
I did enjoy my time away. We too go to a place on holidays with poor to no wifi. I don’t miss it then but I’m not sure I’d feel the same if I had no wifi in my everyday life.
Oh, I feel so vastly superior right now! I am not at all addicted to my phone! Want to know why?
Because I hate to pay for the data.
And because I am alway, always always on my laptop.
Sigh.
Ah you cheat! I get unlimited data and texts for €20 a month so it’s very easy to stay online.
I wish you luck. Attending the blog awards, I was so conscious of everyone tweeting except me. I wondered what they were all doing, and since then, it has justified me spending even more time on twitter etc. I loved our camping holiday – no WiFi meant I couldn’t feel guilty for not staying in touch. Don’t feel bad. Enjoy!
Life with no wifi was definitely no chore, but then I was very busy. I just can’t be doing the tweeting thing when I am somewhere. I’d feel I’m not in the present if I started that, although the few times I am on twitter I do enjoy it.
Good luck! Make sure to blog about later 😉
Thanks April. I’ve lived to tell the tale and blog it, but I am so far behind on comments as you can see.
go for it, tric. enjoy. and do not answer this )
I had to answer you…. albeit many days later. 🙂
Sometimes it feels healthy just to be without any electronic working – anti stress. I haven’t weared a watch for daily use in many years, because I felt stress by using this. Enjoy your free time Tric 😉
I get you Irene. I do think there is a certain lack of relaxation when we are online too regularly. I survived my 48hours.
I rarely look at my phone – or my laptop – when I am with other people, apart from when I’m with my non-verbal daughter, when popping on to social media helps me to keep going x
I am now trying to be you! Since coming back online I’m definitely a little more in control, and happy to stay offline more often.
I have a policy of deliberately leaving my phone at home a lot of the time. It’s interesting how annoyed people get because they seem to feel one should be available at all times. One sees the world very differently without it. Maybe try a phone-free day every week for starters and then a general wean off, if this present experiment works positively for you. Enjoy it!
Agreed. I think the key is to actually put the phone away out of sight, and I am definitely going to begin doing that more often. I have tried since I came home and I didn’t miss it.
been years since I wore a watch, tric
in fact, I can’t for the life of me understand why google, samsung, and apple are wasting billions of dollars developing ‘smart’ watches, when almost everyone I know no longer wears a watch – if they want to know the time, they check their smart phone
as to ‘losing’ your smart phone – I do that all the time
being a ScotI often recharge my smart phone at work then go home, forgetting to take it with me Loops:I am breaking into a sweat at the thought of leaving my phone at work overnight. That is a step too far.
My husband leaves his phone everywhere, and rarely misses it. I am trying to behave better around mine. It’s working so far.
Good luck, Tric! I love having mine with me to get a hold of my family, but I could live without it for a day, at least (or I would like to think I could). 😀
Ha ha. I like to think I could too, but the reality is I’m not sure I’d try it. 🙂
I don’t know if I would last. I fell like I’m in one of those dreams with no pants on when i forget my phone.
I’m a flapper. I flap, hitting every pocket I’m wearing, and some I’m not just checking I have it with me. I am trying though.
I’ve never understood the phone addiction. Everything is so damn small! I do all my internet on my PC. I hate it when people are on their phone when they’re supposed to be doing something else.The other night, I tried to use mine to take a video of a very entertaining moment and all I did was miss out on what had happened. The memory was ruined by my fumbling around with my phone. However, If I lose internet service at home, I do get a little panicky.
Your description of trying to take a video and missing the whole event perfectly illustrates all that is bad about phones and social media.
However living offline can be quite a challenge. I suppose everything in moderation.
Reblogged this on Moderndaymomme and commented:
#Rest starts here… Great time of year to practice this!