A Week Without A Cell Phone Changed My Life

By Giuliana Grossi on January 17, 2013

About a week ago I ended up drowning my iPhone (a mishap of course). Though many people panic, my first feeling was relief. It had gotten to the point where I felt enslaved to my smartphone. I was constantly texting my friends to work out plans, checking emails from my professors, or keeping up with my twitter updates. I hated it even while I was doing it but it was just so hard to ignore my phone when it would go off. And when I would put it down for a meal,  I’d pick it up and find numerous notifications which would then sends me into a slight panic attack wondering what I had missed. Bottom line- I needed a break.

Photo credit: financial philosopher

Since I go to school a thousand miles away from home and I’m still on my parents phone plan, I wasn’t going to get a snappy replacement phone, but I was okay with that. It ended up taking a week to replace my iPhone, but it was the nicest week I’ve had in a while. It was weird at first not having a mobile device attached to me at every waking moment, but in turn I gained so much freedom. Granted I had friends that could communicate for me, and I live on a small college campus so that does make phone-less-living a bit easier, but I really enjoyed my week without a cell phone. I went about my days much differently than I do when I have my phone within a 3-foot radius of me at all times. From this experience I decided that my New Year’s resolution is to take a day or half a day each week to turn off my phone. I am also going to try and not respond to its every beckon like my life depends on it but in truth, it doesn’t.

I encourage you to try something similar. I can tell you that it’s a liberating feeling to go about your daily life without a phone, but you won’t fully understand until you try it. Think about it- when is the last time you spent an entire day without touching your phone? Try it. It could change your life.

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