I cannot recall the number of times that I have lost, then found my iPhone 3GS. So I thought why not ditch the iPhone for one day and see how that feels. If you don’t know it yet, the iPhone has become an extension of my arm. Yes, it gives me joy (thanks to a particular friend for talking me into getting one) and yes, it is distracting me.
Whether on the move or sitting still, I am constantly scanning FB, reading Tumblr, checking the weather and harvesting my crops in “We Rule”. I would sit and have coffee with another friend and proceed to chat while scanning “Friday”. See, I actually have a name for the blasted thing. Last Friday (this time I refer to the day), this same friend dared me to go off iPhone for a day while in an overnight getaway with the hubby.
I do have one exception. I kept it on in case I get a phone call from my sons’ school ( Friday being a school day).
I lived for 24 hours with no iPhone camera, no FB, no WhatsApp, no Calendar, no Notes, no SMSs, no iPod, no internet and no phone. I ignored it so much, the battery went flat!
It was 1991 again. I was wrong to say that I was going back to 1995. Because in 1995 (left Siemens, started at ETSI-Siemens), we already have computers and Windows for word processing and spreadsheets. We had analog mobile phones and GSM was just being built by Siemens for Islacom. I remembered carrying a brick around for a phone.
How did it feel? Mmm … It was quite unnerving at first. I told the hubby to quit teasing me with his own iPhone. I found myself reaching into my handbag absentmindedly. The good thing about this social experiment was that my iPhone will not get lost in the Hunter Valley 🙂 I ate, I slept, I ate and slept again. It was the best slow quickie with the hubby. Slow because we did not follow a schedule. We did spontaneity. But quick because it was just one night with no kids.
So what now? I decided that a smartphone is still an essential tool for the 21st century. But I must not allow it to distract me!
From now on, I will talk and listen to my friend when having coffee without touching Friday. I am sure she will be glad 🙂
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