A little while ago, I was contacted by Insurance2Go and invited to take part in a challenge that would involved going for a whole 24 hours without technology. Honestly, the prospect of this was absolutely terrifying. I rarely go 10 minutes without my phone, iPad, laptop, camera, headphones etc, let alone a whole day and night. I am, however, often criticised by my family and friends around me that I am so permanently glued to my phone, so thought it would be interesting to see if I could do it, and prove them wrong, as they also thought I wouldn't last 10 minutes!
As a blogger, and someone who works in the field of technology and social media, the thought of switching everything off, although terrifying, secretly seemed a little liberating. So last Saturday, at 3pm, I switched off all my devices, surgically removed them from about my person and left them in a drawer beside my bed. To be perfectly honest, it was really scary!
To begin with, I felt strangely naked. There was nothing in my pockets, my handbag was practically empty, and I wasn't entirely sure what to do with my hands without my phone in it. Every five minutes, like clockwork, I found myself reaching for my phone to check twitter, instagram, facebook, emails etc, but found I could not, so felt a little awkward. Eventually I stopped this, but I had to actively find things to do to stop myself obsessive over this. I had this feeling of dread that someone needed to get hold of me and couldn't, but realised it would have to wait.
In the evening, I went to a party, where I realised I rely on my phone as a sense of security, I'd use it to look busy if a situation felt awkward, but really just had to get over this and talk to people. It was actually a rare experience for me to enjoy a whole party and be fully involved without hiding at the side on my phone. I also didn't have my go to phone camera with me, which I found kind of annoying as I missed so many great instagram opportunities! It's not the end of the world though, one of those times where life really does go on!
I did find myself constantly late though, as it turns out I don't own a working watch. I also woke up far too late the next morning as I don't own an alarm clock either! Eventually 3pm rolled around and I was able to switch everything back on again. If I'm honest, I did miss it. I like having access to all my friends via social media, and also the opportunity to be creative in taking pictures and instagram etc wherever I go. However, I didn't really miss anything. Nothing bad happened, no one desperately needed to contact me and the world didn't end! I did realise though quite how much I rely on my phone, as I use it for
- contact; calls, text and whatsapp
- emails; contact, blog, work,
- camera
- clock
- alarm clock
- map (I did get lost and have to actually navigate by myself!)
- social media
- distraction
- information (No google!)
I obviously haven't always had a phone to rely on, so I think I need to get back to being less dependent on my little piece of technology. I thought it was interesting too how I was perfectly fine without my other items of tech, but my phone is definitely a must have! It definitely was a quite 24 hours, and I think once I'd got used to the idea, it was actually rather relaxing!
How well do you think you'd fare without technology?Labels: iPad, iphone, technology, technology free