Lifestyle

Lessons from a self-confessed Smartphone addict

Well, I survived my promised ‘no phone day’. Yes, I survived, I coped, but my sanity throughout that excruciatingly drawn-out 24 hours was questionable. However, the brief absence of this omnipresent object in my life taught me a great deal about myself. It was a bit of an eye opener.

I’ll talk you through some  lessons I learnt from my arduous experiment…

Firstly, as my clever little smartphone even has the trusty job of ensuring I wake up in the morning ,I was more than a little concerned that instead of lying on my bed side table, my phone was switched off and out of reach. Well obviously, worst case scenario actually happened.. my poor Mother had to rouse me at 8am. It wasn’t pleasant. I’ll say no more on the subject, only that it made me feel like a 12 year old schoolgirl again. Lesson #1 learnt..invest in an actual alarm clock in case of a phone related emergency. FAR too reliant on my phone,

The day itself was a long one. It was troublesome, too. I was forever reaching for my phone, hankering for a sign from cyberworld that I wasn’t missing out on anything. Coupled with the fact that my then laptop had completely snuffed it (this was an ordeal in itself-three weeks without a laptop), I was, of course, missing out on EVERYTHING. Desperately clinging on to any possible means of communicating with the socially networked world that I was withdrawn from, I even found myself asking my brother “what was happening on Twitter”. Obviously, he laughed in my face, ignored my request for a smidgen of redemption from social confinement, and continued to play on his phone. *insert appropriate swear*. Lesson #2, just accept that you can’t keep up with the carnage for information in cyberspace. It.is.IMPOSSIBLE, even with your phone permanently glued to your hands.

The utterly silly thing was, I felt as if I was suffering in solitude of sorts. I was missing my little world. My Whatsapp conversations, my Twitter, my freedom to browse the internet, to text, to scanning through my Flipboard app and Instagram. In reality, I was far from being alone all day. I was in work, I was at home, I was at the gym Always surrounded by people. A rather essential lesson #3- realise that the people you are physically with ought to receive more attention than you give to your phone.  The art of real conversation is in danger of falling victim to the digital revolution. Keep it going, or else we’ll all be mute in another decade.

Oh, and FYI, the gym is not the sort of place you go to without your phone. You know those forever uncomfortable and heinously awkward moments in the changing room when a middle aged woman swans in stark naked where you’d normally avert your eyes to your phone (anything to avoid naked woman’s torso-would  probably Tweet about it too), Yes? Well with no phone to turn your attention to, you’re pretty much left with the inevitability of catching her eye..and more if you’re not extremely cautious. Also, as my poor little iPod has been made redundant, I had no music to listen to which was particularly hard to deal with  since I was unfortunately placed on a treadmill next to an incessant groaner. Lesson #4, forcing other technological devices into premature retirement because your smartphone can “do it all anyway” is just a bit mean and unnecessary, not to mention a complete waste of money. Definitely one of those hateful #firstworldproblems.

Through-out the day I found myself flitting in and out of a states of worry and mild paranoia. “What if so-and-so needs to contact me” “What if my friends arrange to go out without me because I can’t respond to their invites” “What if I get an important email, requiring an immediate reply or else” (Yes, well I’ve never actually received such an email but basically, in my worried little head, it could have happened..ssh). In hindsight, after switching my phone back on after the allotted “off time” there was no urgent messages resulting in pending doom because I hadn’t responded promptly. There were plenty of messages and notifications to catch up on but ,alas, nothing of particular importance. Lesson #5, unless you’re living in the middle of the desolate Australian Outbacks, people will be able to reach you without the aide of a smartphone. After all, communication in other forms far supersedes the mobile phone.

So, I have come to the conclusion that I am too dependant on my smartphone and I’ve realised that I need to quash this habit. I don’t want to miss out on the world around me because my eyes are permanently fixated upon this little screen-however pretty and interesting it may be. I’m determined not to become completely outsmarted by my smartphone, not to be hooked in by it’s allure, not to rely on it for silly things like waking me up, telling me the time, or pre-empting what the weather will be like tomorrow. I mean, seriously, how did I cope before the smartphone?! It’s time to lay this sordid little love affair to rest. It’s time to cool things off.

Oh, who am I kidding, it’s like a drug and I’ll just keep going back for more.

Now, where is it…

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