I somehow found myself in an opportunity where I agreed to give my phone away for a week. I woke up using either an analog alarm or a bulky iPad. It was not fun to start my day with a radio full of washed-up Taylor Swift songs. I remain convinced that the hardest part of this endeavor was getting used to the radio.
Initially, I felt that the experience would be difficult, primarily because I was convinced I might be addicted to my phone. Towards the end of the “challenge,” though, I realized that I was not addicted to it, but I was addicted to its convenience. Every day, I see people with an overall sense of anxiety or dread. I usually chop this up to an overabundance of schoolwork or even various anxiety-inducing responsibilities outside of school or at home. Academic pressure is something fully inflamed by easy access to technology, and I wanted to see if I felt any better without that quick convenience. Besides minor complaints, I thought it would be compelling to work on my priorities with no distractions from a phone, but I found it to be the exact opposite. With the season of college admissions for seniors now fully in force, it is hard to find many people fully content and relaxed, even on weekends or breaks. This comes down to the fact that even when I am away from school, technology is constantly pulling me back into my responsibilities. When I get a plethora of college advertisements in my email inbox, or Google Classroom notifications, it is surprisingly difficult to live in the present without always being reminded of my issues or “to-do” list. It only gets worse with easy-access apps like Aeries, seeing the icons or notifications reminds me of my academic life when I am not in the classroom or doing homework. I started to realize that the problem was the easy access and convenience into our professional or academic lives through technology.
I found that the overall issue is a lack of present awareness to rest, recover, or even do something besides school or work. Because of this, losing the constant convenience of a phone may actually increase overall contentness and clarity as well as bring us back into a slower world, focused on the present.
Without being reminded to do work, I found myself in a position where I was focused solely on what was important to me. Work or not, I began prioritizing what truly needed to be done, not just what others reminded me to do. It was a kind of a freedom you can only understand through experience. My days were filled with more social interaction, nature, and even self-awareness.
With an overall lack of stress, dates, deadlines, or more; I also found more free time where I thought I would not. Without a clear distraction, I was 100% involved in every one of my activities. This meant my work would be completed faster, leaving me with more time to relax or leisure.
The lack of stress came from more than my personal life. Waking up without a constant, blaring 24-hour news cycle on my phone made it easier to slowly submerge myself into the world, rather than jumping straight into the deep end.
Instead of receiving every little piece and nuance of news, I heard the important notes from family or friends, and left the rest out of my mind. I was involved, but avoided little stress-stories here and there meant to enrage like a large amount of modern news. Common little stories about dead animals, people, crimes, or little infuriating glimpses into the world, that build up tension for a monetary value of which we are the product.
Aside from academics, the best part was how long the days felt. I was bored most of the time, but it allowed me to actually think and experience life fully. Without the ability to record any moment via picture or video, every second was as important as the last. Every moment mattered.
I recommend to anyone to try this for just a day. It doesn’t have to be about productivity, a “mind change”, or a challenge… but about remembering what it’s like to live in a slower world.
I somehow found myself in an opportunity where I agreed to give my phone away for a week. I woke up using either an analog alarm or a bulky iPad. It wasn’t fun to start my day with a radio full of washed-up Taylor Swift songs. I remain convinced that the hardest part of this endeavor was getting used to the radio. I listened primarily to the various 80s channels, and I highly recommend 96.7 or 107.7 if you find yourself stuck between constant club remixes of oldies and honking cars.
Initially, I felt that the experience would be difficult, primarily because I was convinced I might be addicted to my phone. Towards the end of the “challenge,” though, I realized that I was not addicted to it, but I was addicted to its convenience. Every day, I see people with an overall sense of anxiety or dread. I usually chop this up to an overabundance of schoolwork or even various anxiety-inducing responsibilities outside of school or at home. Academic pressure is something fully inflamed by easy access to technology, and I wanted to see if I felt any better without that quick convenience.Besides minor complaints, I thought it would be compelling to work on my priorities with no distractions from a phone, but I found it to be the exact opposite. With the season of college admissions for seniors now fully in force, it’s hard to find many people fully content and relaxed, even on weekends or breaks. This comes down to the fact that even when we are away from school or work, technology is constantly pulling us back into it all.
When we get constant texts from co-workers, or a plethora of college advertisements in our emails, it’s surprisingly difficult to live in the present without always being reminded of our issues or “to-do” list. It only gets worse with easy-access apps like Aeries or Google Classroom. Even when we aren’t opening them,– seeing the icons or notifications reminds us of our academic lives when we aren’t in the classroom or doing homework. I started to realize this and realized the problem was the easy access and convenience into our professional lives through technology. I found it incredibly relaxing to completely ignore all of my issues for a week straight.
I found that our overall issue is a lack of present awareness to rest, recover, or even do something besides school or work. Because of this, losing the constant convenience of a phone may actually increase overall contentness and clarity as well as bring us back into a slower world, focused on the present.
Without being reminded to do work, I found myself in a position where I was focused solely on what was important to me. Work or not, I began prioritizing what truly needed to be done, not just what others reminded me to do. It was a kind of freedom you can only understand through experience. My days were filled with more social interaction, nature, and reflection. With only my own mind to guide me, I learned to separate what mattered from what didn’t.
With an overall lack of stress, dates, deadlines, or more; I also found more free time where I thought I wouldn’t. Without a clear distraction, I was 100% involved in every one of my activities. This meant my work would be completed faster, leaving me with more time to relax or leisure.
The lack of stress came from more than our personal lives. Waking up without a constant, blaring 24-hour news cycle on my phone made it easier to slowly submerge myself into the world, rather than jumping straight into the deep end.
Instead of receiving every little piece and nuance of news, I heard the important things from family or friends, and left the rest out of my mind. I was involved, but avoiding little stress-stories here and there meant to enrage. This doesn’t just include politics, as a large amount of news are little stories about dead animals, people, crimes, or little infuriating things that build up tension for a monetary value of which we are the product.
Aside from academics, the best part was how long the days felt. I was bored most of the time, but it allowed me to actually think and experience fully. Without the ability to record any moment via picture or video, every second was as important as the last. Every moment mattered.
I recommend trying to go one week without a phone or even for a day. If you do, you’ll be able to recall what it’s like to live in a slower world.
