Christian Farm Girl: A week without a phone

Last thursday, my cracked iphone finally saw it’s end as i dropped it (again). It was a little hard because that night, my husband and I had a double date with some friends and weren’t sure everything would work out. Our friends were late and I grew worried that something came up and we had no idea because I couldn’t communicate. (they showed and we had a great time).

On friday I woke up and pondered the idea of replacing my phone. I had a pretty new iphone 6 sitting at home in the box that I could easily switch over to if I desired. I did switch my sim card and looked at the new phone for a few minutes, then decided I wanted to try a break from all of this technology. I put the phones away and can honestly say after a week that my life is better without a smart phone.

There are some things I miss like my gps, facetime, and the ability to snap a picture at anytime anywhere, but the benefits far outweigh the cost in my opinion. I am able to be more in the moment because even if I’m bored I can’t just pull out my phone and do something else. I am forced to connect more with people while I spend time with them and to make commitments to do things in person. And this has made me less likely to flake because I have no way to tell someone I don’t feel like going anymore.

I’ve gone back to using my real nikon camera and have had fun taking pictures of it with my family. I use my cds because I don’t have an ipod anymore and I don’t have to fight the temptation to text and drive.

Facebook can be a good tool, but let’s be honest, we all spend too much time on there. When I had a phone, it became a habit for me to pull it up. I did it out of boredom and have wasted many an hour or two doing this. I still use facebook on my computer as a way to message friends and family and it takes over less of my life. I feel more like I’m in control than the other way around. And though the quality isn’t as good as it was on my phone, I enjoy using facebook messenger to video chat my family in Arizona. I am still able to talk and communicate, I am just more aware of how I spend my time.

I am one of those people who enjoys spending time with others but can easily get overwhelmed. I enjoy alone time but then start to get sad if I’m left alone too long. With a phone, I was always sad if no one would text me. I would scroll through social media and wish I could do all of the fun things my friends did or that I was as pretty or motivated as others. I still can get into that mindset at times if I’m not careful, but it is easier to just focus on the here and now and not worry about or compare myself to others when I don’t constantly have a tiny computer in my pocket.

It was nice to be able to look up things and I loved using it for studying scriptures, but I can still do all of that, just in a different way. I ponder more, as I don’t always have something in front of me to do. I am more grateful for the simple things around me because I actually take the time to notice them.

Technology can be good and social media can be good, we just need to make sure that we don’t give these things too big of a place in our life. Otherwise, we may miss the beautiful opportunities right in front of us.

I don’t know if I will get another phone or not, I haven’t really decided. There are benefits to having such a tool, but there are drawbacks as well. I will atleast manage how I use my smartphone better, if I don’t decide to go with an old school design. I want to use my phone as a tool and to help improve my life, not let it control me and suck away my time and get in the way of my relationships with others.