Well, I would love to tell you that I have sailed through the day without the use of my phone and I had no problems. While I have done okay, I have also experienced some issues.
The first problem presented itself last night. I realized that I wouldn't be able to take the battery out of my phone and leave it till morning because I use my phone as my alarm clock. Not wanting to trek out last night to purchase a traditional alarm clock I decided that I would turn my phone on but leave it in airplane mode.
My morning routine is usually to get up, get the kids up, check email and social media and then proceed about the day. Today I got up, got the kids up, checked email and left social media alone. I did have to physically remove myself from the computer to avoid the temptation of checking to see what was happening on FB or Twitter.
As I was driving to school I quickly realized that without being able to send a text I needed to make several phone calls today. I have two people in my life who are having a birthday today, my husband needed to know about before care drop off at the youngest child's school, my oldest needed instructions for what to do with the dogs, and the list goes on. At one point I almost caved in and text my neighbor to see if she could let my dogs out for me. I resisted the urge and guess what? The dogs were just fine. Even our brand new puppy survived the day in her kennel. She was super excited to see me this afternoon.
One of the benefits of packing the phone away was during my first day of school I had actual conversations with other students. I observed people around the room and most of the 20 somethings in the class were doing just what I would have been doing. They were all looking down at their phones, I'm sure at social media, and not engaging another person in an actual conversation. I also realized the completely random things I would be posting on FB or Twitter and had the thought of "Why on earth does that matter?"
Another thing I discovered today was maybe I don't need a complete digital detox as much as I do a detox from my phone. Once I am home I rarely get on my computer. Mostly because my phone is smaller and right next to me. But, if I can simply remove the phone without spending more time on the computer then this experiment will have done its job.
In the end, I'm looking to decrease the amount of time I spend on social media and the amount of time I spend on my phone or looking for my phone. I want to be able to leave the house without my phone and not feel naked without it. Of course once I finally get used to not carrying my phone or being completely dependent on my phone, my husband will deploy and it will once again be glued to my hip.
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