For those of you looking for the reason that Saturday’s post was late – here it is – I went without technology all day Sunday. No phone, no computer. I was too tired by the time Saturday night came to write the post, then I couldn’t do it on Sunday because I was technology free.

Being technology free was… interesting. I think that I loved and hated it. Every time I felt my left pocket I would have a panic – where is my phone?!?! Then I would remember that it was safely at home sitting on the dining room table. But, I also really liked the fact that I was unable to just pick it up to waste time whenever I wanted. I was a lot more involved in my own life because there was no “let’s just waste a couple of minutes while there is nothing to do” because my phone was not an option.

There were a couple of times when it would have been much easier just to have my phone. I was teaching Sunday School at church and the battery in the clock ran out. I didn’t have a watch on, so I had to run around in the church office looking for a battery for the clock so that I could keep track of the time as we were going. Also, I remembered that I had forgotten to print something as we were leaving for church. I couldn’t do it myself, so I had to ask our children’s director to print it out for me. There were a lot of little inconveniences like that throughout the day that made me realize how convenient having a phone and a computer are.

However, I have to say that it was refreshing not to have a screen available all day. There was no time that I was ignoring anyone to look at what was going on in the social media world/checking my email/reading soccer news/reading regular news/doing a little bit of work stuff/etc. I could really feel the difference – and the biggest difference was when I was starting to feel bored or like there was nothing to do. That is when I pull out my phone and kill some time. But I had to entertain myself the old-fashioned way since my phone was not an option. I talked to more people, had more interactions with my boys, and even prayed a little bit more than normal. All things that I would like to have more of in my life and the only thing that I missed out on was my phone in my pocket.

However, I do have a word of warning for you if you are going to do a technology free day. Warn your family that it’s coming. While my phone was sitting safely on the dining room table, my dad was calling me over and over again to tell me that he needed his truck (that I had borrowed the day before to buy some supplies for the garage cabinets) back. My dad got mad that I wasn’t responding and my mom got worried so they finally just drove over to get the truck (sorry again dad!). Everything worked out OK, but it would have been a lot easier if I had just let them know beforehand.

Takeaway:

I use my phone as a crutch. When I don’t have anything to do, I will pull it out of my pocket and entertain myself. However, when that wasn’t an option, I had to find new ways to entertain myself and they were all more social than staring at a screen. I liked the world a lot better where the phone wasn’t an option. I know that I can’t get rid of it – but I am going to try not to use it as such a crutch every time that I find myself without something to do.