A few weeks ago I went through what many these days would deem a nightmare… I went an entire week with no cell phone! Though it wasn’t necessarily by choice, I learned some important lessons from my digital detox week that I think you’ll find helpful.
Ok so first the quick back story – I set my phone down in the kitchen and it got knocked to the floor. This has happened dozens of times before and it’s been fine. But 2 days before Christmas, the month the phone was paid off, it did not survive the fall. The screen didn’t work at all. So I submitted a claim through device protection for a replacement, but since it’s a holiday week it didn’t even ship for a couple of days.
Alright, so now let’s talk about that digital detox week and the lessons I learned from being without a phone:
Lesson 1: Less phone = slower pace of life
The first thing I noticed was that I, for some reason, didn’t feel as rushed. I guess being quickly bombarded with tons of information on the phone translated to feeling rushed in other areas of life. It was nice to slow down.
Lesson 2: Less phone = Less stress
With slowing down I also noticed I felt less stress. Having constant immediate access to social media and news really did lead to more stress and overwhelm for me. I definitely noticed less of it not using a phone.
Lesson 3: Less phone = No info overload
Even though I was still using my computer, I felt less info overload. I was able to be a lot more intentional with my information consumption.
All of these first three lessons led to these…
Lesson 4: Less phone = More focus
Slowing down, less stress, and no information overload lead to more focus. I was able to concentrate easier and longer on whatever task I was doing whether it was offline or on the computer.
Lesson 5: Less phone = More presence
I also felt like I was able to be much more present with my family. It was especially nice since it was over Christmas so I could really soak in the moments with my kids.
Lesson 6: (most surprising) Less phone = More creativity
This was the most surprising find for me in this journey! I was able to put together much more cohesive and creative plans for blog content, personal projects, and more.
What I missed most:
- Communication: This was by far the hardest. We don’t have a landline so I had to use either my husband’s phone or my computer to send messages.
- Photos: Like many moms, I love taking cute photos of my kids. And our 3 month old just started smiling a bunch! So it was hard to not capture as much as I normally would.
- Reading: I frequently read on my Kindle And Play Books apps. I could still get the apps on my chromebook but it wasn’t nearly as convenient to read the ebooks I was working through.
How I’m moving forward
Though I am glad to have my phone back, especially for communication and photos that I missed the most, I’m definitely setting some limits. I deleted some apps and I’m being really intentional about how I’m using my phone. Though at times it was frustrating, I’m kinda glad for my digital detox week so I could make those discoveries and move forward in a more intentional way.
Let me know – have you ever done a phone or technology detox? How did it go?
