I am going to be doing a shortened version of the vitamin water challenge.
And instead of giving up my iPhone for an entire yea, I'm going to be giving it
up for just a week. Which I think it's gonna feel like much longer than it is.
And instead of using a regular smartphone like I normally do, I'm going
to be using a flip phone instead. And this is my Tracfone that I got for
$13 at Best Buy and it calls and texts and that's pretty much it.
So on any given week I use my one iPhone
for about 10 to 20 different things. But to replace my smart phone for even just
one week it requires all of these different things. I have my book, my
physical alarm clock, cash, stopwatch, a flip phone to call and texts, my iPod
video, my recorder, hand-drawn maps and of course my desktop phone. So one morning
during my week without a smartphone, I accidentally turned my alarm clock off,
instead of pressing the snooze button. And normally on my iPhone and I have
like three backup alarms set. But I'd have any of those and so I ended up
being late to work. So I do physical therapy stretches every morning and
normally as my phone as a timer. And this week, I had to use an actual stopwatch. So
I normally use an app on my phone record interviews. But this week I had to use my
desktop phone and a physical recorder to be able to do it. I don't know how to do
this. I was surprisingly difficult to be able to: A. track someone down who had and I could
borrow and B. know how to set it up and connect everything correctly. I'm going
out to dinner tonight at a Ramen restaurant in Midtown and I kind of know
how to get there but I don't exactly know how to get there. So getting around
the city was like the process as I had to physically hand draw maps to give me
directions. And I need to go that way. And even though New York City is a grid
system and it was pretty easy, I still got turned around a few times.
Oh no, wait! No, this way. At brunch, one of my friends offered to put our entire
bill on her credit card and just have everyone pay her back and because I
don't have access to Venmo this week, I had to scrounge around for cash, which I
normally don't keep on hand. Time to pay for brunch.
I felt so disconnected from my friends throughout this whole challenge. I wasn't
able to contribute to group chats. I wasn't able to give my thoughts or ideas
of making plans. Even when I hosted a game night, my friends hammered out all
the details amongst themselves in a group chat and then just relayed it to
me about a party happening at MY house. Texting might have been the worst part
of the entire thing. It took FOREVER to type out even just one text.
Gotta finish this text.
I did not miss social media at all. And despite some hiccups, getting
used to end all technology, it was not nearly as annoying as I expected it to
be. I loved not being available 24/7 and I was 100% present in every moment.
I would never do this again because the problem is the sense of isolation. From
now on, I plan to limit the amount of time I spend just mindlessly scrolling.
But I'm not willing to sacrifice the sense of connection and being able to
keep in touch with my friends and family. Still texting.
and still texting.
I miss having autocorrect.