We’ve become so dependent on our smartphones, that most of us don’t even think about what leaving your home without taking your phone would be like. Can you imagine going outside without taking your social media friends, notes, Google Maps, phone camera and music with you? And why would you even leave all of those goodies behind?Nowadays “minimalist” phones and the concept of detoxing from social media are gaining some popularity, so if you’re up for it, let’s try a challenge!
Leave your phone behind for a day
It would be an interesting personal experiment, and you’ll likely learn a lot about yourself at the end of the day. You may even surprise yourself, if it turns out you ended up having a good time without your phone, by relying entirely on yourself.
What leaving my phone behind felt like
I ended up forgetting my phone recently, and I seemingly definitely needed it, as I had a full, long day planned on it. I would visit certain locations on foot, meet up with friends, have a few drinks, then go to the store to do some shopping before coming back home.
Exploring without a map
Now, reaching new locations on foot without knowing the way or having Google Maps in your pocket does sound like it may be a challenge, but it quickly turned into fun exploration. After all, the streets are numbered and people around can be asked for directions.
I adapted to the “old ways” of navigating pretty quickly, and had fun exploring the fairly new city I was in, on my own and without a map. Normally I’d miss so much of my surroundings when I’m focusing on Google Maps.
Meeting up with friends without calling or texting
This would have been tricky if we didn’t plan ahead or if we chose a difficult to find meeting place, but our meetup was at the city centre, easy to find. The main issue I had now was not knowing the time. I didn’t carry a watch, but I could always ask a stranger or see it through a store window.
We all met, and I asked everyone to do what I inadvertently did and keep phone usage to a minimum so we can actually talk and fully enjoy the rest of the day.
Buying groceries without a list
It was time to go home, but first, buy groceries. Suddenly it hit me – what am I supposed to get? My grocery list was on my phone, written in the Google Keep app.
Then I did something incredible and unthinkable – I actually used my own brain to remember the grocery list. And as it turned out, I did remember everything I had to get.
The only thing I missed when I didn’t have my phone
The camera. I’m not the type of person to take selfies or pointless pictures I’ll never look at, but I’ve come to realize that as time passes, even the greatest of days may be completely forgotten. Which is why I now rely on the cloud (OneDrive in my case) to preserve my memories in the form of photo albums arranged by year. One photo of me and two friends on the beach is enough to remind me of the entire day, but without that photo, over the years I would have forgotten the day in question.
And this is subjective, probably not everyone cares about preserving memories like this, or you have better memory than I do. And you may miss something else from your phone. As for me, aside from missing the camera once or twice, I got to focus on the real world around me, and use my own brain for things I normally rely on my phone for. So it was a fun experiment.
It definitely feels like an accomplishment nowadays, to spend a day without a smartphone in your pocket, as we’re so used to the conveniences we get from phones.
Take on this challenge and let us know how it went!
Feel free to take on this challenge during the weekend – leave the phone behind for a day – and let us know how you did and what you missed, if anything. Also share this challenge with friends who could benefit from it! Did you end up not missing your phone after a while, or did you discover that you’re completely dependent on it?
