Wednesday, January 22, 2014

One less thing

em106
You know all those who say their iPhones rule their lives? How they go everywhere including the bathroom with it because they couldn’t imagine missing out on something? Well, I go back and forth with being one of “those” people. It is my lifeline so I do tend to bring it everywhere with me, but there are moments where I’ll leave it at home for a quick errand or in the other room just to see how I’ll cope. Baby steps are happening here.

Over the weekend, after much debate with myself, I finally made another step in my ‘you won’t have a hold on me, iPhone!’ stance. I turned off the Instagram notification. Sounds silly, right? What’s the big deal having it on? But any time I post a photo, I constantly glance at it to see if the screen lights up with a ‘like’. Or I imagine it lights up, so I’m always looking at it. Or I’ll push the home button to see if I missed one. I’ve had to turn my phone over in the past to keep from looking at it, but I actually went in and turned it off, so the only way I’ll see if someone liked it is by going into instagram itself. What’s funny is I’m not all that popular on there, so it’s not like I get a ton of likes in the first place, but something about it has me addicted to the attention.

Somehow someway, my twitter is like this. I don’t know what happened, but a month ago, it stopped telling me when someone tweeted me. I have yet to look into why, because I found it was nice not knowing unless I got into twitter. The exact same thing happened the moment I turned off Instagram. It was almost instant relief. The pull I always feel from my phone wasn’t as strong anymore.

Little by little I’m getting myself away from my phone. It’s definitely a good feeling. My computer on the other hand is quickly taking over the time I was spending with my phone. I blame needing it for school, but I’m on it well after I’ve stopped doing schoolwork, so I guess the school excuse isn’t holding like I wish.

While I was traveling to Utah, all I brought was my iPad and that was mainly for my audiobooks. Given I had incredibly long drives, I downloaded two books to listen to. Anne of Green Gables and The Hunger Games. I didn’t realize how much fun I’d have listening to these books. They kept me entertained the entire trip. They’re both 11 hours long, and if you’ve never heard Anne of Green Gables on audio, I highly recommend it. It’s only $3.95 in iTunes. An unbelievable steal and believe me, you won’t regret it. The Hunger Games is equally as good but at $25 is a little harder to stomach.

I left my computer at home though, and it was such a nice feeling not being tied to it. I’ve noticed over the past year I hardly read anymore. When I finally close my computer, my arm automatically reaches for my phone. I can’t seem to be still anymore. Stay quiet and let my brain rest, not to mention my eyes. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to think, so to keep myself from any and all thought, I busy the mind.

Regardless, I could handle a step away from electronics.

Do you have any tried and true tricks to keep off the phone? Or reduce your computer use? I’m all ears.

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5 comments:

Noa / www.noablog.com said...

WELL.... I just came back from Spain (where I met my BF's family for the first time!!!) and my purse got stolen with my phone. So I was without my beloved iPhone 5 for over 2 weeks. It was hard in the beginning... I felt naked.... And then I kind of liked not having that distraction. I think turning off notifications (instagram, email etc) is a great way to start. Its amazing when you don't have a phone you notice how everyone else has THEIR nose stuck in a little screen! So instead, I was actually looking around me and admiring the day to day life.

Callie said...

I'm the same way with Instagram - I always want to check to see if anyone liked my photos! For some reason the notifications don't show up on my phone though unless I'm actually using it when someone likes a photo, so I usually do have to just get into Instagram to check. I loved listening to Anne of Green Gables on audio! I actually got it free through a Librivox podcast though. An actual audiobook is probably better quality, but if you search for Librivox in iTunes, they have a ton of free classic audiobooks that they put out as podcasts!

My-cliffnotes said...

I didn't even know Instagram had notifications.

The Heart Of A Woman said...

I don't read books either! I try but the iPhone always wins! Eliminating Fb has helped a lot. I don't follow many people on ig so mine isn't too exciting. I have been reading tons of blogs lately, but I have some books I want to sit and read. My mind just won't be still for them!

Amanda Wissmann said...

Oh. my. geez. HOW have I NOT been following you on Twitter?!?!?! whaaaaaaaat!? Seriously, this blows my mind. Well, NOW I am! Weeeeeee!

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