A week without a phone @EmmaBrianchon

By Emma Brianchon

When my cracked iPhone 5s screen decided to finally give out on me, I was

heartbroken. I knew the day would come, yet I was still not prepared. I

jumped out of joy to finally look at my lifeless phone on the ground and

thinking « oh god no, not now, please. »

Well... No money to replace right away, I decided to live without a phone

until I find a solution.

Which also meant no alarm clock in the morning. I somehow managed to

arrive – most of the time – in advance at school, with the fear to go back to

sleep and wake up hours later.

Luckily for me, not having a phone meant no Facebook, no Instagram, no

texting, but also, not mail reading ...

But oddly enough, after a few days it really did get easier, and the craziest

part...I actually learned something.

First of all, it’s nice to take a break from the connected world. When I was

busy, I was busy. When I was unreachable, I was unreachable. I could

focus more on the things I was doing at the moment, and decide when I

wanted to be contacted.

No distractions from work. I had, for the first time in a long time, the last say

on when I wanted to read an e-mail or answer a text. Perfect excuse.

So I could focus on everything in a much easier way. I listened more, and

when I was on a task on my computer, I was doing it, trying not to be

distracted. I was less tempted to see what my friends, through the virtual

world, were doing or saying to me.

I could also focus way more on what I was watching. Before falling asleep,

of course.

To be honest, I really thought I would miss more from the Social Media

World. And actually, sorry to tell you that, but I didn’t miss much. Same old

articles and pictures on Facebook & Instagram, same interest for me in

them. Everything that was really necessary to know was told to me when I

was chatting with my friends, or calling via Messenger on my laptop. With a

bit of disappointment and a spark of relief, I missed nothing special.

I then realized that I don’t need to check my phone 3 times a day to know

what is on there, simply because I stopped caring. I read more, 2 books in a

week, and I looked at people much more in the transportation – yes, I was

the creep staring and smiling at people if I didn’t have the nose in my book -

.

What I did miss tho, is to be able to text, call or send pictures to the people I

love and who are far away from me. When I saw something or had

something happening to me, I wish I could have had 5 minutes to talk to

them. But well, in the night, when we called, we had much more to talk

about. So, I learnt to overcome this small issue.

What I am saying is not that I’m ready to give up on my Smartphone, I can’t

wait to have a new one, just because it’s really convenient to have any

data, any journey route, or just the clock, but that I can – and you can as

well – survive without constantly looking at your screen.