Nothing. The world didn't explode, I didn't break out into a cold sweat, and anxiety didn't sink its teeth into my throat and shake until I went limp. I existed, all the same as anyone else would. I went about my days. Granted, it was only for two days, but that's all I can do right now.
But here is what I realized: my phone has taken place of things that are necessities in life that I didn't realize I didn't have until I turned it off.
- Alarm clock: I strictly use my phone for it. Hence the only being able to turn it off for the past two days, because I need it to wake up for work tomorrow.
- Compact mirror: I use the forward-facing camera as a travel mirror to check makeup, etc. and I didn't have that luxury with it being turned off. I had to assume the back of my hair looked fine or that at any given point my mascara wasn't smudged down my face.
- Weather: Didn't even cross my mind how often I rely on the weather app to figure out what the temperature is outside, or what may or may not happen as far as percipitation. I forgot, for a moment, that normal people watch the news or the weather channel for this information.
- A clock in general: I wake up, and the first thing I do is check my phone to see what time it is and if I have the ability to roll over and snooze for a few more hours. I can't do this with my phone turned off, because I don't have a clock in my room. So when I wake up, I'm up. Out ino the living room to check the nearest clock there, which is enough time for my brain to shake the cobwebs and leave me too awake to sleep again.
None of those are necessarily pros or cons. They're just...facts. Facts of me not being as prepared in life than I thought, because I had my smartphone to cover all of those bases for me.
And the only cons I can think of from this mini experiment would be lack of communicating. If I wanted to know an answer from my mom at a specfic moment, I couldn't. Because she was at work and I was home and I didn't have a way to get into contact with her. Or if something happened that I knew my best friend would laugh about, I couldn't tell her immediately. I have to wait until I see her again.
But the second part of those cons isn't even a bad thing. Waiting to tell someone something face-to-face gives fuel for conversations. It ensures that you actually have something to talk about because you didn't go over it already through the tiny screen in your hands.
While I'm definitely not denouncing cell phones entirely, I have realized not being glued to my phone and anxious about missing an email or a text message, a missed call or a facebook notification... is really quite liberating. I've been entirely relaxed, just existing in my own world. Talking with the people who happen to be in it at the moment, that I don't need to use a phone to get into contact with. It's helped me actually focus on what is going on around me.
In the end, yes cell phones are important. They keep you in constant contact with people if you may need them, whether in the sense of an emergency or because you need an answer for something specifically related to them. But it's also important to give yourself a break, to become not so... codependent on them. Figure some things out for yourself instead of using the google at your fingertips. Don't let your brain get lazy from a few clicks and swipes.
Disclaimer: Your friends and family might get a little ticked or a little antsy if you do this. I made a Facebook post before dropping off, telling them that I was turning my phone off. And yet...my mom just came into my room with a text from my sister, telling my mom: "tell my sister to turn her dang phone back on because I miss her and I hate feeling things."
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