There is no denying that we can’t live without our smartphones. It exists as our day-to-day assistant, juggling an incredibly diverse set of tasks, allowing us to talk, to shop, to watch, to play, and so much more.
People often exaggerate that they can’t live without our smartphones, and there actually is some truth to that. Some people like to be up-to-date with their friends and family, others need it to find directions to where they’re going, and others just need the constant rush of dopamine from scrolling endlessly.
With this in mind, it feels as though there’s nothing much to do without your phone nowadays, though that couldn’t be farther from the truth. There’s a lot that actually could be done without your phone, and how to spend a fulfilling day without it.
Breathe
Take a moment to relax. So as long as you store your phone in a safe place, you need not worry about your phone getting lost. Take in your phone-less surroundings and the lack of a constant buzz of attention in the palm of your hand, because you’re going to get used to it, and even start to like it.
Talk To People
Despite the ease of connecting with friends only one tap away, there is nothing that beats being physically present with them. Texts and chat messages don’t live up to the thrill of hearing your friend talk about their interaction with their crush, or venting about a former friend. What’s more, you’ll be engaged by having no other distractions, holding onto every word they say and immersed deep into your conversation.
Listen To Your Thoughts
Without your phone, you have no access to your music, and you’ll be forced to listen to your thoughts. Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as you think. Even if BINI keeps saying that your life is not a race (“buhay ay ‘di karera”), maybe the silence might get you to start worrying less about your life without the distraction of their voices.
Take A Walk
There is a lot to see in the world, even if you’re not guided by directions on a map. You’ll be forced to look up, and you might even spot something new in the area, like a restaurant that’s just opened, or a side entrance to some hidden cafe. Take a leap of faith and get to walking around your neighborhood, you’ll never know what you may find.
Live In The Moment
This is what going phone-less for a day gets you. It’s not about trying to listen to less music, or stopping your doom-scrolling on TikTok or YouTube, but actually getting to pay attention to your life and the worries and concerns that you might have been deliberately avoiding.
Our phones are amazing, and they do so much to make our lives all that easier. But they’re prone to distracting us, to trapping us into experiences that are easier to think about than the worries of our daily life. Maybe take a day without it, and start to think about what you’ve been missing out and trying to ignore.