i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

okay, maybe not, but this made me stop and think for a while.

it seems like more and more, technology is becoming a crutch for people. it becomes a convenient way to escape face-to-face interaction - the difficulty of talking to somebody, of listening, of taking in what they have to say as a person and not as little bites of info.

not to get all high-and-mighty here, but i think i'm going to take a week sometime this month and just NOT take my phone to school. just to see what happens. anybody want to join me? :)

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

If I didn't have my phone I wouldn't be able to talk to my girlfriend and she'd be pretty upset. I would be too.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

I do this often. But usually when I do I leave my phone at home accidentally.


But really though, instead of being socially awkward and just get distracted in my phone I use it to my advantage. I tell someone some story I heard, or a crazy fact and then I show them on my phone and we work on it from there.

There are tons of negative traits one can earn from using their phone all the time, but there are a few good ones.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

i ditched my cell phone last year, been phone free for almost a year now.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

I wouldn't recommend leaving your phone out just to make a social statement. Whenever I go out, I bring my cell in case of an emergency, not simply as a social device.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

I don't even own a cell phone.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

not saying that all phone use is bad, definitely. I was really putting myself out here and seeing if anybody could relate. but it's nice that you and your girlfriend use it to stay in touch!

that seems to work for me too. the downside is when it spirals into a series of videos and songs and other things and you never end up actually talking. it's a social skill, probably.

wow! that's commitment! are there any challenges to staying phone free? how about the benefits?

a thought i have had every time i've thought of leaving my phone home (and ultimately why i rarely if ever do it).

maybe downgrading phones would be a more feasible long-term option, but as long as my parents are in charge of our family phone plan that's not happening.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

No cell phone, no Facebook, no beer, no drug, no smoking, no life. /massive amount of free time woohoo~

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

gooooo hak!

As for benefits; NO BILLS and basically, not being bothered when im out and about (or at home) and that's how i like it. i'm pretty anti doing things with other people anyways. this way i'm not harrassed about meeting someone somewhere or having to leave places when i don't want to. negatives are only if i'm going on long trips. then i take my mom's cell phone just in case. edit: maybe if i had a signifacant other i would consider getting one again, but even then, i have an ipod touch if i really need to text them.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

I love the idea of leaving my cell at home for a week. Sadly it's in the realm of impossibility for me. I use my phone daily for business matters, and that matters. :( I really want to participate...

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

I use phones strictly for a business/family matters and nothing else. I think it also helps that I've been literally using the same phone for the past 7-8 years.

It's a flip phone.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

I've been out of the country for 2 whole months this summer and I hadn't had my phone on the entire time, feels nice, although I don't use it very much to begin with. Nonetheless the focus on other things becomes much more connecting when you don't have something to absorb you right in your pocket.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

if you feel you are having problems with your technology owning YOU, maybe try to have more discipline. you don't have to be all extreme and leave it at home, just stop looking at it every 5 seconds.

practice

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

as much as i dont like your baiting tone for this, i have to agree. I'm not glued on it constantly when I'm outside, and sometimes I only have it for a watch. plus I can respond to texts more clearly when I'm not playing some stupid game i have on there.

dont get me wrong, I have stupid game apps on my phone, but i dont play them in public that much

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

I almost always carry my phone in case of an emergency or if something's up somewhere. I like to be able to be reached, and more importantly, to be able to reach, if something's up.

Using it while you're with other people, that's where it goes wrong. It's fine to bring your phone, but don't isolate yourself and stare at that screen when other people are around.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

i never really had a cell phone

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

I used over 6GB of data this month ewps hah~ leaving my phone at home would make me very uneasy so. :x

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

^^^

while in the presence of other people, put your phone in your butt-pocket! that way, reaching for it will be too embarrassing, so you'll opt not to. I've never tried this before but it seems foolproof

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

I carry a phone that has internet capabilities and what not but I never use that. I don't have a subscription, I use prepaid and I hardly pick up my phone unless it is to check the time or to make/answer a call because of that. I suggest you'd do something similiar. At least cutting out internet subscription from your phone because that is what keeps drawing people in most of the time.
I actually feel somewhat similar like in the video sometimes at certain parties/family events but luckily I have a bunch of friends who aren't like that either.

Re: i'm leaving my phone at home tomorrow.
 

You had dozens but I bet they got lost in one of the holes in your wall.. :(