the day I forgot my phone
"Eurgh, I've left my phone in the car" I complain to my colleague as I walk into the office. It's a miserably wet day and the rain is lashing down as I quickly head out to pick up my phone.
I listen to music in the car played via bluetooth so forgetting my phone in the car isn't unusual, but I panic when I can't find my phone and it's not in my jacket pocket either.
Suddenly, the fact that I'd had to listen to the radio because the bluetooth wasn't working in my car made sense, even if it never clicked with me at the time.
I'm going to have to go a whole day without my phone!
I wish I could say it was a scary thought, but the only thing I was bothered about was that I couldn't message my partner at all and I'm out for 12 hours, I couldn't get on Facebook because they wanted to send a code to my phone and I didn't want to download WhatsApp to my work computer because of the possibility of being monitored.
Aside from this though, this was one of the most productive days I'd had in a long time, I wasn't constantly looking to check notifications, scroll or generally fiddle.
Instead, I got down to work, took breaks that meant I could engage with my surroundings and feel both slightly more fulfilled and relaxed than I had done in a long while, I found the day went quicker and that my mind wasn't as foggy when I got home.
While it was unfortunate that I couldn't talk to my partner throughout the day, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to do it again.
We seem to be under the hold of our devices for such long periods of time that having that break was a breath of fresh air for me.
I have now started looking into which social media apps I really need, what programs I can remove and how best I can set up my devices to be used in line with my own needs rather than the needs of sucking up my attention.
I don't really want to call it digital minimalism, because that feels to me as though I'm taking things away which could bring in feelings of lacking and wanting them back, instead I simply want to be more mindful of how I'm consuming and spending my attention.
It may not lead anywhere but I definitely found myself to be a lot more focused and I definitely wouldn't mind getting into that zone again.