The way I see it...

Telephone Turned-off

I am obsessed with my cell phone. There, I admitted it. I know that I’m not alone in this regard. We live in a technology-obsessed world - phones, computers, iPods. It seems like we always have to be “in touch” and constantly checking to see if we have any new emails, phone calls, or text messages.

So, this past weekend I tried something. I don’t know if you would call it an experiment or what, but I have never done this before. I took off Friday from work because I knew I’d have to come in on Monday. So, that meant I had Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. No thoughts of the paper, just some good old-fashioned family time.

Friday we headed down to the Blank Park Zoo with the kids and I...shut my phone off. I didn’t put it on vibrate, I literally turned it off and left it in the van while we were at the zoo. I turned it on when we headed home to see if I had any messages and then turned it right back off. Throughout the course of the day I only turned it on one more time to check it.

You know what? It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I didn’t have any feelings of panic or withdrawal or anything. Saturday and Sunday were the same thing. I turned my phone on only one time in the afternoon to check it.

I know that cell phones are good for things like emergencies and probably getting in contact with your kids and vice versa. I’m by no means saying that they’re not. But, the constant need to have them with us 24 hours a day, seven days a week is kind of ridiculous. Think about it - what did we do before cell phones? We survived as a society, didn’t we? They are a modern convenience that is nice to have, but certainly not necessary to have with us every second of every day.

I encourage you all to try this if you can. It’s such a freeing experience. Yes, I know that sounds kind of dumb, but it really was. I felt like I enjoyed myself so much more over the weekend and was able to fully concentrate on my time with my family without worrying about phone calls or texts. It was WONDERFUL!

If you’re brave enough to try this good luck to you. I think you’ll find the experiment will take a load off your shoulders and you will be more focused on whatever you may be doing. I know I definitely have more phone-free weekends in my future, but that’s just the way I see it.