Yesterday morning I left the house and as I was pulling away from the driveway realized I had left my phone behind.
I didn’t bother to go back for it and by the time I did, I realized that I had been without it for over 10 hours. Not only was I without a phone for 10 waking hours, but my laptop as well.
Totally unplugged for 10 hours. It was magical. And it reminded me what a {mostly} unnecessary convenience and TIME SUCK my cell phone is.
Have you ever thought about how much you actually use your phone each day? I mean, how many hours total?
I don’t play games on my phone, or listen to music, but I do use it to check emails {too much!} and listen to audiobooks.
I’ll occasionally use it to pop on Instagram or to check news websites while I am away from my computer as well.
One of my goals this year is to spend less than 3 hours a day online {in any way, shape or form}. Which I’ll admit at times has been difficult. But I’m getting there.
I like silence. I thrive in a quiet environment. It’s calming to me.
I read somewhere online that the average person picks up their phone 80 times a day and they spend on average 5 hours a day on their phone. 5 HOURS!
Holy buckets, that is a chunk of time.
While I know that the cell phone these days is a one-stop-shop, do you think you pick up your phone 80 times a day?
Do you think you spend 5 hours a day on it?
Where we used to spend time looking at maps, at our computer checking emails {or writing an actual letter–gasp!}, taking pictures, etc., we now use our phones for all of those applications.
I know lots of people who don’t wear watches anymore either, simply because they check their phones {and use it as their morning alarm}.
But if you had to guess, do you think you actually pick up your phone 80 times or spend 5 hours a day on it? How would you’d feel if your were totally unplugged for 10 hours?
Curious minds want to know.
~Mavis
Kari says
I wish I could do that. Unfortunately, I have to keep my phone available at all times. I can’t even get on my computer at work without going through a multi factor process. Clients text me on it, and my children need to be able to reach me, I’ve never counted how many times I pick it up, but I am sure it is a lot. I kind of miss the days when you left for the day without a phone, and when you got home you’d check your answering machine. I feel like we now have to be available 24/7. These phones are bittersweet.
Brianna says
We have a seasonal remote off grid cabin in a National wilderness area….no phone service, internet, and not many people in the area. Pretty isolated and I can always find solitude. It doesn’t bother me to not have a ‘connection’ to the outside world during the times I go. We usually go for a week or so at a time.
My kids are a different issue, they get ‘bored’. In fact, yesterday we were at the dentist and my youngest didn’t have his phone and he was bored as it was not a kid-friendly waiting room and nothing to do. I gave him a pen and a few receipts from my purse to draw on, he managed, and survived! It is my kids’ generation I worry about (10-15yo) as they are so dependent on technology at school and the instant gratification of having information at their fingertips. They each have a hard time functioning without it. I barely buy any notebook paper for school as they don’t use/need it. My youngest is exposed to and dependent on so much adaptive technology because of his impairment, but I force him around the family and at home not to be dependent on it.
Sue S. says
My child attends a tech-free school. No computers, cell phones, everything is hands on. She can always entertain herself. Parents are encouraged to not play music in their cars on field trips ( we have no buses), and engage in conversation instead
I love it.
Dawn says
I really hope I don’t pick up my phone 80 times a day but I might!
Like Kari though, every application I use for work requires MFA so most of my texts come from mutual fund companies. The rest are from my kids. I am trying to limit my social media time and that is going okay but it could be better. I get sucked into furniture refinishing and home remodeling videos quite a bit and I’m torn about it. I don’t watch TV anymore so in a way I consider it my “TV” time but even then I feel like it’s wasted time.
Mona R McGinnis says
The “phone” is really not used as a telephone as I know it. It’s a hand-held computer. Who talks on the “phone” anymore? I’m not convinced that we humans need to be available 24/7. I can’t believe that hypervigilance is good for us. Most of what’s shared on this device is entertaining in its value & IMHO a distraction from more important things.
Ashley Bananas says
To echo the ladies above my work has MFA, however we use a small key fob sized security device that generates a number for the second factor so it’s independent of our phone. I would say I try to keep my phone with me because I use it for a step tracker. I find myself less and less interested in Facebook lately, and have just about zero interest in Instagram. I enjoy watching Youtube videos in the background when I’m at work at my desk on my desktop. Looking at your phone all the time is looked down on where I work if you’re customer facing. So that eliminates half my day of having my phone in my hand. I try not to be glued to my phone but am guilty of it.
Sue S. says
Totally agree on the Facebook and Instagram issues. I don’t use either. My boss at work is pushing me to use Facebook because our organization has a page and I am totally resisting. I’m too busy and it’s hard enough to have to update the website weekly, among many other things.
Ashley Bananas says
There seems to be a lot of repetitiveness with Facebook/Instagram that just seems like a waste of time. Why be friends with the same people on different platforms sharing almost identical photos and content? I don’t get monetized for this, so why give them so much time and info?
maureen detmer says
i don’t own a cell phone, ha!……and i live just fine without it
Dianne Labadie says
Good for you!!!! That’s great!
Julie says
Yay for you!
Heather says
My cell phone is used more for an emergency than to make phone calls/ look at the internet. I live in a rural area. Trips into town and around are long and on roads that do not see alot of traffic. If I was to encounter a problem etc., I like knowing I am able to contact my husband, a tow truck company, the sheriff office etc.
Vicki says
My Dad is 88. Mom will be 86 next month. Because of Mom’s health they need to be able to reach me 24 hours a day. I help Dad take care of her. We live 5 minutes away. She has dementia. I tried to get them to move in here, but they want to stay in their house. I have my cell phone with me at all times.
Dianne Labadie says
I pick up my phone about 8 times daily. I wish I had never gotten one. Half the time I do not know where it actually is, or the ringer is off. If the call is an emergency, from a family member, they know to try my husband’s line as his phone is always on and with him. I do carry when I am out by myself, that’s common sense. I don’t when I am with husband. I don’t usually carry a purse either when I am with him. I check emails, bills and notices on my laptop. My millennial children use some form of technology to communicate from across the US. The content is too much for me. I had a habit of being on social media when I retired and then came the pandemic. I’m not on any of it anymore. So nice! I read this blog on my laptop. This is the only Blog I follow daily.
sandy says
I use my computer more than the phone. As I knit-I listen to podcasts or watch movies.
I cannot just do something without productivity. Crazy wired that way.
I keep my phone close-in case my kids call or text or send me a joke to news update. I love the connection from my sons…even if they are adults.
Silly Moms
Kathy says
Hardly use my phone at all. Am unplugged from it a minimum of 6 hours a day, usually 8. Yes, it’s my back up alarm, in case of power outage as I have to leave my house every day for the jaunt to a store I work at. Yes, we’re allowed to use phone during working hours, to look things up that customers say are on sale (my particular retailer doesn’t do hard copy sale ads), which I don’t do. No games, music, pod casts or audio books. In all honesty, it’s mostly texting with family and friends or emails for personal business matters (love my scanner for that!). Technology…wish it were like even 10 years ago, when people weren’t so dependent on it. What I can’t stand is people on their phone when they walk in store, stay on while checking out and give me nasty, hateful looks when I try to speak to them about total or whatever. I don’t answer phone when you’re in front of me so please do the same for me!
Jam says
Yes. unfortunately I think I do.