Rhetoric & Composition I Rotating Header Image

Tania: no-phone journal

During my journey without a phone, I realized I was more dependent on my phone than I believed to be. Before giving it up I was paranoid about how my 3 days would be like. On Tuesday while I was going home I realized that phones are a big part of everyones life. I was so annoyed when I was on the train because I was the only one without a digital device. Everyone was on a phone whether it was texting, on the phone or just listening to music. It made me realize how messed up our society is.We are so centered by the idea of a phone that we don’t check our surroundings.  I didn’t know the time all 3 days without a phone, well that was a bit of my fault because I continued to forget to wear a watch. When I finally was about to get home and was waiting for the bus I was so frustrated, first because of the train situation and because I couldn’t check what time the bus arrived. That was probably the worst part about not having a phone. I never knew if I was on time or if the bus was coming in 10 minutes or in an hour, yes the bus by my house takes an hour sometimes. 

The first day sucked the most out of all 3 days, on Tuesday I constantly checked to see if I had a notification or just to scroll on Twitter or snapchat to come to recognize that I didn’t have a phone. I fell asleep early that night which rarely happens especially since I don’t have a class on Wednesday. Wednesday wasn’t that bad, I went out to the movies and to eat and forgot about my phone for a while but when I got home I had the urge to check my snapchat. After I made myself realize that I didn’t have a phone until Friday morning, I started to realize I would stop trying to check it or even stopped imagining that it was vibrating. When Thursday came I started to think more about my phone but I think it was because I knew I would get it back the following day. That day I cheated and couldn’t help myself but check Twitter but when I did I realized it was almost a waste of my time.

When I did that I came to the realization that I was no longer calm. My 3 days without a phone allowed me to be feel relaxed and not worry about social media or texting anyone back. Of course my parents had trouble on Wednesday communicating with me while i went out because I didn’t have a phone. Overall, I believe to have enjoyed my 3 days without a phone which is not what I expected. When I first gave it up i taught i wasn’t going to make it, but i did and it felt great not having a phone. I would definitely do it again maybe even longer.