Not using my phone kind of sucks.
Some people hold the view that the less you use your phone, your computer, or the internet, the more genuine your life will be. But if it were up to me I would never go without technology for more than a few hours. The undeniable ease that these things bring into our lives is clearly impactful so going without access, even for a day, is a huge difference for me. The first thing I noticed in this absence was the passage of time. On a normal day I check my phone constantly, almost like a pocket watch for reassurance that I won’t be late for class or lose track of time. Not having this resource made time feel like time would move either much faster or slower than normal. I wasn’t able to tell myself “there's only 30 minutes left until there’s 20 minutes left in my class”. I actually had to sit and pay attention like I’m a college student or something. This wasn’t too bad in my class where we focus on group work and discussion, but my statistics class that consists of mostly busy work felt less like a 75 minute lecture and more like an endless gauntlet of percents and probabilities.
The next result of a technological absence is sound. Like most other UNL students my time spent outside on campus usually involves my headphones going in around five seconds after I walk outside up until 10 seconds before I walk into my classroom. Unplugging my ears brought about an eerie silence and sounds of nature into the forefront of my perception. The sounds of squirrels running in the trees above my head or leaves rustling in the wind helped me notice the more natural aspects of campus. Walking back from class was basically the sound of my feet clicking away on the ground for 15 minutes straight instead of my normal music. When I did get home the normal routine of ‘be lazy for an hour while staring at my phone’ was obviously thrown off track. Instead of doing that I actually cleaned my room so no matter what this was a positive experience for me.
Something I was specifically watching for all day was how many other people had their faces in their phones while walking around UNL. If I had to estimate, I would say at a third of the people on campus were glued to their screens. It’s not that I’m saying these people are a scourge on society because sometimes I’m that person too. But I saw a few people run into someone or something, or overshoot a classroom because they weren’t paying attention. Also it may be a bit rude but I also tried to listen in on conversations other campus-walkers were participating in. Unfortunately the most interesting discussion I heard was between two sorority sisters about “How cute _______ looked in her dress at function last night”. There really isn’t anything I can do with that information.
When it comes down to it I much prefer my life when I have access to as much technology as I want. I don’t like to admit it but I did actually wait for midnight so I could have some time to get a small fix of internet before I dozed off. If one day of technological deprivation is any indication, I’m glad I’m growing up now and not 30 years in the past.
