Yesterday, I accidentally left my phone at home. I noticed when I was about 15 minutes away from home, and decided that this would make for a great experiment if I left it there all day. It's something that I've been thinking about doing, but haven't been able to pull the trigger. 

We live in a world where having your phone within an arm's reach is essential. We're like drug addicts when we can't find our phones, and get twitchy at the thought of being without it for any amount of time. I can relate to this. See, I've been thinking about experimenting with leaving my phone in my car at night, but the thought of being without it, not being able to look up something or play a game while I pass the time, or wondering how I was going to wake up in the morning without my phone alarm clock was terrifying. Thus, I haven't actually enacted said experiment.

I know the benefits would be amazing, like being forced to be present with my kids, but not being able to look up an injury my child may have or a trivial fact that I will forget tomorrow, made me hesitate. But when I left my phone at home yesterday, I thought what a great way to start my experiment. 

Things I didn't miss

Getting interrupted

I didn't miss being pinged by the news or weather or Instagram. My Facebook notifications and so many of my other app notifications are already off. 

Feeling like I missed something

Because I was at work all day, I was connected. I had my many email accounts up to respond to any and all inquiries. A phone tends to create this fear that you missed something, but I was relieved of this feeling yesterday.

The panic

The panic of when I misplaced my phone. I knew it was at home, so I wasn't looking for my missing arm. And how many of us forget where we put our phone last all the time? It's always near us and yet, we're always double checking our pockets, purses, desks, for the thing that may as well be glued to our hands.

Things I missed

My podcasts a.k.a. my lifeline for my commute

I rode to work with my husband yesterday morning, so we had a great conversation, but on the way home I was alone and was forced to be in silence or listen to the radio (yuck!). I know, I know... first world problems over here. I really missed my podcasts, but on the plus side. I did get some time to think, which is rare in my life as I constantly try to flood every last minute of downtime with something valuable. 

Texting and phone calls

I was supposed to meet someone to pickup a stroller for a friend of mine and the girl called and texted me, but without my phone I wasn't reachable. Luckily, she found me, but I was very much missing my texting and phone calls. I used my email to text my husband which was fairly convenient and I have a work phone, so that helped, but other than that I was essentially unreachable, which was actually kind of nice. 

Google Maps

How did I survive without GPS technology in my phone previously?!?!?! I don't get out much at work and I don't live in the same town that I work in, so I need GPS every time I leave the office. I purposefully put off a trip to Walmart to get supplies for a course next week because I didn't want to be confused and lost. 

Conclusion

Someday I will actually leave my phone in the car every night for a week and report back on how much life improved or didn't. There were times where I definitely missed my phone yesterday, and other times where I thought "this is great" and "why don't I do this every day?" I guess the biggest question is, did I leave the house without my phone today because I loved being without it so much? Absolutely not! I checked my purse 5 times before I left the house to make sure I had it. I guess my addiction to my phone and fear about being without it outweighed my feeling of freedom.