Technology has improved within the last century exponentially, making it easier and easier to become reliant on our devices. For me, not only do I appreciate the convenience, I was literally unable to complete the assignment, and not use my phone. Initially getting the assignment drudged up a lot of weird anxiety I experienced when I used to get grounded. Therefore I didn’t want to be without it for very long. While losing my phone, I gained self-sufficiency, my mind was undivided in a way where I was able to be present with the ones around me, and lastly, I realized there are ways we can still utilize technology without letting it consume our lives.
Waking up without my phone made me worried, I first woke up late for work without my alarm. An issue I seem to have often, even with the benefit of my smartphone. Arriving at work, I was greeted by my irritated supervisor Christine, she was not happy nor did she care about my assignment. Not being able to check my schedule was extremely unfortunate, resulting in me also missing my therapy appointment. We often don’t think about how much we really depend on our devices, this can’t help me wonder if we’ve lost the ability to be self-sufficient. Our brains are victims of “ cognitive offloading”, or in other words, when we immediately turn to our devices for a simple task instead of looking in our brain. In an article, I read about the internet and its effect on our minds, they say we do this often because we believe its “ superior to our own capabilities”. This assignment, I think, proved that to be true, considering I was unable to do simple life tasks by myself without my device.
I didn’t complete this assignment simply because I honestly didn’t want too, it was too painful. As previously mentioned, I’ve been grounded numerous times and isolated for as long as two months. This was hard for me, it took me a while to adjust, however, I also did not have a license or many dire responsibilities. I would cry and mourn, but I always remember after a certain point, with the exception of always missing music, my brain felt extremely undivided when talking to people. Along with being more present, I found that I spent more time with my mother, she often says she likes me better when I’m grounded. No device means no distractions.
This assignment made me realize the phone can be positive or negative in anyone’s life, depending on how they use it. A lot of people today are too dependent on their devices. I tried to think about why, since you literally come out of the womb, we want to have a phone and be a part of the media, be connected. I hung out with my new cousin and all she did was reach for my phone, she knew it was magic.
It’s when the connection, instead of being used in a positive, moderate way, gets turned into a negative unhealthy obsession. I’m not saying we don’t need them, because we do, however, how many people do we pass in our day to day life that was missing the chance to meet because we’re on our phones? Spooky. Everyone should devote a certain amount of time a day without their devices to just be with the people around them. That’s what you will gain when you lose your phone.
