Recently I finally got my phone back from Apple. Not a great Apple experience. But that’s not a story for today.
Here are a few observations from life without a smart phone…
1 – Life is slower without a phone. Out in the world and not connected to technology, things moved much slower. No facebook to constantly check, no email notifications popping up. Leaves extra time for just being.
2 – It wasn’t as hard as I thought. I was worried that I was “addicted” to technology. I actually found it a welcome relief to leave the house and not worry about what picture I needed to post on FB about my trip to the grocery store. I listened to music in the car (not radio cause it still sux) for the first time in a long time.
3 – Podcasts at normal speed. I didn’t have my podcast app but I did listen to a couple of podcasts on an mp3 player. However, I was forced to listen at normal speed. Dave Ramsey sounds like he’s talking through molasses. And the Sales Babble music is weird at half speed, Pat.
4 – Hotspots are heaven! I desperately missed my hotspot. The wifi at Panera is AWFUL. And I don’t like sending my data over the open wifi at McDonalds and Panera.
5 – Email will wait. Facebook will wait. Things were much more efficient without notifications. Instead of dealing with each email or FB alert as it came in, I was able to chunk my time around each task. Overall I think I was more productive this past week.
6 – What about email? Well, I thought I would spend more time looking at each email because I was on a computer and not my phone. But the opposite proved true. I spent less time dealing with each email. Because I had a log jam of email each time I opened my computer I was forced to move quickly. I’ve always preached mobile is the enemy of open rates. But now I may rethink it. Mobile may actually allow your users more time to consume your email. Hhmmmm.
What changes am I making because of my experiment?
1 – No more phone in the bedroom. I really liked not being tempted by my phone in bed. I spent my pre-sleep time reading a book and not chimping FB. If I woke up at 3am, I went back to sleep and didn’t feel the need to check my messages. Sweet relief
2 – I’ve already turned off notifications on my phone for FB and email. No more interruptions. No more stressing about “what is that alert that just came through?”
3 – It’s okay to not have your phone within 2 steps of your person at all times. No one will die.
