These days, having a phone by your side 24/7 feels almost as vital as air.
et some say living without a phone can be liberating, so I’m going to put that to the test for three whole days.
Day one
I’m the sort of person who needs to keep their phone so near to them that simply keeping it in a handbag isn’t enough; it has to be clinging to my side in the nearest pocket.
But today, for the first time in years, it will be shut in a drawer.
I’m having visions already; I can picture myself broken down on some desolate road somewhere with no phone to call for help, or missing the most important call of my life.
Possible scenarios race through my mind, before I remind myself of the poor folk 15 years back who managed perfectly fine without plastic lifelines by their sides.
Funnily enough, I don’t actually feel the void until around 2pm.
I’m on my lunch break at work, which is the time I check my phone, with anticipation that I have a text from the person I wanted.
But I remember the challenge and suddenly my lunch break seems a little more grey.
While I can’t even update facebook mobile, I find I can’t wait to get back to work.
Ten hours later and I’m going to bed, I automatically reach for my phone charger but then remember that I have nothing to charge tonight.
I begin to wonder, what if the house burns down in the night and I need to call 999?
It takes a good nights sleep to bring me back down to earth.
Day two
Today is my friend’s birthday and I can’t text her happy birthday; as the birthday text is so conventional nowadays this seems criminal.
I can’t even ring to arrange to see her, as my life is shut away in a drawer.
So I opt for a the more traditional method of communication; I pop round and see her.
Momentarily it hits me how ridiculous it seems to have made such a momentous task out of something so simple.
Maybe phones actually hinder us by providing an easy way out of making real effort.
Feeling good about being proactive, I am able to enjoy the 50 minute walk to her place.
Only to find she’s out. Suddenly, I’m not so critical about the utility of phones.
I decide to turn to Facebook, which I soon discover to be a satisfying substitute for a phone.
Not only can I wish my friend happy birthday, I can also arrange to meet with her.
Suddenly, my void is filled, all the contact I’ve missed through not having my phone, I can regain through a social networking site.
And why waste your minutes calling someone if they’re immediately available on chat, for free? This task suddenly becomes a breeze.
Day three
Today I wake up feeling confident; instead of reaching for my phone for messages, I can reach for my trusty laptop, and enter a social networking site,.
My contact seems so easy I begin to wonder if this counts as cheating.
Messaging my friends with arrangements, my day feels sorted, and I head to my lectures feeling content.
Come 3pm, however, my flatmate asks me how the interview went.
What interview?
The sinking feeling in my stomach reminds me of the job interview I was due to have this afternoon, but without my phone diary to trigger the reminder, I’d completely forgotten!
Suddenly, social networking can’t fill the void left from being phone-less, and I’m suddenly forced to admit I’m lost without it.
One thing’s for sure, I don’t envy the mobile deprived world that now seems long forgotten.