Surviving Without A Cellphone

It's amazing how far technology has come that we often forget what it was like without some of our "now" every day necessities. Such as a cellphone, email, facebook, even a car.

Recently, our boss put some of the KRBC team up to the challenge of giving up one piece of technology for a week. If you didn't catch my story, here's a link. I had to give up my cellphone!

No cellphone for a week, is it possible? Initially, I didn't think so. However, keeping so busy with my daily assignments at work, the time went by pretty quickly. Once I got home, I was exhausted so there was no need for phone calls.

The few things that I quickly missed were having my alarm clock set on my cellphone. That might sound sad, because yes I have an alarm clock just never use it. I guess I always assume that the clock won't go off and I'll be late. My cellphone has never failed me, so it's my crutch for waking up in the mornings.

Then there came the winter weather days, which made me paranoid that if I were to get into an accident, I wouldn't be able to call someone immediately for help.

While life did exist without cellphones, I like better with them.

It was a unique challenge though. I am happy to say that I passed the test of living without it too. While, some people doubted me. My competitive nature kicked in and I relied on using a land line and a computer.

The other great thing about having a cellphone is that it holds all your phone numbers for you. Without my cellphone, I didn't know too many numbers by heart (except for Mom, Dad, and Grandparent's). It's kind of sad that I honestly don't even know most of my close friends phone numbers! Fortunately, for this experiment...I planned ahead, and wrote majority of my close friends and people that I thought I couldn't go a week without talking to. So I had that covered.

Some friends and family were probably more frustrated with my assignment, not being able to get a hold of me for a week.

Like I said in my story, plenty of good things came out of the social experiment. I became a better driver...not using my cellphone at all in the phone. It should be that way anyways, unless you use a blue tooth device. But, I am guilty of talking on the cellphone while driving (not through school zones, of course). Now, I don't feel the need to talk on my cell in between each interview of the day. The radio makes the time go by quicker.

Perhaps the most important thing, though that came out of this whole task was that I pay more attention to the people I love and care about! Even when I am not at work, I am glued to my cellphone! Whether it is texting someone or updating my facebook/twitter status. Which really can wait until after dinner or another time then when I should be enjoying quality time with someone. Now while I do have my cellphone back, I am still trying not to be permanently attached to it. And those that are close to me are noticing and liking the difference. : )

Also, a New Year's Resolution of mine was to deactivate email on my phone. I felt it was just consuming too much of me, so now I just frequently log onto the computer to get my email. I am still easily accessible that way, as I check it all the time. But, I figure if it's really important, someone would just call me. It's also nice to not have my phone buzzing and chirping every time I get an email.