Among the reasons I listed for going phoneless, one was more presence in the moment. Instead of thinking about my Facebook or Twitter; instead of checking to see if I’ve missed a text message while my ringer was off; instead of losing my train of thought during a conversation every time the phone rings, I can concentrate more on the things I’m doing and the people I’m with.
I was Googling around the web to see who else had done this, and what their thought were, when I found the following gem. Scott Scheper at How to get focused writes:
Why have I elected to do this? Because of one thing: people. Life revolves around people. However, it does not revolve around me getting interrupted or distracted by people?or more importantly, by the internet and apps. One gets distracted by the internet already on the computer; why bring this distraction with them everywhere? My objective in giving up the cell phone is to become closer to people. If you called me today, you?d think my phone was disconnected. It has an annoying disconnect beep and no answering machine. I don?t get missed calls and I don?t get voice-mails. And it feels great.
When I was growing up, people used to sit around a dinner table, eating together and talking to one another. Now, everyone eats with one hand while texting with the other. I go out with friends and they’re all looking at their phones rather than at the person who is talking. I can’t change everyone, but I can change myself. And who knows? Maybe I can set a good example and spark a little change.