The 4 Reasons You Should Leave Your Cell Phone at Home

Remember a time when cell phones didn't exist?

It was a quieter time, a gentler time.

A time when you could be unreachable.

friend or foe?

It's time to return to that time. For your own sanity. At least a little bit.

Now I'm not suggesting that cell phones don't have their place. They are a very useful organizing tool. But that's all they are. A tool. They are not your new best friend. So people,
please stop treating them that way. You're missing life.

An example - just recently I was out to lunch at a lovely restaurant. The atmosphere was wonderful. The setting was perfect. The birds were singing. The flowers were blooming. Relaxation at its best.

Every around me was texting. Not one of them noticed the atmosphere, the birds, the flowers. Not one of them was relaxing. They were too busy living in the cyber world to notice what was going on in the real world. They were not living in that moment - they were living in some moment that has yet to come, texting about something that probably hasn't happened yet.  It was comical.

Don't be like them. Notice the real world.

So I present -

The 4 Reasons You Should Leave Your Cell Phone At Home

1. you are not indispensable. You should not want to be indispensable. Carrying & checking your phone constantly puts your time at everyone elses beck & call. You know what I mean. Your child forgets something - you get a call/text. You drop everything and bring the forgotten item to wherever they are. You loose valuable time, they don't learn to remember whatever they forgot the next time. What you are actually doing is teaching them that there are no consequences when they are irresponsible. Let's see how fun that is when they are adults. 
2. it's nice to be unreachable. Especially if you are doing something fun. Imagine for a moment you are out at your favorite store, just browsing, enjoying your time. Your phone rings with something trivial, like a reminder of a meeting that don't need to know about right at this moment. Now imagine the same scene but without your phone. You can not be interrupted!!! Isn't that a wonderful thing? No one can find you - you are unreachable. You are in control of your own time. When was the last time you were in control of your own time?
3. having your phone out while you are with other people is just plain rude. You're implying that you have better things to do, better people to talk to then the ones you are with. And you're not listening to whatever is going on right next to you. You are waiting for the next update from cyberspace. Everyone has to repeat what they said just for you, and no one's happy. 
4. carrying a cell phone poses health risks. Need proof? Click here for an article from Time Magazine. I'm willing to bet that in the future our children will view cell phones like we view cigarettes today. What once was deemed the cool thing to do will end up being dangerous.

Now, I know what you're saying. "I need my cell in case my kids get sick at school/my parents need me/the world comes to an end." Yes, these are true emergencies, and a cell phone may come in handy then. But face it, how often do these events occur? 

All I'm suggesting is that you should keep your cell phone strictly for emergencies. And that doesn't mean the latest Groupon update. 

Be in charge of your phone. Use it like the tool it is. Keep you calendar on it, use it for notes, use it for directions. Do you need it on every waking moment of every day? Don't be available for whoever wants you at that moment. Put yourself first.

Start small. Try keeping it turned off for an hour. Then two. Then more. Then an entire day. Only turn it on when you need to use it, and only for a few minutes. Be in charge of it instead of the other way around.

And then one day - leave home without it. Show that phone who's in charge.

And enjoy being unreachable.

be organized.....evelyn