Getting the most out of life and not just your phone

As an absolute technology junkie I have always obsessed over the latest Phone, TV, games console and gadget that makes my eyes go wide. It wasn’t until I settled down with my fiancee to have 3 wonderful children that I realise not only how much of a luxury these items where but how much on life I was missing out on by capturing each moment on a phone screen.

The day was a family event with blissful weather, the kids running around in the sun laughing spraying water at everyone who dared to get close and every single adult glued to their phone. I looked up from mine to see the absolute joy the children shared and not one of them had a tablet, phone or piece of technology. Not only that everyone was missing out on sharing in this pure happiness by being glued to a social media app or taking photos to share on social media.

Since that day I made a decision that my life needed to change, to start living life and not looking back on what I could have enjoyed if I wasn’t busy recording what happened. This resulted in some unexpected but brilliant “side effects”.

First things first I deactivated Facebook, the constant misery funneled into my life through this platform I was aware of and it was with a great release that I hit the deactivation button.  I never really knew just how many times I felt compelled to check my phone for the latest update or upload a photo to validate my enjoyment of my experience. The void of time left by deactivating Facebook has been really noticeable, I have since finished books that have gathered dust on the shelves, completed man jobs at my home that before  I “didn’t have time” to do and my battery on my phone is lasting enormous amounts longer as I interact with is infrequently now.  I have even found that I am calmer in myself as there is no added stress to capture an event or see what the next notification was. It’s been a real eye opener on how much of my life has been wasted in viewing what other people have been doing.

The next thing to do was to put my phone down and start to absorb everything around me. This started with me leaving my phone in our bedroom and not taking it with me on days out, or whilst building blocks with the children or even whilst going shopping. The wonders of life have started to hit me and chasing the children around, reading to them and going for long walks has brought me closer to all of them. They all now enjoy more of an active life with adult involvement (they had a decent level before) and benefited from such experiences.

The last thing was to encourage others to do the same in both writing this short piece but also by talking to those around me. It started much the same with “phone free” nights with my partner so quality time was not disturbed by texts, calls or notifications and has since developed to leaving our phones in the car for days out and investing in a digital camera to take snaps of moments we want to remember rather that every moment to share on social media.

I would say on the whole I have a better quality of life by making just this simple change and I would implore you to do trial even for a week the same. Put your phone down, look up and see what you’re missing out on. I did and it was a lot.