One Day Without A Cellphone. Think You Can Do It?

Last week, outside an elementary school, I saw a young woman talking excitedly on her cellphone. Just ahead a little boy was toddling along, his head down, arms hanging at his sides. Had she nothing to ask him about his first day of school?

No, that wasn’t the case at all. The young mother was blabbing away on her cellphone completely oblivious to what was going on around her. More importantly, she was completely oblivious to the thing that matters most in her life, her son.

Several days ago Brad Feld put up an interesting post on his blog challenging us all to spend four minutes in the morning with our significant other. I love the concept as it relates to that of presence, which is found in one of my favorite books, The Way of The Superior Man.

But I am only 21. I do not have a significant other. I have no one to spend “4 minutes in the morning” with. So I sat thinking, how could I apply this principle to my daily life?

Friday morning I left my house in such a hurry that I ended up leaving my trusty Blackberry lying on my bed. What was I to do? I was already 30 minutes away from my house by the time I noticed that it was missing. It was too late to turn back. I had no choice but to go through the day sans-cellphone.

Wow.

Friday was the most fulfilling day that I’ve had in a long while. Not having my Blackberry by my side allowed me to take in the world around me versus constantly fidgeting with emails, bbm, Twitter, etc. Yes, communication was a problem, but it wasn’t as big of a deal as I had anticipated.

I have come to the realization that it is well worth your time to spend one day a week without your cellphone. I challenge everyone to try it. Just one day. Give yourself that mini vacation which you so desperately deserve. Put down your cellphone and enjoy the sights and sounds that the world has to offer.

I suggest you inform others ahead of time that your cellphone will not be on hand that day. It is rude to simply ignore calls, and some will not understand how you could simply shut off your phone for a whole day. Let’s call those people addicts.

IPhone. Crackberry. Android. It doesn’t matter what your drug of choice is, the effects are always the same.