Digital Detox: The 10 Things I Missed The Most

In January, I wrote a blog post titled, I'm Considering Giving Up My iPhone and Leaving the Smart Phone World. Shortly after that (January 9, 2013), I switched to a flip phone and joined my husband who had already given up his smart phone. In February, we also got rid of cable and started calling this experiment, The Shavers Family's Digital Detox. The detox included "technology free" zones and I also stopped blogging. Our digital detox comes to an end today (June 12, 2013), a little over five months. My iPhone is currently on a FedEx truck headed to my home. Before, I plug back in, I wanted to share the 10 Things I Missed The Most During the Digital Detox:

#10: GPS for Workouts: I like to use mapmyrun and other apps that log my jogging, walking, and/or biking workouts. I used an iPod Touch during my workout, but it just wasn't the same. I could look at the map, but it was hard to know exactly where I was and I did get off track a few times. I'm looking forward to mapping out a 3 mile run and knowing that my phone will show me the route.

#9:   Twitter Access: I have a love/hate relationship with twitter. I have a personal and professional twitter handle (DrMShavers) and I found that I wasn't on twitter nearly as often. This was good for my personal account, but I did miss a few things with the professional account. Despite that, I still think that having a break was exactly what I needed. Now, I can create better boundaries around my Twitter use.

#8:   Google Access: Let's say I'm driving home and I pass the grocery store. I know I want to cook tonight so, I want to find a recipe and look up the ingredients I need... Can't do that on the flip phone. Or, I am at home and I can't remember what time an event starts. Welp... I can't google that either. I had to be intentional and plan out everything.

#7:   Ordering Food: I love that I can place an order at Chipotle using the iPhone app, pay for the purchase, and skip the line to get my order. There was none of that unless I ordered from home before I left.

#6:   My Address Book: It was just too difficult to input my address book in my phone. I tried the different syncing options, but none of them worked. So, I used my iPad as an address book to reference numbers. How annoying.

#5.   Getting Directions: Those who know me personally, know that I struggle with directions. I have a GPS in my car, but I rely on both my GPS and smart phone to get me places. Let's just say I got more lost than usual with my phone.

#4:   The Simple Things: During the Digital Detox, I read Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson and I finally understood why I love the iPhone. It's simple. The navigation makes sense. You can do almost everything in less than 3 clicks. The navigation on my flip phone was annoying and there were so many irrelevant alerts and menu buttons. Steve Jobs said it best, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

#3.   Sporting Events: We gave up cable in February and then March Madness happened. We suffered. I watched games from my laptop, iPad, and we went to Sports Bars to watch the games. We couldn't do that again during the NBA playoffs. So, I'll come clean. We got cable the day the NBA playoffs began.

#2.   Texting with Ease: Had did I ever text before smart phones. I used to be a "texting guru," but I found it to be extremely inefficient and annoying on the flip phone. Additionally, I had to work really hard to push down the buttons. Who does that? Let's just say I'm looking forward to a QWERTY keyboard and a touch screen.

#1.   Taking Pictures: The pictures are the things that I missed the most. I could probably deal with everything else, but the lack of a camera was hard. I have a great digital camera, but it's bulky and it's less convenient than my cell phone. I even considered buying a small camera, but I couldn't find one that was small, inexpensive, and had iPhone quality pictures. I got the iPhone 5 when it was released and when I gave up my phone in January, I'd taken 2,000 pictures. Since then, I've taken less than 100. I miss being able to capture those unexpected shots. Most of all, I am looking forward to having a quality camera with me.

Despite missing these things, I have gained so much from this Digital Detox experience. I wouldn't trade it for the world.