Cool benefits to leaving your phone at home!

The other day I accidentally left my cell phone at home and realized it when I was half-way to Walmart. I was contemplating whether to go back home but decided against it, as the journey back home and up the stairs would be an even bigger ordeal. So forward I went. And all through the way I was wondering whether I had made a wrong decision in deciding to not go back.

Few hours without my cell phone that day and I felt so free and relieved! (Of course if my car had a breakdown or I had got robbed somewhere my reaction would have been completely different :p). And while waiting in line, I spent my time looking around me instead of meddling with my phone as I usually would. It felt different.

Anyways, that made me think how we always bring our phone out whatever chance we get. Its become our second companion now. Think about it..going to work, the mall, the movies or even to the college without a cell phone! Do you think its even possible? Seems quite hard now..but really here are some of the cool benefits that I could foresee when we don’t bring our cell phone along. Let me know if any of these strike a familiar note with you! 

1. Freedom from lover!! Yay!!

This would strike a note with people who are years into a committed relationship. Cell phone plays a strong role in the early years of building a relationship. “We talk for hours on the phone and go to sleep having the phone in hand”, you say? Hmm give it 2 or 3 years. After that most people would groan if a special someone calls to inquire about their whereabouts (couldn’t blame them!). So for those of you who fall in the category above – it pays to leave your phone behind by “accident” than coming up with false GPS locations.

2. Lose a phone, talk to someone new.

The first thing we do when we are lost is to call our friend and ask for directions – or – go to the GPS app in phone. But let’s say for a minute that the phone isn’t with us (Oh Almighty,you don’t say so!), then what would we do? Of course, we would ask a stranger for help. But when we have a cell phone, our first thought is to call our friend we are visiting, to help with directions. We relay on our friends who are on the other end of the phone and don’t think about asking a person nearby, who in reality could guide us better, being right in front of us. Forget directions,even at a store, before deciding to buy something we bring our phone out, search for good reviews and then go for it. For all that we know, those reviews might be fake. But nope, we prefer those reviews to asking a store representative for his/her views. Strange right? So only when we forget our cell phone for few hours it will aid us to trust a “real” person than a virtual one!

3. Facebook, Facebook, how was my life before I met you?

Almost everyone has a smart phone now. So whenever we post a new photo or a status update, we keep checking our phones to find how many likes and comments we have received so far. Don’t look around, you have done that and so have I ;). Only when one forgets to bring the phone, one doesn’t think about FB and truly pays attention to the people they are with. So forgetting to bring a cell phone along for a date/day out is actually a blessing in disguise.

4. Capture the moments through eyes not through phone’s camera.

Well, nowadays its very common to see people take selfies in famous and not-so-famous places. Either that or do a “check-in” at all possible areas. (I know a friend who checked-in when he was at home. Sigh.) We would click 6 shots and post one that would portray us as the most beautiful person that ever lived!  So I say, why capture a moment for others’ enjoyment, when you can relax, take in the sight with your eyes and enjoy it yourself. Its definitely better to lose a phone to gain a precious moment!

5.  Friends day out!!

I know a friend who keeps receiving calls quite frequently from her parents. She lets them know where she is and how late she will be. Receiving a call once is acceptable…but then calling up after an hour to remind her to leave, calling her to know if she has left, calling her to know to buy something on her way back…I wished she had kept her phone home instead. I bet she did too. The problem isn’t restricted to women, guys receive calls from their home too for the same reasons. I really wonder what they would have done if cell phones didn’t exist. Send out a person in regular intervals to go in search of them and pose the same questions? Hmmm. In my opinion, its quite refreshing to forget the phone when planning to spend a day with friends.

6. Cell phones come between relationships at times.

As much as cell phones help to bind a relation between couples, it could sometime serve as a big barrier too. Many couples keep checking their phones when they are out on a date instead of paying attention to the person in front of them. And many homes see couples sitting beside each other and playing candycrush or using Whatsapp on their phones. Not a big issue, personal time is needed, of course. It only becomes weird when they prefer chatting with Whatsapp friends to chatting with people sitting beside them. So lose the phone for few hours and get on the good side of your special someone 😉

Cell phones, like all gadgets, are a necessary evil. Obviously cell phones were initially developed to keep us close when we are away from home. From landlines to pagers to mobile phones and smart phones, they have now gone a step further in being a part of our life that we can never do without. Hope people learn to use it smart, after all its a smart phone (couldn’t resist stating this :D). Turn off your cell phone for just a few hours a day, and try to see how it feels like!!