Technology has introduced the world to once unthinkable aspects of life that are now brushed off, as if it has become normal to be immersed within the world of anything electronic. Now I am hypocritical in saying that, because I too am a heavy user of my phone and computer, and they have both become normal components of my life. But something quite peculiar has allowed me to see that there are better things away from a screen, and I hope to spread some insight so that others can see the same.

I have always tried my best to stray away from any of my devices, and it never really seems to work. First thing I do when I wake up… phone, first thing I do when I get home from school… phone. Phones have seemed to take over the lives of everyone around me, including myself, and I really think it’s something that everyone should work toward changing.

As I stated earlier, something odd allowed me to change in a way that I would’ve never expected. That “thing” happened to be an iPhone 4S. Now I know what you’re thinking, hey wait, that’s a phone. How does a phone help someone stay away from phones? Somehow, someway, this phone managed to make me do so. I had to repair my original phone, an LG G5, and I wanted to have something that I could use to stay in contact with my friends, so I was reverted to my old phone.

This phone was blatantly horrible in terms of actually working properly because of its age, and I wasn’t really looking forward to using this phone at all. But I was grateful to at least have something I could use for the time being. I know this is very first-world of me to say, but I hated having to use this older phone; I was so used to having the newest and fastest phone, and now I was stuck with something that could barely open messages.

The fact that I was once this spoiled with something so stupid hit me quickly. I had to think to myself: “am I really complaining about having a working phone that some people would kill for?” That’s when I realized that I really need to stop relying on my phone so much to bring me any sort of positive feelings that I was once getting. I had this routine addiction to my phone, and it needed to stop.

I started using my phone a whole lot less and began moving toward reprioritizing how I would replace the hours that I would previously spend behind a screen. I know it’s not that simple, phones have become a habitual part of most of our lives, and trust me I’m still working towards becoming better without it as well. However, I believe we can do much better without phones and other technology distracting us.

I’ve noticed that there is so much less stress on me when I’m not using my phone. I used to beat myself up for not getting things done and just sitting on my phone and repeat that cycle the next day. That went on and on and now that I chose to prevent that from happening, my life has become that much easier which allowed me to feel a little better each day. The satisfaction that comes from actually accomplishing real world goals, as well as socializing away from a screen, is unmatched, and with less of a distraction that comes from phones, immersing yourself in the real world is no problem.

I would hope that everyone will at least try to use some form of technology less in reading this, because I want everyone to be able to experience how refreshing it is to take a step away from what’s happening in the social media world and just take in what’s going around you. There is so much less stress, and the experiences that you’ll get from actually going out into the world are much more important than sitting around. Try not using your phone in between class periods, or just spend 5-10 minutes away from anything electronic; I promise it will be revitalizing in the sense that you’ll be changing things up and introducing yourself to the more natural side of life.

Technology is great in some applications, and it’s helped the human race to advance in so many ways. We’ve developed different forms of interaction and many forms of entertainment that have take the population by storm, but sometimes it’s just best to take a step away from what we are used to. Less technology will in turn create happiness. It’s a hard concept to adjust to, but I feel like humans are best socially and with themselves when there is no electronic distraction. Once a few make this change, more will catch on and hopefully we all can better our lives with just a few simple adjustments.