Technology Deprivation

As I went to sleep Sunday night, I said to myself "tomorrow is the day that I will go without technology." In the middle of the night, I woke up, out of habit, the first thing I did was check the time...on my phone. Now that I was already on my phone, I saw notifications for Snapchat, text messages, and a Twitter interaction. Without even thinking about it I checked all three. Technology -1 Jenna - 0.

As my alarm went off at 9AM I woke up, saw another message, this one from Facebook. The message was from my best friend, who is in Europe for a month studying abroad. Since we only get to chat once in a blue moon, I had to reply back. She told me she had time to Skype if I wanted to because she had a story to tell me.  For a split second I thought, "I can't on Skype because of this challenge, but when one tells me they have a story to tell, curiosity killed the cat, or shall i say challenge. Technology 2 Jenna -0.

11AM rolled around, I had gone without my phone for about a hour and a half. Now comes the easy part of my day, 7 hour shift at Ace Hardware. The employee handbook at Ace Hardware instructs us that personal cell phones are off limits when clocked in. Therefore, not only was I under oath for this challenge, but also prohibited to use my phone by my employer. When I get off of work at 6PM however, I had Snapchats and a few texts asking if I wanted to go to the casino! I then called my friend to discuss this matter. I'm gonna mark that one down as a win for me as I used my phone as an actual phone. Technology-2 Jenna -1.

On my way to my friends house I got a bit lost. Had to pull out the GPS on my phone, I view this as a life or death situation as my gas tank was starting to dip downwards towards the E mark. Without my phone and the GPS, I would have not been able to find my way to her house, and might have ended up walking to find a gas station. Nevertheless, Technology 3 Jenna -1

After figuring out the plan and arriving at the casino, it became easy once again to stay off my phone as the Grand Falls Casino doesn't allow you to be on your phone while sitting at any table. Since I sat at the Blackjack Table for 3 hours the temptation of being on my phone was once again eliminated. Also, I was surrounded by all my friends that I usually communicate with on social media. Again, I am going to say that I won this portion of the night. Technology -3 Jenna -2.

By the time we left the casino, the 24 hour challenge was over, I was able to text my mom about the $25 and able to finally check Instagram my and Twitter feeds. Usually by this time of night my phone is completely dead, yet that day, I had more than 50% battery left on my phone. 

Although the score indicates a win for technology, I think overall I did pretty well with this challenge. What I learned was how much easier and faster it was to plan something. With a 2 minute phone call we established what time we were going to the casino, what we were wearing, and the fact that we weren't going to leave without winning. The second thing that I learned was the pure impulses that I have to simply look at my phone to Snapchat, text, or check twitter. 

I realize that nearly half of my day was spent doing things or at places where the use of my phone was prohibited. Also, the fact that I spent 3 hours with my friends who I normally communicate with helped with keeping me off my phone. 

My struggle with this was the urge to interact, with the feeling that if I wasn't texting or on social media I was going to miss out on something. Although this challenge taught me a lot about myself, I do not think it is something I want to do again.