Yes, I’m addicted to my phone.

I am that person that is on their phone 24/7. Maybe you can relate, maybe not. I have heard it all, to be honest, the judgment for my dependence on technology, the understanding sigh with “Same girl, same.”

Truth of the matter is, there is no denying how much most of us are dependent on our cell phones.

“But wait! Backtrack not all of us!” I am sure some of you might feel. “I can go without my phone for a day or more” I get it, I do. I was in the same boat of thinking. There are days when I travel, I lose battery and survive without my cell phone.

Hell, I go on month long vacations with no wifi/ internet connection. Goodbye Snapchat streaks, I shall welcome the wrath my friends rain upon me when I am plugged in.

But I realized the true extent of my dependence and connection to my phone recently, it’s the reason why I am writing this article.

I got locked out of my phone. Yes, I was that forgetful/ careless. I had just changed my password, cause why not? It had been a while.

So I did and the next time I tried to log back in, I found myself shut out. I tried to get it right so many times that the dreaded wait for one hour to try again screen popped up. I tried to open it with my laptop, no such luck. As the clock approached midnight and my 8 a.m. next morning loomed over me, I made the split decision to wipe my phone and start anew.

See this is where I realized how much I replied on my phone. Forget the Instagram conversations, Snapchat streaks, and Twitter threads, my whole life is planned out on my phone. My emails all congregate in one app, my reminders that I customize, the ones that come via Google calendar, most of my contacts, my schedule for the week… for the month, cute puppy pictures and pictures of Eric Killmonger.

All in one device.

I got a majority of my data back since everything is synced up to Google accounts and iCloud, but it took a day till I finally got everything on track. That is when I realized how much I depended on the slab of metal and glass I carry around with me.

Is this experience going to change how I organize data? Kinda, I added more stuff to my computer but my schedule for the week is most definitely always going to be on my phone. Time’s are changing and as much as that leather Passion Planner is calling my name, I know it is impractical to carry it around me all the time and whip it out to schedule my dentist appointment or check what my day is like.

My phone is definitely going to have the same place in my life, I just acknowledge it more.