In July, I wrote an article about the struggles of owning a dumb phone. For six years of my cell-phone-using lifespan, I had survived without a smart phone, without the Internet access, the fancy camera, or the workout app. I had secretly — and sometimes not so secretly— scoffed at the selfie, judged the hashtag and raised my eyebrows at Instagram.
But it’s September now, and I have a confession to make: I own a smartphone. It’s an iPhone, it’s pink and I have an Instagram. I use emoticons and emojis. I even Snapchat. The part of me that was always critical of the smart phone culture still cringes as I type this, but honestly, I really like my new phone. It was also very nice having access to internet even when my roommates and I didn't have wifi yet for our apartment.
I realize there are downsides to smartphones, as well. Neither the prehistoric nor the trendy technology is perfect, but it has been fun playing around with my new phone and all it’s features, figuring out what I enjoy, and discovering what doesn’t work for me (that part is less fun). Women's pants pockets, for example, were definitely not designed for smartphone storage. There are some areas of owning a smart phone that I have discovered require discernment, and over the course of the last month, I have been learning a lot about how to exercise wisdom in using my phone.
Distractions Galore!
I am convinced that there is an application for just about anything and everything. You can download books, movies, music, games, podcasts, workout plans, radio stations and ringtones. The list goes on, and on and on. I love that I can access so many different things all on one device, and I appreciate the fun distractions it can offer at the appropriate times. However, there are some fun things I know I should be careful with. In the past, I have realized that while using my computer, I can easily get sucked into scrolling through Facebook and Pinterest. I go to a Pinterest board on writing for inspiration, and suddenly it's fifty minutes later and I've found twenty Pins about writing but have wasted all my free time to actually write. So when I first got my smartphone, I made the deliberate decision to not download the Facebook, Pinterest or Netflix apps. I know I can lack self control in those areas, so I distanced myself from the temptation as much as I could.
Constant Communication
Communication on my phone currently includes, but is not limited to, phone calls, messages, FaceTime, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Skype, three different mail boxes and Basecamp. Through the magic of the Internet and data, I can receive any cry for contact from any of these apps at any given time (minus when I don't have service or I'm stuck in the mountains). This can be either good or bad. I am thankful for the email notification I can check in two seconds that's from my professor telling me I left my work uniform hat in her office. Sometimes your boyfriend uses up all of his texts and you can only message him throughout the day using Facebook. It's fun getting goofy pictures from friends.
However, sometimes I need to take a break from the world. I need to take a break from all forms of outside contact and having a phone that buzzes at you every time you get a notification about work at all hours of the day and night does not help me in that goal. In fact, it multiplies stress. It can also be a distraction from what is going on right in front of me, in person.
This constant communication is also a constant trial-and-error balancing act. I've had to disable notifications for some of the apps, learn to postpone checking others. But sometimes being an introvert means you have to take alone time from your phone, as well.
If you're a smartphone user, what challenges have you come across? How have you dealt with those challenges?
P.S. I still haven’t joined the Pokémon Go bandwagon yet, but I’m considering it.
