After The Disconnect

Over the course of the 24 hour disconnect I had to endure a lot of boredom, I wrote on paper more than normal, and had ample amounts of free time. Throughout the disconnect I would forget that I was doing a disconnect and would instinctively reach for my back pocket to grab my phone, only to realize that it wasn't there. The most difficult thing to give up was my phone as I had predicted, because most of the time when I use technology, I’m using my phone. The easiest thing to give was TV because throughout the 24 hours I never wanted to watch TV. The most challenging part of the disconnect was how bored I was. Because I did this on a day that there was a block schedule we had a lot of free time in many of my classes. Normally I would have worked ahead on homework using my laptop, but I didn’t because of the disconnect.

The thing that surprised me the most was that I missed using technology for music. I didn’t think that I would miss it at all, but I definitely did, especially when I was driving. I think that the disconnect was relatively difficult for other people in my life. My parents found it difficult to communicate with me. Many of my friends found it inconvenient that I couldn't reply. People who were unaware that I was doing a disconnect and tried to contact me were irritated or confused when I didn’t reply.

I think that I enjoyed the assignment. It gave me an excuse not to answer people without feeling bad about it. I didn’t feel pressured to answer everyone, which was nice. I liked taking a break from the constant stimulus of social media. I doubt that I will try something like this again only because of the planning that was required. I’m unlikely to want to do all of my homework before the due dates again. So if I were to ever do another disconnect I would probably do it over the summer. I think that doing a disconnect shows you how much you really rely on technology and encourages you to live in the moment. I think that everyone should try some sort of technology disconnect at least once.