Sunday night, Cescalouise's iPhone mysteriously went dark.  She had a lot going on Monday, so I gave her my phone to use, then I headed down to NYC for the day and following night. So I’ve been away from home for the last day and a half with no phone.  Not a huge deal, obviously, but also a pretty big departure from normal. What’s interesting is what I’ve missed and what I haven’t missed. Of course, I miss being able to communicate with people from wherever I am — but to be honest I don’t think that’s the thing I miss most.  The biggest thing I miss is the ability to jot down a thought on the fly.  I use Wunderlist and Fetchnotes on a pretty regular basis to capture the passing thought or to-do.  It’s an important part of how I keep my slow hunch going. What I don’t miss is constantly surfing the top of my inbox.  I use android desktop widgets and keep both of my main inboxes on one of my home screens.  Having them there is convenient, and helps me be responsive to email, but it’s bad for focus.  I will probably delete those when I get my phone back. Walking around NYC and riding the subway, my head has been up and I’ve noticed more things (but of course haven’t been able to capture / share them :-)  And of course I notice how many people have their faces in their phones all the time (probably 75% of those of us  waiting for the Amtrak in Boston). All in all, I’m glad to have taken two days off with no phone.   Feels a bit like a cleanse.  I’ll probably do it again.

Sunday night, Cescalouise's iPhone mysteriously went dark.  She had a lot going on Monday, so I gave her my phone to use, then I headed down to NYC for the day and following night. So I’ve been away from home for the last day and a half with no phone.  Not a huge deal, obviously, but also a pretty big departure from normal. What’s interesting is what I’ve missed and what I haven’t missed. Of course, I miss being able to communicate with people from wherever I am — but to be honest I don’t think that’s the thing I miss most.  The biggest thing I miss is the ability to jot down a thought on the fly.  I use Wunderlist and Fetchnotes on a pretty regular basis to capture the passing thought or to-do.  It’s an important part of how I keep my slow hunch going. What I don’t miss is constantly surfing the top of my inbox.  I use android desktop widgets and keep both of my main inboxes on one of my home screens.  Having them there is convenient, and helps me be responsive to email, but it’s bad for focus.  I will probably delete those when I get my phone back. Walking around NYC and riding the subway, my head has been up and I’ve noticed more things (but of course haven’t been able to capture / share them :-)  And of course I notice how many people have their faces in their phones all the time (probably 75% of those of us  waiting for the Amtrak in Boston). All in all, I’m glad to have taken two days off with no phone.   Feels a bit like a cleanse.  I’ll probably do it again.