My 13-year-old daughter broke her iPhone (again) and, despite the heavy ticket price, it turned out to be the best thing that could happen to me.
Yep, my daughter’s inability to hold onto her phone instead of dropping it repeatedly saved my sanity.
Much to my daughter’s disdain I decided I should get the upgraded new phone and she could have my old (*insert gasp*) iPhone 5. I do, after all, pay the bill, so this compromise seemed perfectly acceptable to me. Plus, let’s face it, she didn’t get a vote.
All of the apps and other content synced relatively seamlessly from my old phone to the new one. That is, everything but my email set-up. For whatever reason, my email’s functionality did not sync between phones.
This snafu resulted in my doing something pretty risky for a tech addict. I left it. I chose not to reconfigure my email, meaning that for about a month, I’ve gotten no emails on my phone.
The change has been wonderful.
You may remember that I hate email, and I am always trying to figure out better ways to manage what I see as a necessary evil.
But, even more than that, checking email on my phone just wasn’t working for me. I checked emails anytime I picked up my phone and saw a number on the icon. I can only imagine how many times this was a day. Sometimes I would read them and intend to draft a thoughtful response, but forget, leaving people’s needs unattended. Other times, emails I received would cause me stress, frustration or anger in my downtime. It caused me to think about work-related issues almost non-stop, when this level of accessibility isn’t required or expected from my employers.
In short, having handheld email access caused me stress.
Not having email on my phone has been almost entirely positive. I have more control of email communication than I ever have in the past, checking it a couple of times a day and only when I actually have time to process and respond to messages. I go entire days off without checking messages, which honestly is how it should be. I also am not lured into thinking about email-originated problems or concerns during my off time.
I had a single issue with not having email on my phone. I got lost taking my son to his football game in another town, and I couldn’t access the coach’s email with a link to directions. The solution was simple, I just used my phone’s browser to log on. It took longer, but it was a one time usage.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my email disconnected for good. There have been a few times where people have referenced things I haven’t seen yet or have texted me to ask me to check something. At some point, it may become inconvenient. But, until then, I am relishing the peace that comes from total control. I’m also enjoying my new iPhone, but don’t tell my daughter. A comment like that will elicit a sigh.
AlliPolin says
I can totally relate! My phone ran out of battery a few days ago and before it was completely dead, I didn’t find it. I was without it for over a week and survived to tell the story. Felt really good to not be summoned by every time a message arrived. Besides, I’m terrible at shooting back thoughtful replies from my phone.
Good luck to you that you continue to live a life that’s lived outside the shadow of your email! 🙂
Kenna Griffin says
Thank you so much, Alli. I actually broke down yesterday and reconnected it. It was becoming inconvenient. However, I don’t have any alerts or badges set up. It’s been disconnected for so long now that I think I still can control it pretty well. We’ll see!