8 Things I Learnt When I Ran Out of Data
So recently I got the dreaded '80% left of your daily allowance' text. Probably about 10 days after my monthly contract had started. Whoops.
I don't even have Pokemon Go to blame anymore.
My first thought was kinda unpublishable, the thought of going around 2 weeks without data was unthinkable and the pennies left in my bank account shook their head at me paying again. So I turned off my data, vowed to only turn it on if I actually needed it, and it's been like that ever since.
1. I am addicted to my phone and the Internet.
To be fair, I think most of us are. And you don't really realise how bad you are when you don't have it. When I was in Greece and Lapland I lived off wifi, which was weird but I was also kinda too busy to miss it that much. But sitting on a train for 50 minutes (more with delays, lets face it) and not having Twitter to scroll is weird. But kinda nice. And I got to call my grandparents a lot more which is always nice.
2. Social Media doesn't move as fast as you think
I mean, I'm not one to blow my own trumpet but the first day I expected to come 'online' to hundreds of WhatsApp messages and notifications and emails. Apart from the Squad this didn't really happen. Anything I'd missed on Social Media wasn't as important as I would think, to be honest it's kinda good to get away from it all.
3. It's nice to actually BE with people with no distractions
I went home this week, and I don't think this no internet shibazz could have come at a better time. Whilst the train home was a total bore, it was nice to be with people without that constant buzzing in your bag. I went out for dinner, I went down the beach and spent lots of time with Jack without anything else on my mind. I even left my phone behind sometimes... shock.
4. I worry more about travelling in London than I think
My number one worry about having no internet was what if something happened in my commute. How would people know how I was? It's something I don't, well, try not to think about much because tbh it scares me a lot, but I think this kinda brought it to life how bad I am. I told my family, bffl and boyf that if something happened to text or ring me, but still.
5. Reading is fab
I used to be such a big reader. When I first moved to London back in 2012 (ouch, I'm old) I had all those visions of me sitting in Starbucks sipping on a latte (I didn't even like coffee then) watching people move by whilst reading on a best seller. Needless to say, that's not happened. I barely have enough money for an expresso shot in Starbucks and as for time to sit in there, that's non-existant. But I did find that whilst I had no data I found myself reaching for books a lot more. I read a lot about the Tudors and I found it made my journey go a lot quicker, and was nice to be distracted from my thoughts a lot.
(I know, I have thoughts... I was shocked too!)
6. Using your phone is so habitual
Even though I knew it hadn't gone, I found myself reaching for it all the damn time. I'd find myself opening up the Instagram app to do a little story of a sunset and then being shocked when nothing happened. It becomes such a big part of our lives to be constantly contactable, so what if you don't reply to someones message NOW? If someone needs to get hold of you in an emergency, they'll find a way.
7. You can be SO productive
Here I am, sat on my train back from the Island and I've fully written out and scheduled a blog post, and have another one to write after this. Normally I would have probably spent the journey sprawled out on the seats scrolling through Twitter and bugging my friend over WhatsApp. When I'm on the train too I work on spreads in my BuJo (all about the looks I get) and planning blog posts, it's amazing how much you can actually get done on your commute.
8. I'm gonna keep it up
My contract gets refreshed on the 31st, and originally I planned to get more data but I don't think I will now. I'm gonna keep my mobile data off whenever I'm out and about and just turn it on to check trains and buses and stuff. I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about only ever seeing things through our phones and this is something I'm consciously trying to keep an eye on at the moment. My phone is normally always on 'Do Not Disturb' mode anyway so it's not that much of a step.
I don't even have Pokemon Go to blame anymore.
My first thought was kinda unpublishable, the thought of going around 2 weeks without data was unthinkable and the pennies left in my bank account shook their head at me paying again. So I turned off my data, vowed to only turn it on if I actually needed it, and it's been like that ever since.
1. I am addicted to my phone and the Internet.
To be fair, I think most of us are. And you don't really realise how bad you are when you don't have it. When I was in Greece and Lapland I lived off wifi, which was weird but I was also kinda too busy to miss it that much. But sitting on a train for 50 minutes (more with delays, lets face it) and not having Twitter to scroll is weird. But kinda nice. And I got to call my grandparents a lot more which is always nice.
2. Social Media doesn't move as fast as you think
I mean, I'm not one to blow my own trumpet but the first day I expected to come 'online' to hundreds of WhatsApp messages and notifications and emails. Apart from the Squad this didn't really happen. Anything I'd missed on Social Media wasn't as important as I would think, to be honest it's kinda good to get away from it all.
3. It's nice to actually BE with people with no distractions
I went home this week, and I don't think this no internet shibazz could have come at a better time. Whilst the train home was a total bore, it was nice to be with people without that constant buzzing in your bag. I went out for dinner, I went down the beach and spent lots of time with Jack without anything else on my mind. I even left my phone behind sometimes... shock.
4. I worry more about travelling in London than I think
My number one worry about having no internet was what if something happened in my commute. How would people know how I was? It's something I don't, well, try not to think about much because tbh it scares me a lot, but I think this kinda brought it to life how bad I am. I told my family, bffl and boyf that if something happened to text or ring me, but still.
5. Reading is fab
I used to be such a big reader. When I first moved to London back in 2012 (ouch, I'm old) I had all those visions of me sitting in Starbucks sipping on a latte (I didn't even like coffee then) watching people move by whilst reading on a best seller. Needless to say, that's not happened. I barely have enough money for an expresso shot in Starbucks and as for time to sit in there, that's non-existant. But I did find that whilst I had no data I found myself reaching for books a lot more. I read a lot about the Tudors and I found it made my journey go a lot quicker, and was nice to be distracted from my thoughts a lot.
(I know, I have thoughts... I was shocked too!)
6. Using your phone is so habitual
Even though I knew it hadn't gone, I found myself reaching for it all the damn time. I'd find myself opening up the Instagram app to do a little story of a sunset and then being shocked when nothing happened. It becomes such a big part of our lives to be constantly contactable, so what if you don't reply to someones message NOW? If someone needs to get hold of you in an emergency, they'll find a way.
7. You can be SO productive
Here I am, sat on my train back from the Island and I've fully written out and scheduled a blog post, and have another one to write after this. Normally I would have probably spent the journey sprawled out on the seats scrolling through Twitter and bugging my friend over WhatsApp. When I'm on the train too I work on spreads in my BuJo (all about the looks I get) and planning blog posts, it's amazing how much you can actually get done on your commute.
8. I'm gonna keep it up
My contract gets refreshed on the 31st, and originally I planned to get more data but I don't think I will now. I'm gonna keep my mobile data off whenever I'm out and about and just turn it on to check trains and buses and stuff. I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about only ever seeing things through our phones and this is something I'm consciously trying to keep an eye on at the moment. My phone is normally always on 'Do Not Disturb' mode anyway so it's not that much of a step.
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