We all know that one person who is absolutely awful at responding to texts, or phone calls for that matter. In my case, it's my long-distance boyfriend (ironic and helpful, right?). I personally know that I waste time on my phone, and it is something that I have been working on. Sometimes I'll take a five-minute Insta or Snap brake while studying as a reward for studying for an hour or whatever.
Good joke.
20 mins will have gone by, and I would have checked Insta, Finsta, Snap, FB, texted my mom what to feed the dog, seen what my best-friends-cousins-donkey's-girlfriend had for breakfast, and discussed what I'm currently craving with my grandmother in Argentina. Needless to say, my phone is like a super colorful black hole.
I finally got so fed up with his lack of responding that I turned my phone on Do Not Disturb so that he would also have to wait for my answer. What started out as revenge really wound up making me a happier human being. I used to not even be able to walk the puppy without my phone—now I basically leave it anywhere and forget it exists. Oh, and the best part was that we actually started talking more.
This isn't for everyone, and at first, I found myself constantly clicking my home button to make sure that I didn't miss anything. It seemed like I was even more addicted. That lasted all of 24 hours. I then realized that I could actually enjoy Netflix if I wasn't also playing 1010! on my phone (my mom pointed out to me that I do that and I never noticed it).
To my mom, and the rest of my family, it made me very anti-social. But guess what, I talk to people when I want to, and I can actually enjoy it because I CHOSE to answer, not because I got a notification. I'm also not totally reckless. My immediate family is on my favorites, and their phone calls go through the first time.
Also, anyone that would need me knows to call me twice. Basically, I don't have a phone until I remember it. So I may not have gotten that text from my mom asking for chocolate ice cream and a green juice, but at least I wasn't distracted while driving.