Life without a cell phone, it's really great

About a year ago, I wrote on my blog:

Ops!

Tragedy, or finally an excuse to get rid of "being always available" and get my life back?

I'll probably just end up getting another cell phone, but it might be interesting seeing what happens in the meantime...

So, it's been a year, and I still don't have a cell phone, and it's really great.

Ops…

Why no cell phone?

Being a developer, I really need long stretches of uninterrupted time to get wired in and be productive. Having a cell phone quickly became a nightmare as I grew my client base. I would get a call every half a hour or so, and that was pretty disrupting to my work, since I had to start over 1,000 times, and right when I got back to work the phone would ring again.

Turning it off or worse yet not answer? People would accuse me that I was ignoring them on purpose, even if I'd call them back, and they'd say stuff like "what if it was an emergency! You're not reliable", bla bla bla.

All right, so what now?

When I decided to take the opportunity to drop the cell phone thing once and for all, I was a little scared. I was scared that clients would complain, and take their business elsewhere.

Then, I thought: all right, I might lose 50% of my clients, but I bet I'll be at least 100% more productive, so I'll still make the same amount of money (make sense somehow?)!

You know what happened? I didn't lose a single client (and yes, I'm at least 100% more productive than I used to be).

Read the remainder of this blogpost here.

Reader Comments

Highland Fleet Lute · 2013-09-02T07:04:32Z

Of course, the real problem with cellphones is, like the lady said.....

"It's like the majority of Americans can't hold things in context. It's like the Americans... the majority of them don't even...they can't even remember... they can't even remember what he did with Libya".

That's the real problem with cellphones.

lydia · 2013-09-02T09:37:03Z

sometimes a necessity

Living in the country and driving in empty roads I need a cell phone in case I have a problem. So for me a cell phone is very important. But just for that. It is like everything: you are the boss, you control you machine, not the inverse.

Highland Fleet Lute · 2013-09-02T10:23:49Z

That's complete b*ll*cks, Lydia.

Honda · 2013-09-02T12:39:48Z

I have 2 smartphones. Usually both of them are shut off. When I go out I carry the one I prefer using just in
case I need a quick "evacuation" and I have to call home. I think they 've become more of an addiction than a real need.

Highland Fleet Lute · 2013-09-02T16:52:09Z

"Living in the country and driving in empty roads I need a cell phone in case I have a problem. So for me a cell phone is very important. But just for that. It is like everything: you are the boss, you control you machine, not the inverse."

Yeah, that's what everyone says.

"I have 2 smartphones. Usually both of them are shut off. When I go out I carry the one I prefer using just in
case I need a quick "evacuation" and I have to call home. I think they 've become more of an addiction than a real need."

Yeah, that's what everyone says. Everyone who can barely remember who they were before they had a cellphone.

The real problem with cellphones is, like the lady said.....

"It's like the majority of Americans can't hold things in context. It's like the Americans... the majority of them don't even...they can't even remember... they can't even remember what he did with Libya".

That's the real problem with cellphones.

Honda · 2013-09-02T18:34:02Z

Flute, maybe I can explain. Before cell phones we had CB's but I don't live in the U.S. and where I live they were not very popular. My mother is usually out in the mornings so I had to find a way to communicate with her so in the beginning cell phones came in very handy. Later on, my life style changed and currently I don't need them so much so I don't use them so much. It's really very simple and at least in my case cell phones NEVER changed the way I live.