What keeps me away from my phone? Work, writing, and church—but mostly work.
Image credit is mine
I am a sonographer, and I work from 8:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, with little to no breaks in between. My job is quite demanding, as I work with little or no help from anyone else. I get 25–40 patients per day, and I carry out my duties and also file a medical report for each patient. I am the sole worker in my department; there is no replacement, and so my management hates when I fall ill because it can be difficult to find a replacement while I am away.
I believe every patient deserves my full and undivided attention. The time spent on a patient can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as 45 minutes. I get various kinds of scans in a day, ranging from basic obstetric scans to thyroid and musculoskeletal scans, and each patient would present with various ages, medical history, symptoms, and time of onset. It is my duty to correlate these with what I see on my screen by asking the patient the right questions. After the scan has been carried out, I return to my computer and type a result, print it, cross-check it, and sign it out. I repeat these processes at least 25 times a day. There is no way I would even have the time to access my phone, as the scanning process would be carried out back-to-back.
My family and friends already know never to call me during office hours unless it is urgent, and even I wouldn’t pick up such calls immediately until I have some spare two minutes on my hands. They would usually leave messages on my WhatsApp, which I would reply to once I was free. I have learned to accept it, although at the end of each working day, I feel too tired to reply to messages as they begin to feel like a chore.
While writing, I tend to write the framework of a story first before I pick up my phone again for use. I am very used to this. I love my focus, and I hate distractions.
I don’t think I should be using my phone during worship; it is actually not right. My phone is usually put on DND or airplane mode for this reason.
The last reason that can keep me away from my phone is sleep. Yes! Sleep! I love sleeping because it is the only time I worry less and get much-needed rest. My data is usually switched off before I close my eyes for the night.
Being away from my phone wasn’t such a big deal in the past, but as time went by, it became the sole means of communicating with our loved ones, especially those who live far from us.
There are also times I wish to be away from the noise that the world makes and to be utterly alone for a few hours. It helps to keep me grounded in my beliefs, as it is easy to lose yourself on social media nowadays.