{"id":1053,"date":"2017-05-15T00:34:40","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T23:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidwithington.com\/blog\/?p=1053"},"modified":"2017-05-15T00:36:07","modified_gmt":"2017-05-14T23:36:07","slug":"the-free-de-stress-day-with-the-compliments-of-samsung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidwithington.com\/the-free-de-stress-day-with-the-compliments-of-samsung\/","title":{"rendered":"The Free De-Stress Day – With the Compliments of Samsung"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"smartphone\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My phone broke.<\/span><\/p>\n

No, not the screen.<\/span><\/p>\n

The performance slowed down, the screen froze regularly, the phone became unresponsive and it kept restarting.<\/span><\/p>\n

So being a bit techy, I tried to figure out the cause.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This should fix it<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Was it a rogue app? The recent software update? Low battery voltage?<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway…<\/span><\/p>\n

I cleared the cache partition… stopped a few apps… changed the battery… plugged in the charger… put it into safe mode…<\/span><\/p>\n

But even then, it still froze and restarted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh dear!<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, I resorted to the time-consuming factory reset and restore<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Restoring app 1 of 166…”<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, this unexpected task had robbed me of a planned gym visit. But I was determined not to waste time while it went through the long drawn-out processes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Time<\/a>
Time for a walk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So off I trotted on a 45-minute walk.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you’re out walking, do you like to listen to an audio book or a podcast?<\/span><\/p>\n

Me too.<\/span><\/p>\n

So this was the first reminder of how important my phone is to me. There was nothing to plug any earphones into.<\/span><\/p>\n

But my mind was racing…<\/span><\/p>\n

“What if someone tries to call me?<\/span><\/p>\n

“What if I get a text message?<\/span><\/p>\n

“Or a WhatsApp message?<\/span><\/p>\n

“Or even more importantly, what if someone tags me on Facebook?”<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, despite the withdrawal symptoms, off I trotted, getting a good pace up the steep hill, along the tree lined street, past the fields full of bluebells, smiling at the occasional person who passed by and exchanging a pleasant “hello” or “good afternoon”.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was enjoying a pleasant wonder in the warm Spring afternoon, breathing in the fresh air.<\/span><\/p>\n

But after a while, something occurred to me: I wasn’t actually missing my phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, I felt sort of free.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Freedom\"<\/a>
There was a sense of freedom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No one could disturb me. No one could interrupt me.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was able to give some time to thinking. Some praying. Some planning.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was quite refreshing.<\/span><\/p>\n

And my mind went back to those pre mobile phone days.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you weren’t at home or in the office… hard lines! The caller simply would have to ring you back later.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Not<\/a>
Not in? Call back later.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What a freedom<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, I arrived home and found the restoration from backup was nearly complete.\u00a0<\/span>There was still a lot to do in order to get the phone back to normal, so I set to work.<\/span><\/p>\n

But worse was to follow…<\/span><\/p>\n

Within a few days, the phone had completely failed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Disaster?<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m in two minds about that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because a\u00a0day without a phone had proved to be a\u00a0wonderful de-stressing experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps I should market the idea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n