There was a time when I knew everyone’s phone number by heart.
I could tell you my best friend’s number, my grandparents’ number, the number to order pizza, and probably the hotline to Kiss Radio to vote for the Top 10 at 10.
Now? I occasionally stare blankly when someone asks me my husband’s phone number. I want to say, “He’s in my favorites,” just so they know I care deeply when I have to look it up.
To be fair, technology has made life remarkably convenient. I unlock my phone with my face. My coffee order remembers itself. Streaming services know what I want to watch before I do.
But lately I’ve started to wonder: What have we stopped doing because technology does it for us?
We don’t memorize directions anymore because GPS tells us exactly where to turn. We don’t remember birthdays because social media reminds us. We don’t wrestle with spelling because autocorrect swoops in to save the day. We don’t even have to remember passwords because our faces have stepped up and volunteered for the job.
And before you say, “Wow, she’s one of those anti-technology people,” I’m not. I love technology. I use technology. I would be lost without technology. I just believe in balance and having to use your brain every once in a while. Convenience isn’t the villain here. The concern is what happens when we outsource every opportunity to think, remember, create and problem-solve. Because the brain, much like the body, responds to how it’s used. The less we challenge it, the less efficient it becomes. The less we create, the harder creativity feels. The less we tolerate boredom, the more uncomfortable stillness becomes.
Boredom, despite its terrible reputation, used to be where some of our best ideas lived. Which is really what this article is about. I think we all need to become a little more bored. Not miserably bored. Not “having to reintroduce yourself to the same person at a function because, despite meeting them last week, they clearly weren’t orbiting Earth that day” bored. The good kind of bored. The kind where your brain finally has enough open space to wander around and bump into something interesting.
Before smartphones filled every waiting room, checkout line and spare moment, our minds wandered. We daydreamed. We doodled. We solved imaginary problems. We stared out windows. We let thoughts connect in ways that don’t happen when every spare second is occupied by a screen.
History is full of ideas that emerged from idle time, curiosity, accidents and minds that had room to roam. A weak adhesive eventually became Post-it notes. A spring falling off a shelf inspired the Slinky. Countless books, businesses, inventions and solutions started as nothing more than a random thought that appeared while someone was walking, showering, staring out a window or simply doing absolutely nothing.
That’s the part I worry about. Not that technology exists, but that we no longer give our brains enough blank space to surprise us. I don’t think the goal is to throw our phones into the ocean and pretend it’s 1995 again. I enjoy online shopping as much as the next person, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t appreciate GPS in Miami traffic.
But maybe we can stop outsourcing everything. Maybe we memorize one important phone number. Maybe we leave our phones behind for a sunset walk. Maybe we sit quietly for a few minutes without immediately reaching for a screen. Maybe we allow ourselves the radical act of having our own thoughts.
Because creativity isn’t reserved for artists. Problem solving isn’t reserved for engineers. Thinking deeply isn’t reserved for academics. These are human skills. And just like our muscles, they become stronger when we use them.
Technology has given us many wonderful things. But perhaps the greatest challenge of our time isn’t learning how to use it. It’s remembering how to function without it.
