Imagine, two weeks of no group chats popping off at all hours, chats for baby showers, hen dos, work groups, no unread messages to catch up on. Sounds pretty blissful right? Well, yes, in the beginning, but I discovered that having no WhatsApp for two weeks is slightly trickier than you’d think. 

As a proud Millennial, I pretty much plan my whole life using WhatsApp. Sure, speak to anyone under the age of 24 and they’ll probably laugh at you, saying: ‘Do you not use Snapchat?’ Apparently, in the alternate universe of Gen Z, Snapchat is where you talk to your friends. Well, no, actually I don’t use Snapchat, I deleted it when I was at University 10 years ago like a normal person (but should probably re-download as I hear it’s come on leaps and bounds since the dog-ears filter). But anyway, for me (and I imagine most of you reading) it’s strictly WhatsApp and the odd text thrown in for good measure. Until, that is, I lost my phone.

So, what happened when I had to go without? For starters, I do realise this isn’t as dramatic as I’m making it sound – two weeks without a working phone is not exactly a traumatic experience. But I did end up learning a little more about myself than I thought I would.

It all began back in late summer, when I left my phone in the back of a taxi – one of my favourite things to do apparently. As a self-confessed ‘loser’ – I have lost countless items over the years; ID cards, phones, debit cards, even a passport. I am no stranger to the feeling of dread when you check your pockets only to find them empty. It’s not that I’m completely careless, I do make a conscious effort to keep tabs on personal belongings, but every now and then it just happens, sue me. However, on the plus side, whenever something like this happens I know how to get it sorted without any frantic panic – a quick trip to O2 and we’d be back up and running. Or so I thought. 

Cut to 14 days later, countless trips and even more fruitless phone calls to O2 and I was still without a working SIM card and thus had no access to texts, calls or, you’ve guessed it, WhatsApp. And what had initially begun as a slightly inconveniently timed, but surprisingly welcome, digital detox ended up being a right pain in the arse.

For starters, I hadn’t realised at all how much I relied on WhatsApp to feel connected to everyone I know. As someone who enjoys alone time, initially the thought of having a valid excuse to not be involved in countless group chats and the endless plans that get made (which seem to all happen when you’re not looking at your phone, leaving you with 200+ messages to scroll through) sounded like pure modern bliss. However, as the days passed by, without the social comfort blanket that is WhatsApp I began to get twitchy. Combine this with working from home and I soon began to feel a little isolated. Not being in the loop made me feel surprisingly lonely and I began to feel like I was missing out.

I started to get awful ‘FOMO’ which, in hindsight, sounds ridiculous and actually pretty self-obsessed. ‘Oh, woe is me, I can’t constantly chat to my friends, I must be missing out on EVERYTHING!’ When actually, the world carries on as usual for two weeks and if people need to get in touch with you, they’ll find a way. 

The ease in which we can communicate with one another is one of the best things to come out of modern technology. Being able to check in on family, with friends who live far away, have new babies, ill parents and so on, is something I took for granted. Not being able to do so left me feeling really guilty. After the 10-day mark, I began to get a little anxious that people would think I was being rude or, worse, they had forgotten I existed. I developed a classic case of bruised ego.

What I did take away from my accidental digi-detox, is how swiftly you realise you can’t get onto any apps without receiving a sodding text code. Want to get onto Teams? I’m afraid you’ll need a code. Want to reset any kind of password? Sorry, that simply isn’t possible. Trying to get into your online banking? Ha! Good one! Yes, cyber security is great nowadays – providing you can get the actual codes.

On the more mundane side of things, not being able to quickly check if we needed milk on the way back from work is much more annoying than you’d think. The ‘What do you fancy for tea?’ texts were now out the window. And if you fancied an impromptu after work drink, this ended up being a much for convoluted email thread instead of four quick texts. 

And so, after countless trips to O2, one missing parcel and many hours on the phone, I finally made it back online. I was welcomed in by a little red bubble of unread messages that instantly made me feel overwhelmed. But, after a few hours catching up – it was service as usual.

Did I learn anything by unwittingly going WhatsApp-free? Was it annoying not feeling like I could made plans as easily? Yes, but the world kept turning, whether I was always ‘available’ or not. I learned that I rely completely and utterly on instant communication with people. Although I love alone time, it turns out that’s only because I know I can text a friend or family member at any time, so I never am truly alone.

It might’ve initially felt nice to be untethered in a world that’s connected 24 hours a day, but ultimately, I know I will no longer take for granted the ease of communication we now have – and how important it is to me to be able to speak to loved ones whenever I need to. And the main thing? Get phone insurance.