How often do you check your phone? Researchers find that the average person touches their phone over 100 times a day. That's once every 10 minutes. Me, I spent 10-15 minutes on my phone reading the news, looking at new resources shared on Twitter, and liking friends' posts on Facebook, all before I roll outta bed and put on my pants. I listen to music with Spotify on the way to work and check the news once more before I head in for the day. I'm lucky if my battery makes it until 1pm, and that is when I don't have any development work to do.

I have to sit back and wonder if this is a wrong move in culture. Reading the news on a small screen isn't any different from reading it in a printed newspaper, is it? Watching a video a friend shared isn't any different from flipping through the channels on the TV, right? But when I feel that twitch to whip it out during dinner? When I need to check the Cardinal's score immediately after watching a movie with my wife?

I start to wonder if we are so connected that we have become disconnected. That we use our phones so much that we don't look up. How much do we miss every day because our heads are down, staring at our magic, glowing screens? Are we still alive if we unplug? Can we still breathe without knowing what our old high school bullies are doing today? What would happen if you left your phone off for a day?