19 Beautifully Simple Things That Happen When Couples Agree To Leave Their Smart Phones At Home

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1. You look at each other during all those lulls when you’d normally reach for your respective devices.

2. You make eye contact so often, in fact, it’s weird at first. But in a good way. The last time you stared at each other so much, you were probably in the very early stages of dating.

3. You conjure more thoughtful questions, as people do when they’re really together, each of them leading to surprisingly engaging conversations you never would’ve otherwise had.

4. You remember how fun it is learn about each other instead of collecting useless details about the acquaintances and strangers you follow on social media.

5. You appreciate the value in letting your minds wander in each other’s company rather than staying up to date, ceaselessly, on the insignificant happenings in other people’s lives.

6. You hold hands—without letting go to grab your phones out of your pocket and/or handbag.

7. You grow closer, inevitably, as you recall just how much you enjoy each other’s company.

8. You grow nostalgic, too, for the days when cell phones weren’t such tempting mini computers, or, better yet, for the days when they didn’t even exist yet.

9. You agree wholeheartedly that you could navigate the streets without GPS, that you wouldn’t mind losing touch with most of your high school peers, and that you don’t really need mobile databases containing all your contacts.

10. You learn to appreciate the annoying moments when you can’t call something to mind and you have to think really hard to remember it when Googling isn’t an option.

11. You wonder if your brains have been spoiled by the instant gratification of immediate answers. You wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve suffered on some level from NOT having to remember so much for so long.

12. You reflect on how much has changed since the time when you didn’t rely on phones for a little entertainment.

13. Without those on-demand distraction centers, you end up telling each other hilarious jokes, and playing silly games you invent in the moment.

14. You calculate that your no-phone policy will amount to at least an additional hour of *real time* together.

15. You realize that you’re both more important to each other than anything you might be doing or discovering on any screens.

16. You remember the value of undivided attention—the way it feels to have someone focus on you and to mirror that intensity without interruption.

17. You pledge never to become one of those couples that sits across from each other at the dinner table, staring into their own phones instead of each other.

18. You both feel more present, more loving, and more loved than you have in a while.

19. You can’t help sharing the awesome revelation that reconnecting with your significant other might be as simple as disconnecting—together.