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I’d like to start this article by being honest with you all: my tech skills are dismal. I can manoeuvre around Word documents and I have a good stab at blogging (as a writer, it’s kind of mandatory), but I have also lost over 500 pictures from my cloud (whatever that means) and a year’s worth of e-mails with absolutely no idea why or how. Tech-savvy, I am not.
So when I was tasked with taking my life online for a week, I was nervous. Would I be able to get through seven days without a pen and paper or even just calling someone on the phone? I was about to find out…
I cashed out
My first foray into this digital lifestyle was to use Apple Pay, which has lingered on my phone unused ever since it launched. My husband gave me a quick lesson on how to pay through my phone before I headed for the Tube, but the jostling and impatient crowds unnerved me at the turnstiles and I whipped our my debit card instead.
I practice using the app on the first leg of my journey, and successfully manage to catch a bus using nothing but my phone – win! So far, so good – but I do worry about my battery running out mid-journey.
I read more magazines
The next step in my digital week was to download Readly, an app where you can read nearly every magazine on the market from the palm of your hand. I usually feel indulgent buying magazines so enjoy the printed page when I’m at the hairdressers, but with Readly, I had thousands of magazines to choose from and read, from interiors to fashion and tech.
Readly
At first I find it difficult to grasp the idea of reading a magazine on the app rather than idly flicking through the pages, but after scrolling through the app I feel like a pro, switching from politics to gardening and news with a swipe of my finger. I could even download issues for offline reading on the Tube. After years, there’s now a chance I can finally get up to date on my reading…
Dinner went digital
I’m usually a home cooker, but Deliveroo held the dish of the day in my new digital diet. Ordering food through the app caused a few delays, in a good way, as we couldn’t decide what to choose from the astonishing array of options.
We finally settle on Japanese and it arrives in a spectacular fifteen minutes, which is speedier than waiting in a restaurant. I urge you all to try the roasted miso and honey aubergine from Eat Tokyo – truly delicious.
We waved goodbye to terrestrial TV
Sorry BBC, this week calls for the Amazon Fire stick. We’ve been meaning to get stuck into Amazon Originals for a while so this was a welcome push in the digital direction, and after researching our options we realised that we’d get all the entertainment we needed with a Fire stick at half the monthly cost we’ve been paying for terrestrial TV.
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The only downside? There’s no Channel 4 News, which happens to be my favourite news programme to watch on the screen. But considering I can tune in to C4 from my laptop, it’s a sacrifice worth making.
I sweated via URL, not IRL
This week, I ditched my weekly Yin Yoga class to discover what an online class would be like, settling on a YouTube video featuring a very Zen instructor. For this routine, I need props, so luckily I already have a mat and a roller. I just added some boxes and my daughter’s stretchy belt and I was ready to go.
The online class worked well for me, but I consider myself lucky that I had all the kit and am already pretty au fait with the moves. This would have been a lot more difficult had I tried something new, so proceed with caution if you’re getting sweaty online.
I ordered a pedicure to my door
On my last day of the experiment I used online beauty app Ruuby to get my feet into shape. The app invites you to choose a time, a treatment and a therapist, and then calculates a price. Cute illustrated icons guide you to hair or nails or even tanning; whatever your heart desires.
My therapist arrives exactly on time, executes a flawless pedicure and I can scroll through Readly while she works. I don’t even need to drive home in flip-flops afterwards. Blissful.
The verdict?
Digital life is quick, convenient and exciting. Digital TV and apps like Readly that allow you to read a multitude of titles without taking up space are definitely the future, but I think I need the ritual of heading to a gym to get the most out of my workouts.
Moving forward, I’ll dabble in both sides of the digital spectrum, going to the gym and using online classes for busy days. As I’m writing this, my daughter is having a Skype tutorial with a maths tutor using an online whiteboard. I had my doubts but it’s working really well; maybe it’s time I stop resisting and take some tips from her.
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