Without laptop. The title makes it sounds like it is something super serious. Or just worst that what it was. Although I was quite desperate from start to finish. All of that because something super stupid happened in the middle of the night with the cat and pouf! I realized how much I relied on my laptop for pretty much everything.
Work. Freelancing. Blogging. Not doing anything. Pretty much all my life.
But let’s rewind back to how it all started.
I always have a glass of water on my desk. For me, to fill the cat’s bowl or the flower vase. My laptop is also on my desk. Considering nothing had happened until now, that’s just how it stayed. Until last Tuesday night, when my cat knocked the glass over my laptop and drowned it. 100% my fault. First lesson, I guess, is to not leave liquid unattended close to the laptop. Arrived at work, I tried to turn the machine on, it did not work, off to iSmash to get it repaired.
And a week later…
So what did I learn from this incident?
1. My laptop is basically my life
Because that is what it is. I use my laptop at work, for freelancing, for blogging, for editing photos, for watching shows, for pretty much everything. I had to use the office’s Mac, to which I am unfamiliar with, making me very slow. Also, I was not able to blog easily and was not able to meet two deadlines. Which is very bad. My excuse just sounded like “My dog ate my homework”. I also fell behind on my freelance work. Not good either. I am lucky enough to have an iPad, which allowed me to publish posts, still, but WordPress on iPad is a nightmare.
2. Back up your laptop
When I received the diagnostic from iSmash, they told me that there was no guarantee the repair would be successful. That if it was not, they would not charge me, so at least, that is that. And I panicked because it would mean that anything on the laptop would be lost and my whole work alongside it! I only recently bought an external hard drive but it only contained my photoshoot photos and nothing else. In case something happens and you are unable to retrieve anything from your old laptop, you’ll be happy to have your work saved on your external drive. It will also allow you to work from anywhere, using other people’s laptops or computers.
3. I lost the habit of entertaining myself off screen
I am addicted to my screen – laptop, iPad, iPhone. Does not matter which size or which device. I did not have my laptop all weekend and my iPad is great for games while waiting at the airport or planning my IG feed but that is just it. That weekend, I found myself struggling to keep myself busy. I could have just read a book, gone for a walk, anything. But no. I was not drawn to any of these, did not even consider those options. Although I am an avid reader… I did pack a lot of my stuff for my upcoming move. But yeah, I need to get back into doing things that are not screen related.
4. I spent a crazy amount of time on my laptop
This one is related to this point below. But, OMG, yes, what a massive amount of time spent on my laptop! I use it for work, freelancing, blogging, watching shows… I basically have eight hours of sleep, one hour in the morning and maybe one or two hours in the evening that I don’t spend looking at a screen. It means 81% of my time not spending sleeping is spent on my laptop, or phone, or iPad. How crazy is that?! I guess a thorough detox might be necessary at one point!
5. You better have some money aside for those rainy days
Man, repairing a laptop is expensive! Even more so an Apple device! £35 for the diagnostic and £180 for the repair! I have been saving money since October as I am moving abroad, so I could afford the repair – even though I was not happy using my savings for that – but can you imagine if I had not had any money aside? Jesus Christ, I’d been desperate because I would have had no way to work or anything… Let alone the money to buy a new machine! So yeah, if you can, put some money aside, just in case.
Because, yes, another part of the story is that, just before my laptop broke, I transferred all my savings onto my French bank account. It meant that I had barely enough money left on my UK one to pay for the repair. Shit timing, that’s what it was! Plus, after picking up my laptop from repair last Friday, it shut down multiple times again and I had to go back to the shop! Turns out there were more damage liquid repairs to do! I managed to save all my laptop content on my external drive at the very last moment that evening.
To write my Brigit’s Bakery blog post, I had to upload the photos from my external drive to my office’s Mac, airdrop them to my phone, then airdrop them to my iPad. And write the post from there. Which was a nightmare. And again, I am extremely lucky to have an iPad, and I know many people would not have had a back up device to use. So can you imagine if this had happened to them?
6. Last but not least, most obvious, and why I am an idiot, the thing was just bound to happen and I deserved this shit
DO NOT LET ANY LIQUID UNATTENDED CLOSE TO YOUR LAPTOP, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE A CAT!
Also, a week is nothing! 7 days go in a finger snap! But 7 days were enough to have me desperate!
Shop the outfit
Has this ever happened to you? Have you been without laptop for a long period of time? Or just a few days? How did you cope? What lessons did you learn?
Thanks a lot for stopping by. I hope you liked this post.
See you soon,
Love,
Corinne
*The dress featured in the photo is a gift form Shein (use 9TEA for 15% for at checkout) but all opinions are my own.
Ugh yes, I would be lost without my laptop. I do so much on it. And yes Apple is not cheap. I always worry something will happen to my Mac.
You look fabulous in this dress!
As much as I love staring at a screen all day (lol), I agree that being without it does me so much good. One of the many reasons I enjoy travelling, my laptop stays behind!
Hi Corinne,
A good read 🙂 Are you happy with your Mac now? Was it worth the pain?
I”m a desktop user and I’ve been without it for a few days before while I’m working!! At that time I didn’t have a smart phone so I couldn’t check my email.
I don’t know what I would do without my laptop, especially as it’s how I make my living. That said I am sure in some ways it is something nice just to completely switch off.
Oh no! I’ve had a few scares thinking I would be without a laptop, but thankfully we have an old netbook if something happens. Not ideal but helpful nonetheless.
Oh no!!! This has been a great reminder for me to get something to back my documents up with. How frustrating for you!
This is very insightful and yes all these 100% apply to me! My laptop is my life and would be lost without it but that is not a good thing i know, i need to do something about it.
I am sorry to hear about your laptop. But I must say I really love your outfit and you are killing the OOTD game!
Sorry to hear what happened to your laptop and I can feel your pain about not having it for a week. But I’m also happy to see that there were also benefits. Last week, I went on vacation with my family and I left my laptop at home, I felt different but I had a blast as well.
Sorry to hear you about your laptop. Using Apple gadgets always a pain for me. The cost of repairing of any gadget is much higher. BTW you are looking gorgeous in this dress
I faced this sort of pain without a laptop. It is my life as well. But in my case, it was stolen.
aww I remember the days of no computers. I love b being forced to take time without internet!
Unattended liquid with almost any animal is problematic for sure. That would suck to lose everything like that. I agree having a backup place for storage is absolutely essential, which reminds me I need to do something about that.
Oh my goodness, what a time you’ve had! I would be lost without my laptop, there’s only so much you can do on an iPad, as you say, blogging is very hard without a proper hard drive. I do take back ups on a semi-regular basis but reading your post makes me realise how much I would struggle if anything were to happen tonight, for example. I’ll be setting up a back up later on this evening now, thank you so much for sharing your experience, I’m so glad you were able to retrieve your work in the end! X
Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com
I would hace cried if this had happened to me as I’m strangely attached to my laptop. I totally agreee about not knowing how to entertain yourself without a devise especially if you use it for your job or blog! X
I remember we had a power failure at our house and our internet service was out for five whole days and I freaked out. The situation taught me to not be so dependent on online resources even though my work falls in line through the internet. I’m glad you learned important lessons from this and you shared your experience to help us from making the same mistakes. I need to go back up my pictures and blog articles onto an external harddrive too!
Natonya | https://justnatonya.wordpress.com
Oh my god this is my worst nightmare! I’m sorry you went through it but glad you learnt a lot from the experience! Especially the last point haha! I definitely need to spend more time away from my screen and try and adopt more “screenless” hobbies!
Jenny
http://www.jennyinneverland.com
I guess we all rely on our laptops – specially if blogging is your job!! My laptop is definitely breaking & I know I need to take it for someone to look at. It keeps pretending it has no internet feature at all & I have to delete my WiFi adapter & some other weird tech stuff I read how to do online! Yet here I am, with nothing backed up… I am an idiot! Your post & hearing your reality has prompted me to do so for sure. So thank you! I’ll be gettin a new laptop when I can afford to haha Xxx
Hmm. This is making me really worried thinking about how I would survive without my laptop and that’s really bad because, basically, I won’t. Although I’m lucky in the sense that I don’t need it for work, pretty much everything else I do is linked to my laptop. I really should find some other hobbies, I think. I feel for you so much here – I hope the repairs are all finished now and it’s working properly for you. Good luck playing catch up!
Oh my god! I know what you went through. My laptop had some motherboard issues and was under repair for 8 days. Although, I could do most of my work on my phone. I still missed having my laptop constantly beside me.
Oh my god! I know what you went through. My laptop had some motherboard issues and was under repair for 8 days. Although, I could do most of my work on my phone. I still missed having my laptop constantly beside me.
i got a problem with my laptop a month ago and it was the hardest time ever! yes! i spend a lot of time on my laptop too ! i was not having a full backup and it costed me a lot to repair it!
https://www.clairetalksbeauty.com/
I don’t mean to be dramatic, but what you’ve just described is basically my greatest fear. I use mine for literally everything. I work from it, entertain myself with it and pretty much everything in between. I didn’t have mine for a single day last year and that still stressed me out. At least you’ve managed to learn a few things from it! I definitely need to work on having less screen related hobbies x
Sophie
http://www.glowsteady.co.uk