Have you ever mindlessly sat on your bed, spending endless hours staring at your phone? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to disconnect? To wake up one morning and not have the burden of notifications, news, and reminders tempting you on a 6′ by 3′ glowing rectangular box?
Every few months, I flirt with the idea of disconnecting. I daydream of deleting all my social media and reverting to a formal relationship with my phone. However, because of reasons too long to list, my dream of being phone-free seems implausible to me. I have grown up with a phone since I was 10. It is my connector to the outside world, my informer of the news, and my personalized assistant that does and says what I ask it to.
My main problem with my phone is not that I am on it for hours at a time, but that I have a consistent “pick-up” problem in which I unconsciously pick up my phone when I am bored, distracted, and for basically any other reason. So, to battle my “pick-up” problem, I decided to go cold turkey and challenged myself to go three whole days without picking up my phone. Here is a summarized account of how it went.
Day 1 (Friday):
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9:30 AM: As a result of not having my phone alarm to wake me up, I naturally woke up around 9:30 am.
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10:00 AM: I started the day with some spring cleaning and transitioning my closet from winter to spring. Usually, this process takes me hours because I take lots of breaks and get distracted; however, I finished cleaning in less than two hours.
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1:00 PM: After lunch, I watched The O.C. on HBO Max for a few hours.
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3:00 PM: Around 3, I forced myself to be one with the wind and nature and sat outside to do some homework.
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4:00 PM: After my homework, I went back to watching The O.C.
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5:00 PM: It was a beautiful day, and I decided to be productive and went for a walk.
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6:00 PM: After the walk, I was able to hang out with my family. I did not even think about my phone, and it was a refreshing time.
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11:00 PM: At 11, I checked my phone for the first time. According to the screen time report, I spent a total of 5 minutes on my phone.
Day 2 (Saturday):
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11:00 AM: Again, as a result of not having an alarm clock, I woke up even later at 11:00 am.
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2:00 PM: After spending the afternoon with my family, I decided to work on some homework.
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4:00 PM: I watched more of The O.C.
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5:00 PM: I went to get my nails done with my mom.
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7:00 PM: I went downstairs to hang out with my family. We ended up watching The Fast and The Furious. I was skeptical at first, but now I am intrigued to watch the sequel.
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11:45 PM: I checked my phone and spent a total of 2 minutes according to screen time.
Day 3 (Sunday):
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11:30 AM: As a result of my late night, I woke up at 11:30. The last time I woke up this late was during winter break. While it was nice to have the option of sleeping in, I truly missed my alarm.
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1:00 PM: From 1-3 pm, I cleaned my room and did my laundry.
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4:00 PM: Watched The O.C.
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5:00 PM: Got tired of The O.C. and started watching Big Time Rush.
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I spent the rest of the night doing homework.
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I checked my phone once more at night and spent a total of 4 minutes on it.
Overall, though I was not perfect in staying away from my phone for three days, I am still impressed by how well I did. I gained a lot of insight and space during those three days. I hung out with my family more, went out into nature more, and also spent more time watching The O.C. and obsessing over Seth Cohen (I know I am like ten years too late). Mostly, I remembered that I am strong enough to fight the battles that I often deem too difficult.
If you have ever felt the want or need to throw your phone in the ocean, I urge you to try detaching from it for a few days. You never know what clarity it might bring you.