I Switched Off My Phone For 24 Hours and … Survived
Expectations vs Reality of Turning Your Phone Off
I make mobile apps for a living. I advise clients on the best possible technology solution for their needs. So when I say I know a thing or two about mobile phones, I mean it.
Technology has helped us reach heights we had never imagined and places we never knew existed. But when you try to change human behavior quickly, it is bound to skip a few evolutionary steps. And that is exactly what we are seeing with phone addiction these days. Your phone has become an extension of your body so much that you start panicking if you find your pocket empty.
And I hate that aspect of technology. I have been tracking my usage closely and I average between 2–3 hours of screen time every day and I knew in my heart that it didn’t sound right.
So I decided to check how addicted I am to my phone and if I can survive without it. I have been toying with this idea for a few weeks but always convinced myself that today was not the best day to do it. I was expecting an important call, needed to do a few bank transfers, and needed my phone for OTPs and many other reasons. What do you say to yourself when you want to do a difficult thing? Not today!
Yesterday, when I woke up I had the thought again and I gave in to my instinct. I dropped a message on the family WhatsApp group that I am turning my phone off for 24 hours and in case anybody wanted to contact me they could call my wife’s cell.
I switched off my phone. Kept it aside. Didn’t look at it for 24 hours.
Here is what I thought would happen vs the reality.
What I thought would happen vs what did happen?
Expectation: I would have withdrawal symptoms and would barely survive.
Reality: I breezed through the day mostly fine without even thinking about the missing phone. I did reach out in my pocket a few times and realized I have this muscle memory of unlocking my phone now and then just to look at the screen and turn it off again. I need to work on that.
Expectation: There will be a big moment of revelation about how my phone was destroying my life.
Reality: Honestly, I was taking it too far with this expectation. As I said, I work in this industry and understand the use cases and applications of the technology. But I still thought that I would experience something out of the world. I did feel amazing not having looked at my phone for a day. But that was about it. I guess we are so used to having our phones with us all day that we think not having them around would do something magical. That isn’t how life works.
Expectation: I will have loads of free time and a productive day.
Reality: This is partly true. I did have extra time at hand than usual because I wasn’t going into a social media scrolling frenzy for 30 minutes without realizing it. I was fully engrossed in reading Dune and I read about 200 pages which is way higher than my average these days.
Expectation: I would need to have awkward conversations with people because I didn’t have my phone to hide behind.
Reality: I didn’t venture out of the house so I couldn’t test this as much. But usually, even when you are spending time with family, unfortunately, these days, you always have your phone in one hand while having conversations. It felt a little freeing and I felt more present in those conversations which, I think, I would have otherwise overlooked.
Expectation: I will dread the experience and never want to do it again.
Reality: I didn’t dread it at all. It went by in a breeze and I enjoyed this detoxing experience. It made me feel better about myself. It also made me realize that I can regain control of my life if I choose to. And that is a big ‘if’.
What next?
- Make it a weekly thing. Maybe start a trend of ‘no phone Saturdays’.
- Encourage my family and friends to try it too.
- Take it to the next level after a few weeks and make it a ‘no screen day’ by eliminating all screens — phone, laptop, TV, kindle, iPad for an entire day.
- Try a different variation as ‘no internet day’ where I can access the screens but not the internet.
Conclusion
Was it a life-changing experience? Not really. Did it make me feel better? It certainly did. Would I make it part of my lifestyle going forward? Absolutely.
Have you ever tried getting rid of your phone or done any kind of digital detox? What was your experience like? I would love to hear them in the comments below.
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