As someone born in the early 2000s and raised on a mixture of dated TV shows and Smosh, most of my nostalgic memories revolve around the time before a touchscreen. In primary school a few kids had iPads but it wasn’t overly common, and my mum had a flip phone well into the 2010s. When I hit high school and got my very own smartphone – I felt like the most sophisticated and well-connected twelve year old ever.
Eventually I began staying up until two in the morning to read fanfiction on my phone, or I’d watch a music video on the bus home from school instead of talking to others. Sometimes, hours would go by, and I’d be sitting in my room staring at my phone, my wrist going numb from the awkward angle I had been holding it in.
Essentially, having a smartphone also meant having a smartphone addiction.
It’s not uncommon to feel like your phone is a part of who you are. 62% of young people are addicted to their smartphones, according to research, with over a third not being able to stop using their phone despite trying to.
It’s impossible to live without a smartphone these days. When I sign into my work laptop, I need to verify it with a notification on my phone. To navigate the roads, a Melways is about as useful as guessing. Apple Maps has my back, and CarPlay means I have a constant soundtrack, since my car was made without a CD player. My emails, my text messages, Depop. Literally everything is on my phone. I think losing it would be more anxiety-inducing than losing my wallet. Especially since my wallet is on my phone, too!
I decided to challenge myself, after realising how dependent I am on my phone. It’s easy to think of myself as a reader who would rather pick up a book than Instagram reels, but the truth is I’m so used to being on my phone that I forgot what it’s like to not be. So here I am, going a week without my smartphone, and opting for the humble Nokia for when calls and texts are needed.
Monday
I have to admit, I woke up feeling a bit anxious about this today. As silly as it sounds, the thought of not being able to play music while driving or listen with my headphones made me dread the day ahead. Still, I persevered, bid farewell to my phone, and set off.
Biggest challenge:
My drive was taken up by morning radio instead of my usual playlist which was boring and made the drive a lot less fun, especially on the way home.
Biggest highlight:
I spent my lunch break reading instead of being on Instagram, and I got through quite a bit of my book!
Tuesday
Today I was excited to see what it would be like to be without my phone for the second day in a row. I was kind of expecting the novelty to wear off after a few hours but I’m still keen for the challenge.
Biggest challenge:
I had to use my friend’s phone to authenticate logging in to software on my work PC. Usually the notification would go to an app on my phone which, of course, was not with me.
Biggest highlight:
I had lunch with a coworker and didn’t feel distracted by my phone.
Wednesday
Today was going to be a challenge since I work at a different office than usual, and sometimes use Apple Maps to find the fastest route, so I was anxious to see if that affected my driving.
Biggest challenge:
Forgot my credit card when buying lunch because I usually pay with Apple Pay, and had to walk away from the counter without any food, which was genuinely upsetting for a food fanatic like me.
Biggest highlight:
I figured out how to play Snake on the Nokia and spent the 10 minute wait before my Pilates class on the flip phone.
Thursday
Today is a study day, which means I am very worried that I won’t be able to access my uni platform because, again, I have to authenticate the log in.
Biggest challenge:
Logging in to the uni website was very difficult, as I had to request a call for a verification number instead of a code to the app on my phone, and then I couldn’t understand the numbers the automated voice said, so the whole process had to repeat over and over again.
Biggest highlight:
I wasn’t distracted by my phone when studying at all. I got a lot more done than I normally would.
Friday
My rostered day off! Usually I would work out, study for a few hours and then head out to dinner, so it should be an easy day off the phone.
Biggest challenge:
My workout was awful and long because I had no headphones which fit the jack in the Nokia, so I couldn’t listen to anything and instead heard myself breathe heavily for an hour while contemplating giving up.
Biggest highlight:
I enjoyed dinner with my friend and it was nice to talk about this experiment and ponder the positives.
Saturday
Today I planned on driving to a market an hour away and then surfing, so I was hoping the drive would be a smooth one, since I wouldn’t have maps.
Biggest challenge:
No music in the car is a serious bummer, and I refused to let my boyfriend play music from his phone because that feels like cheating the experiment.
Biggest highlight:
I got there without a hitch, despite no directions!
Sunday
Finally, the last day has arrived. Today will probably be easy because all I’ll do is study, meal prep and clean. A reset day without my phone.
Biggest challenge:
I couldn’t access the Instagram reels of the meal prep recipes like I’d planned, so I had to use the web browser, which is fine, but was just a bit clunkier than usual.
Biggest highlight:
I got so much more done than I usually do, probably because I didn’t have a 4pm scroll session and instead read my notes for next week’s assessments.
Overall assessment
This has been a very eye opening experience! The biggest issue was the music, everything felt more boring and difficult. I probably could have avoided this with an iPod or installing music on the Nokia, but I don’t have the early tech skills for that. I do have a Walkman which I intended to use, but I couldn’t get the jack to work with my car cigarette lighter, so every drive felt a lot longer. The Apple Pay was also a huge loss; it was weird carrying around my wallet when usually all I take are my keys, phone and lipgloss.
The best thing was I felt like I had so much more time. Each day, I read books, studied and focused so much more than I would have had I been on my phone. I also slept really well, and woke up to an alarm clock rather than the jarring signal from the Apple Clock app. I felt generally more relaxed, and focused on what was in front of me rather than feeling constantly aware of the phone in my pocket.
Overall, I think this experiment was worth it. I struggled a bit, but I think I’d do it again given the chance. I don’t know if I have the strength to commit to no smartphone forever, but I think a detox every once in a while makes for a good digital cleanse.
Will you give it a try?
Read more of our Thought-Provoking articles here.
