Monday, January 25th. 11:04 pm

• Today was my first day with no phone!
• I think it went pretty well.
• I was anxious to find my friends during break and during frees. We usually text each other to find each other!
• I found myself wondering if I was late to class during passing time because I couldn’t check my phone. Really, though, I was never late. I’m just used to checking.
• When I was just hanging out in the library, I would reach over to check my phone only to remember that I don’t have it!
• It was a very sad car ride home without my music. I listened to the radio in the car, which isn’t something I do often anymore.
• I don’t miss Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc. I could go on them on my computer, but I feel like that’s cheating…
• I did use my phone for one minute to scan my history homework. But I didn’t use it for anything else, I swear!
• Let’s see how tomorrow goes.

Tuesday, January 26th. 10:03 pm

• Day two of no phone is almost complete.
• To be honest, I really don’t miss my phone.
• I reached for it to check the time or any notifications much less than I did yesterday.
• I didn’t really have any anxieties about finding my friends or being late to class.
• I did have another sad car ride, though, one without my favorite playlist. 
• I also miss my podcasts! I have a weird issue with my Spotify account, so I don’t have it on my computer.
• I haven’t had any sort of desire to go on social media at all. 
• Like yesterday, I did cheat and use my phone to scan my history homework and send notes to a friend.
• I think this has been a very successful experiment so far!
  • The 2-3 hours I usually spend on my phone have been spent being productive.
  • Maybe I will start locking my phone in a drawer every day when I get home from school.

Wednesday, January 27th. 11:34 pm

• I’ve gone three days without my phone!
• Not much has changed since yesterday.
• I didn’t reach for my phone a single time today.
• I think this experiment has proved that I am not addicted to my phone. Otherwise, I’d be experiencing withdrawal! 
• As per the last two days, I cheated to send notes to a friend.
• Moments when I slightly missed my phone:
  • I couldn’t track my mother to see when she would get home. (If she can track me, I can track her!)
  • I couldn’t take a picture of my dog when she was in the cutest position.
  • I couldn’t listen to my podcast while getting ready for bed.
• Also, I’m done with my work at 11:30 p.m., and I spent about an hour FaceTiming a friend. I’m never done this early. Is it because I haven’t spent hours on my phone? Probably. Good to know.

Thursday, January 28th. 4:54 pm

• I made it!
• Four successful days without using my phone!
• I think I’ve definitely adjusted to the phone-less life.
• I really don’t miss it at all, and it’s honestly pretty nice to not have to worry about misplacing it.
• I don’t really have anything new to say.

My thoughts on the experiment:

This was a very exciting experiment! Full disclosure: I was probably not the best person to give up their phone. I really don’t use my phone that much, nor am I obsessed with social media. I recently downloaded TikTok to celebrate being a second-semester senior, and I downloaded my Instagram just this past summer. But, I still do use my phone a lot throughout the day, and my phone is always with me. When I began this experiment, I thought I was always going to feel like I was forgetting something, but I didn’t. I was a little anxious on the first day, but the anxiety passed quickly. I learned that I don’t need my phone as much as I thought I do. I was super productive this week, and it was most likely because I was not using my phone. Maybe if I have a crazy testing week sometime soon I will do a self-imposed phone ban!