I Had A 32 Hour Detox From My Phone

In An Attempt To Reclaim My Brain 🧠

Everyone I know is an addict.

My loved ones are addicts.

My work colleagues are addicts.

My friends are addicts.

Even my 82 year old mum is an addict. She loves putting emojis in Whatsapp messages.

We’re all addicted to our phones whether we admit it or not.

In fact, I’ve only just recently admitted it even though for over a year now I’ve tracked my usage each week across all my devices and been horrified some weeks.

I kept saying to myself ‘It’s not that bad. Most of that is work.’

It’s not.

Our whole lives are in the palm of our hands.

How many times have you been parted from your phone and you felt like you couldn’t cope? Don’t even get me started when I’ve thought I’ve lost it on occasion.

I think it’s important to address that it really is an addition for many of us before we can even think about creating healthier habits around our screen time.

We have a complex relationship with our phones, don’t we?

Something I won’t even begin to go into here right now - I don’t have time. Suffice to see it’s a relationship that seems to have zero boundaries for so many of us.

I see so many posts on Instagram where people are announcing they are taking a break for a while. It’s because it’s too much. All this time online.

Why have we been hoodwinked into wanting to view the world through a screen and less through our eyes?

I really do believe hoodwinked is the proper word to use. The big tech corporations have known all along exactly how addictive these ‘drugs’ are to us all that they are pushing. The longer we are on our phones the more money there is to be made off us all.

I’m an intrepid dopamine hunter. I have ADHD so I can fixate and get hooked on absolutely anything that gives me the hit my brain needs.

Soooo, with all sorts of things swirling through my mind this January I’ve decided I want to make 2025 the year I break free from being so connected to tech all the time.

It’s also for research purposes as I train businesses about digital sustainability for a living and this topic often comes up in discussions.

I also want to add here before I go any further.

I absolutely ❤️ tech.

I am not a tech basher.

I wouldn’t be here today without it, writing this. I wouldn’t have my businesses. I wouldn’t have made friends all around the world, many of whom I have gone on to meet in real life. So many positives.

I digress. I should’ve done a part one, ha!

Here’s what I did to detox for 32 hours …

Told my nearest and dearest that from midnight Saturday I would be offline for 24 hours. My eldest kidult scoffed at me when I shared the news in a Facetime on Saturday afternoon.. He would. His habit is worse than mine but totally in denial.

Aren’t we all?

I then deleted all the apps off my phone home screen that I thought I might be tempted to dive into given half a chance. I made sure notifications were definitely all turned off. Used the hide feature for the apps I’d be most tempted to look at if I happened to pick my phone up. This well and truly buries them at the back and I knew I’d feel bad if I did try to scroll to find them. Put phone on silent. Went to bed. I was tired so this first part was easy.

Sunday morning I ignored my phone like I’d had an argument with it the night before and was in a huff. Couldn’t look at it. Decided the best course of action to lessen any temptation was to leave it in the bedroom all day. Didn’t miss it one bit. Another part that seemed easy.

Baked a cake, went to the beach with Barney Boo, read more pages in a book than usual.

Actually, I did miss it at the beach for photo opportunities. Barney Boo was so happy digging up the sand and chasing the waves at the water edge that I wanted some photos of him. Mr B did the honours. He wasn’t on the detox.

The day went very smoothly. Smug Sharon. Until it came to the evening. This is usually when I have a good ‘ol mindless scroll. You know it, don’t you?

I had to practically sit on my hands and keep out of the bedroom so I wouldn’t be tempted to have a sly look. What did I think I was missing?

Went to bed at 10. Finished my book. This was a great hoorah as I would’ve normally been scrolling, scrolling. I felt like I’d cracked it. In fact, I was still awake at midnight reading a NEW book when my self imposed detox was over. I thought I’d have reached for my phone at one minute past midnight. But no, I left it to languish until my alarm - my phone alarm - the irony -went off at 8am.

Then I was all over it like a rash. Like we’d never been parted. Back to square one.

It’s a work in progress but it feels like a start of sorts. I’m thinking all the time about how many reaches for the phone I do every single day.

I’d love to know what your relationship is like with your phone.

Are you addicted?

What helpful tips can you share that have helped you disconnect?

I’ll leave you with this …

‘Tech is ‘always on’ - but we don’t have to be’

Signing off,