I Turned My Phone Off For 21 Hours…

I will openly admit that I have a love/hate relationship with my phone. I am constantly searching for new ways to make it appear less like a “toy” and more like a “tool.” I will avoid softwares updates like it’s my job and please don’t ask me to download another app on my phone. The only time I ever actually do a software update on my phone, is when I accidentally hit the Update Now button when it surprisingly pops up on my screen, and catches me off guard. I’ve even been referred to from some of my friends as having the “archaic phone.” It’s in black and white, most notifications are turned off, TikTok doesn’t exist, nothing except for Missed Calls pops up on the lock screen and I typically live with it on silent and/or Do Not Disturb. I do not use my phone as an alarm clock. At least a couple times a week, I’ll turn my phone completely off sometime around 7 PM, and resurface in the morning. Instagram and Facebook icons are on their very own screen (the last one) tucked away inside a folder so there’s just a little bit more friction getting to them.

I like to think that I have a pretty healthy relationship with my phone. I have no problem walking to the coffee shop without it, leaving in my car when I head into the grocery store, and almost always leaving it tucked away when meeting friends for coffee. I have to admit, I was curious how 21 hours of no phone would go. How would my day go without my phone lingering there to distract me? Would I be able to stay focused better, would my energy feel more sustainable? I was super excited to give this experiment a try. I had just finished reading two amazing books which shined light on the devastating effects that phones can have on us…The Meaning of Your Life by Arthur Brooks and The Practice of Groundedness by Brad Stulberg.

It was a Saturday night into Sunday. The week leading up to it was bonkers. I practiced yoga Monday-Friday, taught three yoga classes, saw 18 clients, had an auntie sleepover, some appointments for myself, and then of course had the every day and weekly to-do’s to keep an apartment running, meals cooking, laundry going, attention to my important relationships, fielding work emails, running a small business, being in a partnership, etc.

By the time Saturday evening rolled around I was on the brink of shedding tears, I was tired and felt drained. I let my boyfriend and family know that I was going to be unreachable by cell phone most of Saturday night and most of Sunday day. If for some awful reason an emergency happened, I could be reached by email. When Saturday at 5:30 PM rolled around, I powered that sucker off and put my phone in a drawer, out of sight. I then peacefully slept for 10 hours, waking up at 5:30 AM. I was SO excited that I had the whole morning and most of the afternoon to really intentionally live and interact with the world. It felt a little rebellious too. I almost felt like I had found the secret to a nectar filled sunny Sunday.

And so my morning began, with an added layer of peace, calm and ease. I finally was able to finish two books that I had, for some reason, been avoiding (Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer and Make Change That Lasts by Rangan Chatterjee). If you’ve read Braiding Sweetgrass, you may be aware of how beautifully, detailed, and in depth it is written. It’s like poetry meets the scientist, which is exactly true of the author. This is not a book I could finish in one sitting and could read at a rapid fire speed. No. This book needed my full attention. It had to be read and digested in an unhurried pace. And so, without the distraction of my phone, I was able to read the last 60 pages of this beautiful book. I then logged into my GoodReads app to add this book to my Finished Shelf. Of course, GoodReads had to let me know that I was still 1 book behind being on track for my reading goal of completing 30 books in 2026. I then had the dreaded reminder that so many of us keep score of things. We are constantly trying to optimize. So many times we focus on DOING, instead of BEING. Sleep score, daily steps, water intake, calories burned, books read, running pace, clients seen, days worked, yoga classes completed and so on. Waze and Google Reviews want me to join in on their games too.Trust me, I’m guilty of this. And so on this 21 hour phone-less day, I took myself on a run. No headphones, no RunKeeper app to track my pace and log my distance. Just me and Mother Nature. I’m thinking I was heavily inspired by Braiding Sweetgrass. I even stopped in front of a house on Manchester Street in Nashua to smell the lilacs in someone’s front yard.

After my run, I decided to take a stroll down to one of Nashua’s newest small businesses, Bound Together, a used bookstore. Please don’t ask me what my excuse is for taking months to walk less than .5 miles to check this place out…I don’t have a good reason. The door was wide open, and I was greeted with warmth by three faces. A female behind the desk, a male with a tool on the floor happily putting something together, and a 15 year old boy in a wheel chair, who proceeded to ask me about 15-20 questions. We connected, laughed, and I got to witness this vision coming to life for these people. It was a real human interaction. Not planned, no agenda, no time crunch, just an in-the-flow beautiful interaction that absolutely would have never happened had I entered the doors with my eyes glued to my phone.

I could go on forever about the highlights from my 21 hour phone detox. I don’t know if it’s more ridiculously hilarious, or absolutely depressing that a 21 hour phone detox is something to write about. I know with every fiber of my being that I felt a strong under current of absolute ease and alignment. And now my goal is to cultivate that without having to turn my phone off, and hide it in a drawer.