A Day Without My Phone: 24 Hours Away from My Digital Workspace (never again) 

I’ve always thought I could go without my phone for a day. How hard could it be, right? Well, I finally decided to test that theory, and……… I honestly don’t have anything profound to report, no sudden enlightenment or boosted frontal lobe activity except maybe I finally saw how long 24 hours can actually feel when you’re not glued to your phone screen.  

It all started at work when someone casually mentioned trying a phone-free day, and me being me, I volunteered like it was an Olympic event. But keeping the phone completely out of reach? Forget it. I still needed it for tiny essentials like my alarm, so I slapped on a wallpaper reminder and hoped for the best. 

 Here is how my day went; 

4:00 AM 

I woke up to the faint shuffle of my neighbor upstairs. It happens all the time, God only knows what he does up at that hour, downside is it has happened enough times now that my body treats it like an unofficial alarm. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling for a while. Last night, I’d changed my wallpaper to a screenshot of my note, one that read “No phone for 24 hours.” It felt like a strong, disciplined move then, but in my half-asleep state, I thought about it; it felt like a setup. I drifted off again before I could decide if I was truly committed. 

6:00 AM 

My actual alarm went off, loud and familiar. I reached for my phone to turn on my data, but my wallpaper stopped me, a big bold reminder. Right. No phone today. 

Even though I’d hyped myself up for this digital detox, in that moment, I started doubting my life choices. Still, I put my phone face down and went back to bed. 

10:00 AM 

 No distractions meant I actually made my bed (a rare accomplishment). I went to the kitchen, boiled water, and made myself a cup of green tea, part of my daily routine. Back in my room, I sat in front of my fan, watching steam swirl out of my cup, waiting for it to cool to that perfect lukewarm state. 

7:30 AM 

Yes, I know the time looks off, but time loses its meaning when you’re phone-less. I picked up my journal and wrote a to-do list, something I’d normally do on my phone. I also began journaling about how the day was going. 

8:30 AM  

Devotional time. I instinctively reached for my phone again (the Bible app is usually my go-to) I caught myself midway and laughed at myself. I ended up grabbing my hardcover Bible instead, a book I hadn’t touched in ages. It felt grounding in a way. 

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM 

By 11, I started feeling that itch, the one that makes you want to “just check something quickly.” but I distracted myself with work.  I spent some hours on my PC, making sure all the posts I was supposed to upload were prescheduled. Work flowed better than I expected, no distractions, no notifications, just peace, quiet and focus. 

2:30 PM 

I usually skip breakfast, so by afternoon, I was starving. I ordered Chicken Republic’s rice and chicken. The rice was honestly meh, but that chicken? Massive. That alone was good enough to redeem the whole meal. 

3:30 PM  
After lunch, i got back to work, I listened to music while at it, Nasty C’s Zulu Man with Some Power, Rowlene’s 11:11, and both of Snoh Aalegra’s albums, Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies and Ugh, Those Feels Again. Eventually, the post-lunch drowsiness hit hard. Normally, I’d scroll my way through it, but this time I just gave in and took a nap. 

Evening 

My flat mate and I walked around the living room for about 30 minutes to hit our daily step goal. It was one of those funny, half-serious “exercise” sessions where you just talk about everything and nothing. We laughed about how ridiculous we looked, pacing in the living room. Later that night, I made myself another cup of tea (chocolate this time). I didn’t take a shower until late at night, no reason, I just didn’t feel like it until I did. 

Night 

 I ended the day watching 13 Reasons Why and, unsurprisingly, fell asleep midway. 

The Next Morning 

The first thing I did when I grabbed my phone? I checked my notifications, obviously. 

I had tons of messages, but I usually forget to reply to messages anyway (my friends drag me for it all the time) so none of them noticed I was off.  

I also got a lot of videos from my friends on TikTok (too late to laugh at them now). My Snapchat streaks were this close to dying. Two of my friends have sworn they’d “unalive” me if that ever happened. Thankfully, all the streaks survived. Barely. 

So yeah, I survived 24 hours without my phone. Would I do it again soon? Probably not. I get the whole “digital detox” hype but once is enough for now.