I stopped using my phone for a week to see how my life would change or what would happen if I didn’t use it. I was inspired to try this challenge by other people. I had heard that it was good to take breaks from cellphones, so I wanted to give it a try. To my surprise, my perspective did change slightly.

We all know that our schools have a new phone policy with no phones. Instead of only using my phone when I get home, I decided not to use my phone for a week. On the first day, it was somewhat challenging not to use my phone, as I’m so accustomed to doing so in the morning. So, I decided to go outside and find something to keep me entertained. I was bored at first, but then I wasn’t when I slowly started to forget about my phone. Going to sleep was kind of hard since I like to scroll on TikTok all the time. The one pro of this is that I got to sleep for 8 hours.

On the second day, it was tough because I was really bored throughout the day, having gone to a birthday party. I couldn’t take pictures or watch TikTok, so I didn’t get bored, but all I could do was zone out and think about my phone. When I saw other teenagers there like me, I felt left out, and the sadness started to hit me. When I got home, I decided to color and think about other things.

I surprisingly got a lot of things done on my 3rd day, but I was still bored, and it only took me 30 minutes instead of an hour when I had my phone. Waking up in the morning was hard because it felt like I was back in the day, since I had to use an old alarm clock, since I couldn’t use my phone, and when I did wake up, it wasn’t loud, but it  fell off my dresser since it was vibrating and moving.

When I stopped using my phone after a while, I started getting irritated since I couldn’t listen to music, and only the TV and some of the shows on the TV weren’t good, so I read a book which is something I don’t usually do, so that was a change in things i also felt like i could accomplish more things instead of being interrupted or distracted by my phone i got things done in less time and faster.

On the fifth day which was friday i thought it would be over since it was Friday but then i forgot it was for 7 days then i got mad and was upset the whole day but atleast i went to a football game to make up for it but i t ended up being awkward since i didnt have my phone the whole time i was there and couldn’t watch tiktok when things got boring. And at school, it wasn’t hard since we weren’t allowed to use our phones anymore.

On Saturday, usually I don’t use my phone much since it’s yardwork, but I do use it for music, and when I didn’t have it for music, it was very boring because I couldn’t concentrate that well without music anymore, and it took me longer to do it, especially since it was hot outside atleast i got to sleep way better than i usually do that night.

On the last day, I was so happy for it to be over, I couldn’t wait to get my phone back. All day, I was thinking about my phone, but I realized I still had to go through the day without it till later that night. I went to church, but it wasn’t any different since I don’t use my phone when I’m at church. When I had to babysit after church, it was a little irritating since I couldn’t listen to music or play Block Blast, which is my favorite game. However, I pulled through it and ended up getting my phone after that.

What I learned from not having my phone for a week is that it’s not as bad as you think. Some things that you normally do will be boring and awkward when you are around other people who have a phone. When you don’t have your phone, you can accomplish more things at a faster rate and focus more without it. I think that everyone should try this challenge at least once and see how their life changes.