I tried to turn my phone off for a week. Why it didn’t work

By Antoinette Radford, CNN

Doha, Qatar (CNN) — I have a gym class this evening, Pilates on Tuesday and an interview on Wednesday. I write them in my planner — a new purchase — as I won’t get a reminder on my smartphone.

I send my parents an email with a phone number for my burner phone — another new purchase — and tell them I’ll be in touch in five days.

I’m not going off the grid. In fact, I’m not going anywhere. I’m just giving up my smartphone for a week.

After receiving one too many targeted ads, ironically on Instagram, about how our phones and social media are leading to burnout — a state in which one feels a lack of energy, a decline in sense of belonging and a plummeting self-esteem — I decided to switch off for a working week.

Before I started my experiment, I spoke with neuroscientist Tj Power, who specializes in phone addiction, to get some advice on how to put my phone away — and keep it away.

“Our brains are extremely overstimulated, and it’s burning out our dopamine receptors,” Power tells me.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in our brains that makes us feel joy or excitement. It’s been linked to pleasure, reward and motivation, Dr. Anna Lembke, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, previously told CNN.

“I always warn people, they’re going to feel worse before they feel better,” Lembke, the author of “Dopamine Nation,” said when asked about her suggestion of abstaining from items that trigger our dopamine.

My decision to put down my phone came at the same time as a landmark social media trial was underway in Los Angeles, with Big Tech companies facing questions about whether their platforms could cause addiction in some people. Ultimately, a jury found Meta and YouTube, which is owned by Google, were negligent in the design of their platforms, knew their design was dangerous and failed to warn of those risks, and caused substantial harm to the plaintiff.

Meta and YouTube, which both denied the lawsuit’s allegations and contested the idea that their platforms could be addictive, said they planned to appeal the verdict.

I didn’t consider myself a phone addict — I thought I used the phone as much as any other person. Which means that by noon on a recent Friday before I started my experiment, I had picked up my device 88 times according to its “pick up” tracker.

But once I put it down for the 88th time, I realized the rectangular piece of metal I carry with me at all times has become my second brain. It really was time to do a personal digital detox. I pitched the story to my bosses, promising I would still use technology for my job (just my laptop without any social media access) and started looking for experts to help me begin.

Starting my phone-free experiment

It’s Monday morning, and I have physical therapy a half-hour drive away. I hop in a cab — phone locked away in the depths of my bag — and start my drive unplugged from the music I would usually play in my earphones. Maybe keeping my phone with me is cheating, but I do it just in case I need it.

For the first time in four months since moving to a new city, I notice a park that I had been meaning to visit. I’m also aware that the cabdriver keeps scratching his head — an observation I would usually miss with my head buried in my phone.

After leaving physical therapy, I cave quickly to my phone. Despite bringing my physical cards to pay — I didn’t check my bank account balance. My payment bounces, and reluctantly I pull the phone out to check my account and move money into it.

I put my phone back away, determined to stay off it for the rest of the day. Successfully.

Starting over the next day

The following day, I promise to try and not look at my phone.

Tuesday morning starts strong. I go to the gym — with no headphones to play music or smartphone to track my workout. Fortunately for me, I run into my colleague Ivana and hope to chat. But unfortunately for me, Ivana is wearing headphones and is ready to work out on her own.

I get a ride into work with another colleague in my apartment building and start my day. I’m working just fine until midafternoon.

I’m living in a majority Muslim country during my experiment, and Ramadan starts this Tuesday evening. Many shops across the country close during the monthlong holiday. I haven’t bought nearly enough supplies, so I hop online to purchase some essentials before the evening.

Doing so is allowed, as part of the digital detox, my colleagues said. I can use my laptop for work. I just need to stay off my smartphone and social media accounts.

I add my items to my online cart, go to check out and remember that my bank account emails a two-factor authentication code to my personal phone. I try to log into my personal email on my work laptop, so I don’t have to open my phone again. But I get the password wrong. Then I get the password wrong a second time.

The only solution? An email sent to my trusted device to confirm it’s me trying to log in. My trusted device is, no surprise, my phone.

Perhaps I should just stay logged out of my email for the remainder of the week? But I decide against it. I do need some groceries after all. Reluctantly, I switch the phone off airplane mode and enter the two-factor authentication code for my grocery order.

Maybe tomorrow will be my day.

I finally hit my stride

Wednesday proves my most successful day yet. I head to the gym in the morning, hop in my friend’s carshare and leave my phone in its drawer at home. Even if I wanted it, I couldn’t use it.

Power, the neuroscientist, had warned me I would experience withdrawal symptoms, including possibly feeling anxious, having a low mood and being tired without the stimulation from my phone.

He’s right. It’s only been three days, and I am absolutely exhausted. Every morning I feel like I haven’t slept enough, with the only noticeable change being without my phone.

Lembke recommends a 30-day abstinence trial — also known as a “dopamine fast,” as it takes around four weeks to reset reward pathways in the brain.

I check back in with Power and ask him whether my exhaustion could be linked to being without my phone.

“Dopamine … it has a cousin in our system called adrenaline,” he tells me.

Adrenaline is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It’s responsible for the body’s fight-or-flight response and helps transmit messages across the body.

“It might not be that you’re suddenly more exhausted, it might be that you actually were pretty exhausted, but the phone was masking it,” he tells me. “We don’t realize how exhausted we are until some of the external stimulation stops.”

My job takes up my day

Thursday is show day on CNN Creators, and I’m really busy, so I don’t miss my phone so much. Four days in, and I’m getting more used to it not being around.

But I am still exhausted. My team is talking about the recent movie “Wuthering Heights,” and the social media discourse around it. (“Wuthering Heights” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, which is owned by CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.) Without my phone, I have completely missed the online chatter around it.

I’m also missing my friends in London and my family in Australia. I want to switch back on to connect with them.

But I’ve yet to face the biggest hurdle of my week.

It’s time to fly on Friday

Have you ever thought what it would be like to travel through an international airport without your phone?

Neither had I.

But once I realized my flight fell within my detox week, I knew I’d have to prepare for the adventure.

I order a taxi to take me to the airport, but the price I’m quoted is different from the one I’m charged, and without my phone I can’t really argue the point.

At the airport, I need to check in manually, which involves getting past a checkpoint where the staff requires you to show your booking confirmation. The one I hadn’t printed.

I explain the situation and make it to the check-in counter. Once through, I grab a coffee and sit in front of the departures board — conscious that I won’t get a push alert on my phone notifying me about my gate.

I board my flight and sit with no headphones or music, but with a note with all my important numbers. I text my friend on my burner phone to confirm her address. Then I sleep for the duration of the flight. When I land and head to ground transportation, I tell the cabdriver my friend’s address, hop in the cab and arrive.

A few hours later, and the detox is over.

I remain exhausted, but my memory feels much improved. I almost forgot I wasn’t using it, and staying off my phone has reactivated remembering things without constantly looking at the device.

I like that part of the experiment. I also relish that once I made a plan — I was committed to it. Having realized I can get around without my phone and function perfectly well — I’m going to try to make a point of committing things to memory going forward.

I know my reliance on my phone could creep back. So, I make myself a promise: I’ll do this again next month.

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