I'm a 23-year-old who's addicted to my smartphone — here's what surprised me the most when I ditched it for a week

Jeremy Berke

A few weeks ago, my editor asked me if I'd be willing to go without my phone — and most computer use (outside of work, of course) — for a week. 

I actually pulled it off. I didn't touch my phone for a whole week, which was a huge accomplishment.

And after a few phoneless days, I felt more relaxed — and less rushed — without that ceaseless buzzing in my hip pocket.

Here's why this was such a big deal for me: I'm 23, and I've been attached to a cellphone since shortly after I started walking.

That's an exaggeration, but it's not far from the truth: I got my first phone when I was 12. I called my parents with it.

And I've been a proud iPhone user since the 3g was a big deal.

What's more, my phone isn't just my primary mode of communication.

It provides me with bits of data that make my life easier — the weather, how long it will take me to get places, where I'm going (Brooklyn directions are hard), if my career is on the right track — not the last part, but you get the idea.

I'll take you through a general day with my phone.

I'm a reporter, so it's important that I stay on top of the news. I love my Associated Press, New York Times, CNN, Business Insider, and the push alerts that come with them — just ask my girlfriend. The last thing I do before I go to bed (while I'm in bed) is read the news on my phone. It's also the first thing I do in the morning (while I'm still in bed).

I have Slack — a messaging app for the workplace — open whenever I'm at work. That way, when I'm away from my computer, I can still see what my colleagues are doing. I'm trolling Twitter all day, mostly to see what reporters at other publications are doing and saying.

I'm having 10 different conversations at once, through Facebook chat, Snapchat, group texts. I'm trying to never miss hilarious jokes from my friends. I'm emailing my grandparents (political memes), and my dad is texting me when he's "stuck in a boring mtng (sic)" a few times daily.

I'm looking at Reddit whenever I have five seconds of downtime, and I'm filling in subway rides and long walks with podcasts and articles from my Longform app. I'm reviewing my steadily declining checking account after I buy drinks, or a latte, or something else I probably didn't really need.

Did I mention how often I'm checking the surf forecast at Rockaway Beach, e-hailing Ubers and Lyfts, ordering Seamless dinners, and listening to Spotify?

The NSA probably knows everything about me.

The mission begins

Last Tuesday, I turned off my phone. I was committed. 

The next morning was a little frustrating. I had no idea what to wear. Sticking my head out the window is unreliable — like, what if it's sunny now, but it's supposed to rain later? That's why I have a weather app. 

I went with my gut, threw on a light jacket, and stepped outside into the city. The jacket sufficed all day. That was my first big win of the week. 

That first morning, I felt a little naked without my phone. I even had phantom buzzes in my right hip pocket. When I got onto the train, I instinctively reached into that same pocket, only to pull out a wad of $1 bills in disappointment.

That deep, unsettling phoneless fear aside, I made it to my office in one piece. 

Here's my step-by-step process of how I went without my phone, and some things I learned along the way:

The first step to quitting your phone: Don't sit around.

All week, I made a conscious decision to avoid sitting around my apartment with nothing to do. That's when the screens come out. 

Sally Andrews, a psychologist who studies smartphone use at Nottingham Trent University in England, agrees.

"People who feel that they are using their phone too much, insofar as it is interfering with their quality of life, should maybe make their smartphone use more conscious, and keep their phone out of the way of idle hands," she wrote to me in an email. 

Second step: Read more.

That first night, on Tuesday, I read 70 or so pages of my book, without getting distracted. That was my second win of the week.

My book — "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline — became my new phone. Whenever I left the apartment, I had my book. I sneaked in a few pages waiting in line for coffee, while I was eating lunch, and even sitting in the backseat of an Uber (my roommate hailed it for me). My focus improved. It's usually difficult for me to read in crowded subways, but that ceased to be a problem.

Third step: Get some exercise.

"Exercise is probably the best way to reduce smartphone use because taking part in moderate exercise means it’s almost impossible to use your phone at the same time," David Ellis, a psychologist at Lancaster University, told me in an email.

I took his advice. 

I love indoor rock climbing, so I went straight to Brooklyn Boulders after work. I spent much more time at the gym than I normally would have, knowing that going back to my apartment with any downtime would jeopardize my experiment.