If someone asked me one year ago if I would give up my phone, I likely would have simply responded, “no.” Most people cannot imagine living without their phone – it’s like their security blanket to life. In fact, the naïve me from a year ago would never have understood why now I, the not-so-average teenage girl, would give up my phone for a week. But, it was a simple choice to go without my phone one summer weekend that led me to realize how the constant social media buzz on my phone was causing anxiety, stress, and depression in my life.

I was sitting in Journalism Teacher Jessica Sanders’ class, at maybe 7:53 a.m., when she asked if anyone would be willing to give up his/her phone for a week. Our class had just read a Time article on how smartphone use is linked to depression, and I recalled thinking to myself that my excessive smartphone use over the summer had put me into a mental funk. Along with a couple of my peers, I raised my hand willing to take on the challenge. One other student, Victoria Donovan, gave up social media, but I was going for the big one. I was going give up the whole shebang – my phone and all of the apps that connect me to social media. Even though I had done this before, it was only for 24 hours in the past. And, to be honest, I still went onto Snapchat that time. This time, I wanted to prove to myself I could do it for a whole week.

Before getting started, I agreed to some ground rules with my parents. There would be two instances where I could use my phone: one, I must always have my phone on me in case of an emergency, and two, I could make calls to my mother, father, and housekeeper, Sally. I was also allowed to have my phone in my room at night because it functions as my 6 a.m. alarm (eye roll) on school days.

Sunday was Day One, the day I was most likely to forget that I could not use my phone, setting me up for an accidental phone exchange. I woke up around 7:30 am, like I normally do, and grabbed my phone. There was one problem though, I GRABBED MY PHONE! I picked it up ready to go to town checking my social media sites, and I was hit by reality. It was at that moment that I was just about to unlock it when I had to put it back down. I was not that upset about it, but I realized that this was going to be tough because I was a whole minute (sarcasm) into being awake for the week and was ready to dive into the world of Hollywood drama and Lynbrook thug life! That moment of realization that I was out of telephone commission saved my whole day.

The remainder of Sunday was easier than I had thought it would be. I managed my day by working out (eye roll times two), doing homework, and going out to dinner with my family.  Overall, I survived the day with no major calamities (at least that is what I assume because I did not have a phone to find out).

The next day was harder because I was in school with my friends, and I just felt like there was something missing. I did have to use my phone in my room as my wake-up alarm, and later that day, I called my mom to pick me up from school, but that was it. The remainder of Day Two and Day Three went by pretty easily. That was all before Day Four came along.

Day Four was something else. My younger brother, Jakob, went on his middle school Frost Valley trip. Even though he is the world’s greatest nuisance, with him out of the house, I felt lonely, especially as the only people I had to talk to were Sally and my parents. The funny thing is, before he left for the trip, I had thought this week was going to be great because he was not going to be home. But I guess that I really do like that little bugger because those three days he was gone were the hardest for me without any other social outlet my age to talk to at night.

Interestingly, it did give me some insight into why I am always on my phone in the evenings. It fills a void when there is no one to talk to, when I do not want to talk to who is around, or when I am bored out of my mind. While Jakob and I fight a lot (shocker since he is my annoying little brother), he does play games with me, which made it easier to stay off my phone doing other things.

While those three days were hard, I made it through. Of them, Day Five (a Thursday interestingly enough) was the hardest because I had no homework and only a little bit of studying to do, so I watched Say Yes to the Dress for four hours. Hey, don’t judge me! I think the show is addictive because so many of the supposed friends are really not nice behind the bride’s back, and it is shocking to see it all go down. But I digress!

As you can see, without my phone, I found myself on my laptop or watching television more. I guess I was still trying to connect to people through different media sources.

When Saturday arrived, I woke up happy because it was the last day of my phone-free week. The biggest problem I had found out about this week was that I felt really disconnected from my friends. They were still using their phones to communicate with each other, and they kind of forgot about my “phone-free” scenario. It got to the point that when we were all together, they were talking about things they had texted about, and I was totally clueless because I had not been involved. That was the only downfall, but it was a minor issue, so I was okay with it.

My phone-free week has taught me a few things about my life. I get the sense that I slept better because I did not feel as tired during the day. Also, I felt like I had less stress (except for the non-phone related stressors that happened; not important), and I definitely feel that I was happier. Looking back on the week, I feel that not having my phone freed me from having to hear about unnecessary information that I cannot control anyways. For example, I was not constantly getting updated about what color shoes my favorite celebrity is wearing, or how some political decision that happened in the world was having a major impact globally, such as the Jerusalem capitol controversy. Being off my phone for a week freed my mind from worrying about what could happen and how it could affect people.

In the end, I am really happy that I took part in this “social experiment.” I feel more relaxed without having all the news of the world crowding my brain. After a week without that stress, I am kind of glad that I did this. As a result, I am going to try and reduce my phone and social media use; who knows, maybe I will try to give up my phone voluntarily without the challenge of a classroom assignment. Funny, I still would like to see what I would have thought a year ago if someone told me I would want to voluntarily give up my phone!