Seven days without a cell phone: the challenge that revealed my "second brain"

I have a gym class tonight, Pilates on Tuesday and an interview on Wednesday. I write them down in my diary - a recent purchase - as I won't get a reminder on my smartphone.

I email my parents with a phone number for my burner cell phone - another recent purchase - and tell them I'll get back to them in five days.

I'm not going to disconnect completely. In fact, I'm not going anywhere. I'm just giving up my smartphone for a week.

After receiving overly targeted ads, ironically on Instagram, about how our phones and social media are leading to burnout - a state where a person feels a lack of energy, a diminished sense of belonging and a drop in self-esteem - I decided to unplug for a week of work.

Before I began my experiment, I spoke to neuroscientist Tj Power, who specializes in cell phone addiction, to get some advice on putting away my phone - and keeping it.

"Our brains are extremely overstimulated, and this is wearing out our dopamine receptors," says Power. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in our brains that makes us feel joy or excitement. It has 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 that they will feel worse before they feel better," said Lembke, author of "Dopamine Nation," when asked about her suggestion to abstain from items that trigger our dopamine.

My decision to ditch the phone came at the same time a historic social media trial was underway in Los Angeles, with big tech companies facing questions about whether their platforms could cause addiction in some people. In the end, a jury found that Meta and YouTube, which is owned by Google, were negligent in the design of their platforms, knew the design was dangerous, failed to warn about these risks, and caused substantial harm to the plaintiff.

Meta and YouTube, which denied the lawsuit's allegations and disputed the idea that their platforms could be addictive, said they planned to appeal the decision.

I didn't consider myself addicted to my cell phone - I thought I used my phone as much as anyone else. Which means that as of noon on a recent Friday, before I began my experiment, I had already picked up my device 88 times, according to the device's "footprint" tracker.

But after putting it down for the 88th time, I realized that the rectangular piece of metal I carry with me all the time had become my second brain. It really was time for a personal digital detox. I presented the agenda to my bosses, promising that I would still use technology for my work (just my laptop, no access to social media), and started looking for experts to help me get started.

Starting my phone-free experiment
It's Monday morning, and I have physical therapy a half-hour drive away. I get into a taxi - phone locked at the bottom of my bag - and start the journey disconnected from the music I would normally hear through my headphones. Maybe keeping my phone with me is cheating, but I do it if I need it.

For the first time in four months since moving to a new city, I notice a park I've been meaning to visit. I also notice that the taxi driver continues to scratch his head - an observation I would normally miss with his head buried in his phone.

After leaving physical therapy, I quickly get on the phone. Even though I took my physical cards to pay, I didn't check my bank account balance. The payment is declined and I reluctantly take out my phone to check the account and transfer money to it.

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

Starting again the next day
The next day, I promise to try not to look at my phone.

Tuesday morning starts well. I go to the gym - without headphones to listen to music or a smartphone to monitor my workout. Luckily, I meet my colleague Ivana and hope to chat. But unfortunately for me, Ivana is wearing headphones and ready to train alone.

I go to work with another colleague from my building and start the day. I'm working normally until mid-afternoon.

I'm living in a Muslim-majority country during my experiment, and Ramadan starts this Tuesday night. Many stores across the country close during the month-long holiday. I haven't bought enough supplies, so I go online to buy some essentials before the night.

Doing so is okay, my colleagues said, as part of a digital detox. I can use my laptop to work. I just need to stay away from my smartphone and my social media accounts.

I add the items to the online cart, go to checkout and remember that my bank sends a two-factor authentication code to my personal phone. I try to access my personal email on my work laptop so I don't have to open my phone again. But I got 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 sign in. My trusted device is, unsurprisingly, my phone.

Maybe I should just stay logged out of my email for the rest of the week? But I decide not to do that. After all, I need some shopping. Reluctantly, I take the phone out of airplane mode and enter the two-factor authentication code for my grocery order.

Maybe tomorrow will be my day.

Finally finding my groove
Wednesday proves to be my most successful day so far. I go to the gym in the morning, take my friend's shared car and leave my phone in the drawer at home. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't use it.

Power, the neuroscientist, had warned me that I would experience withdrawal symptoms, including possibly anxiety, depressed mood, and tiredness without the stimulus of the phone.

He was right. It's only been three days, and I'm absolutely exhausted. Every morning I feel like I haven't gotten enough sleep, with the only noticeable change being the absence of my phone.

Lembke recommends a 30-day abstinence period - also known as a "dopamine fast," as it takes about four weeks to reset the brain's reward circuits.

I talk to Power again and ask if my exhaustion could be linked to the absence of the phone.

"Dopamine... it has a cousin in our system called adrenaline," he tells me. Adrenaline is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It is responsible for the body's fight or flight response and helps transmit messages throughout the body.

"It might not be that you're suddenly more exhausted; it might be that you were already quite exhausted, but the phone was masking that," he tells me. "We don't realize how exhausted we are until some of the external stimulation stops."

My work takes up my day
Thursday is CNN Creators show day, and I'm very busy, so I don't miss my phone that much. Four days later, I'm getting more used to his absence.

But I'm still exhausted. My team is talking about the recent film "Wuthering Heights" and the social media discussions surrounding it. Without my phone, I completely missed all the online chatter about this topic.

I'm also missing my friends in London and my family in Australia. I want to reconnect with them.

But I haven't faced the biggest challenge of my week yet.

It's time to fly on Friday
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel through an international airport without your phone? Me either. But when I realized my flight would fall within the week of my detox, I knew I had to prepare for the adventure.

I order a taxi to take me to the airport, but the price quoted is different to the amount charged, and without my phone I can't really dispute that.

At the airport, I have to check in manually, which involves going through a checkpoint where staff require you to show your booking confirmation. The one I hadn't printed.

I explain the situation and manage to get to the check-in desk. After that, I grab a coffee and sit down in front of the departures board - aware that I won't receive a notification on my phone informing me of my boarding gate.

I board the flight and sit down without headphones or music, but with a note containing all my important numbers. I text my friend on my disposable cell phone to confirm her address. Then I sleep throughout the flight. When I land and go to ground transportation, I tell the taxi driver my friend's address, get in the car and arrive at my destination.

A few hours later, detox ends.

I'm still exhausted, but my memory seems much better. I almost forgot I wasn't using my phone, and being away from it reactivated my ability to remember things without constantly looking at it.

I liked this part of the experiment. I also appreciate the fact that once I made a plan, I committed to it. Having realized that I can get around without my phone and function perfectly well, I'm going to try to make an effort to memorize more things from now on.

I know that my dependence on the phone may return little by little. So I make a promise to myself: I'll do it again next month.

Source: CNN