A Week Without My Phone
by Chen Yu-ting · Oct 2026
Monday. Today our homeroom teacher gave us a strange : no phones for seven days. Most of my classmates laughed, but I didn't. I have used my phone every day since I was ten. I put it in a box, and my mom hid it somewhere. I wonder where she put it.
Wednesday. The first two days were hard. On the MRT, everyone around me was looking at a screen, and I didn't know what to do with my hands. I felt a little every time I heard a phone ring. Then I noticed an old man next to me. He was reading a newspaper and smiling, and he looked so . So I started to read a book on the train, too.
Friday. Something has changed. I have finished one whole book this week, and I went to bed before eleven every night. My in class is better, and my teacher noticed it. She asked me how I did it. My answer was simple: I just stopped checking my messages every five minutes.
Sunday. The challenge is over, and my mom gave the box back to me. I turned on my phone and saw ninety-eight new messages. Only three of them were important, weren't they? I will still use my phone, of course. It is a useful . But I want to control it, not let it control me. Maybe I will keep my phone in the box every Sunday. That could be my new .