Have you ever thought about how hard it could be to ditch your devices for a day? Don’t worry—Brandon Kondritz tried it out and can tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about a digital detox, Northwestern style.
A version of this story was selected as 1 of 10 finalists in NPR’s 2023 Student Podcast Challenge and aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition.
This story was selected as the Region 5 Radio Feature winner in the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2023 Mark of Excellence Awards.
This story originally aired as part of the WNUR News Touches Grass Special Broadcast.
(natural sound: phone notifications)
(muffled) Hey. Hey.
(notification sounds intensify, abruptly stop)
(clearly) Hey! Where’s your phone right now? In your hand? On the table? Maybe it’s in your pocket, but I bet you’re listening to this through headphones connected to your phone. And even if you aren’t, some kind of tech is bringing me directly to you.
(music: “Borough” by Blue Dot Sessions)
Every day, I can’t even tell you how many hours I spend responding to emails and texts, building that perfect Spotify queue, or trying to crack the day’s Wordle. Even most of my schoolwork is online, and especially post-COVID, work doesn’t stop when I leave the classroom. So, in a world where you have to use technology for everything, I wondered what would happen if I just stopped.
(music stops)
So that’s exactly what I did.
(music resumes)
KONDRITZ: Hi, this is me the night before my grand unplugging.
For a full day, I didn’t use any technology – no phone, computer, AirPods, or my Apple Watch. In preparation, I submitted everything I could to Canvas, printed my readings, and set up some scheduled emails. Throughout the day, I recorded short voice memo check-ins journaling how things were going. A disclaimer: I did use my phone to record these, but that was all it was used for. Here’s my reflection from the night before my digital detox.
KONDRITZ: Tomorrow is going to be hard because I’m chained to my email, unfortunately. I think the biggest challenges for me are going to be not listening to music. That’s really going to suck. Oh, I just feel like during class, when I’m on my computer I’m always futzing around and doing random things. I think it’s going to be hard for me to not be bored in class.
(natural sound: NPR morning newscast playing through alarm clock)
When my alarm clock went off, I instinctively reached for my phone on the nightstand next to me. Don’t worry, I stopped myself.
KONDRITZ: I had to stop myself for a second. I was like, ‘whoa, hold on. Remember what you’re doing.’ So didn’t pick up my phone. That was wonderful.
But it turns out I’m not alone in keeping my phone right next to me throughout the night.
DOWDELL: We find with young adults, phones are usually within an arm reach or half an arm reach.
That’s Elizabeth Dowdell. She’s a nursing professor at Villanova University, just outside of Philadelphia, where she researches digital behavior in teens and young adults. Her area of expertise? Sleep texting.
DOWDELL: The phone has buzzed, beeped, or ‘ring-a-ding-ding’ or whatever the ring tone and the instinctual move is to get it.
Although I’m not a sleep texter, signs show that my phone could still negatively impact my sleep.
DOWDELL: If there’s a conscious awareness that that buzz has come through, your sleep’s already been interrupted. Then there’s that conversation of who, then, is in control. Is the tech in control or is the human? It can be turned off or it can be silenced or it can be put into airplane mode and that’s okay.
Bottom line: having your phone right next to you can hurt your sleep even if the buzzing and dinging don’t wake you up. I’m moving my charger across the room, thanks to Dowdell.
(natural sound: door opening, then shutting)
After a quiet bowl of oatmeal, I headed out to my first class. I usually take Google Doc notes for this one, so today it was good ol’ pen and paper.
KONDRITZ: I think the biggest challenge in this first class is gonna be staying focused. Usually, this is the class that I’m on my computer and I’m doing other things, like working on WNUR stuff or looking for an apartment or something like that. So.
The result?
KONDRITZ: I felt so locked in this class. Like I felt like I really understood what was going on. I understood the points that were being laid down in the lecture. I really felt tuned in.
When you think about it, it’s not surprising. When you’re concentrating on one thing, like listening to your professor, it’s easier to focus than when you’re trying to take notes, search for next quarter’s classes and play Connections all at the same time. But don’t just take my word for it. Jim Roberts at Baylor University says so too.
ROBERTS: At first, I started measuring mostly smartphone addiction. What kind of signals and how many people are addicted and why are they addicted, and most importantly, what are the negative outcomes of that addiction? Right now, it’s the biggest hurdle that we have as college professors: getting people to pay attention, not to be distracted.
Roberts is one of the earliest smartphone addiction researchers, and he’s looked at everything from TikTok’s instant gratification appeal to the effects of phone snubbing—better known as ‘phubbing’—on romantic relationships. As we chatted, I kept thinking … am I addicted to my phone?
(natural sound: phone vibration)
KONDRITZ: Went to my second class of the day. I feel like in that class especially, I’m always checking my watch, seeing notifications and stuff like that. So not having my watch on my wrist really helped me focus in on what was going on.
(natural sound: Apple Watch notification sound)
KONDRITZ (on interview): What would you have to say about wearable technology? Do you think that addiction is heightened by wearable technology or is there much of a difference?
ROBERTS: It’s just another level of dependence on your phone. It’s not uncommon, if you had done it longer, maybe even in 24 hours, to kind of have phantom vibration.
I’ll admit it. I felt a few phantom vibrations throughout the day. And don’t get me wrong, even though I felt laser-focused in class, I had my fair share of close-call relapses.
KONDRITZ: I was sitting in the library this afternoon working on my homework, and I was doing my readings, and I was just like, ‘oh my gosh, this is so boring. I should check my phone. No, but I can’t! I should check my Instagram. Oh, I can’t do that either!’
(natural sound: Spotify pause and play tones)
Above all, the biggest challenge wasn’t having to ignore my texts or my Hay Day farm for the day: it was not being able to listen to music. I have this habit of filling silence with music, especially in the gym …
(natural sound: running on treadmill)
KONDRITZ: That 20-minute run and then my ab circuit that I did was really strange without music. The sounds of my feet thumping the treadmill was really strange.
… and walking through campus.
KONDRITZ: I left that class and I had to do the 20-minute walk back down south and that was weird because I usually listen to my music while I’m walking.
As strange as the silence felt, it turns out it’s actually good for me. At least when I’m crossing the street.
(natural sound: traffic on Sheridan Road)
SCHWEBEL: I’m David Schwebel.
STAVRINOS: I’m Despina Stavrinos.
SCHWEBEL: My research broadly is on …
STAVRINOS: … injury prevention …
SCHWEBEL: … and one component of that is pedestrian injury prevention …
STAVRINOS: … this somewhat new phenomenon of people crossing the street while using devices.
Schwebel and Stavrinos, both from The University of Alabama, pioneered this type of research in the early 2000s. In simulations and real-world observations, they found that …
SCHWEBEL: One of the highest risks is just listening to music because you’re not hearing the traffic.
It’s no secret that Northwestern’s campus is full of busy roads. I’ve seen my fair share of near collisions at the crosswalk by The Arch. Have I almost been hit by a bike before because I was texting my mom? Yes. But the duo says I’m not alone.
STAVRINOS: Humans have a limited capacity for multitasking even though many of us do it a lot. We think, ‘oh, we’re so good at it.’ But it truly can lead to sub-optimal performance and increased risk.
SCHWEBEL: It’s commonplace. We have busy roads, we have less busy roads on our campus, and students are distracted on all of them.
(music: “Caprese” by Blue Dot Sessions)
KONDRITZ: I really, really needed this. It was not at all what I expected it to be, which was really cool and interesting.
Don’t get me wrong, technology is great for a lot of things, but ‘not what I expected’ is a great way to sum up the day. Even though a total unplug isn’t practical …
KONDRITZ: I am now catching up on all of my emails and text messages, and I have about 50 unread text messages, about 20 emails, and some Slack messages. So many notifications, just swimming in notifications.
… there are still things you can do to lessen technology’s impact on your daily routine.
DOWDELL: Plug it in at the end of the bed, or, I know it’s hard to say it, but the other room.
ROBERTS: Make those boundaries and try to stick to them.
SCHWEBEL: When you get to that intersection, turn it off for a minute, get across the street safely, and then turn it back on.
My advice? Try a digital detox yourself and pick up on all those little things you notice. Think about what would happen if everybody unplugged for just one day. Sure, it would feel weird, considering the fact that we’ve grown up surrounded by tech. But I can’t help but wonder how the world would look and feel if everybody took even a second to take off their headphones, look up from their screens, and enjoy the world around them.
KONDRITZ: I hope you’ve enjoyed the story. I enjoyed it. I thought it was good for the plot. Everyone in the WNUR newsroom was telling me, they were poking fun at me. They were like, ‘oh, you’re trying to get out of it, you’re trying to come up with an excuse.’ Which, for a while, I was trying to come up with an excuse. But I’m glad that I did it.
Logging off, Brandon Kondritz, WNUR News.
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