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Can you go a whole weekend without your phone? Prove It
12
items “A weekend without my phone? That’s easy.”
Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea my phone had become such a controlling presence in my life. The first time I tried this challenge, I lasted about 10 hours. But to be truthful, I started an hour before bedtime, so I slept through most of my impressive...
Now I take the challenge at least once a year to prove I still can—and to give myself a break. It’s a chance to slow down, pay attention to the people around me, and enjoy something without reaching for my phone every few minutes.
I made this list as a quick cheat sheet of useful items that can make a phone-free weekend more doable and enjoyable. My advice? Pick a weekend, let your people know, plan a way to handle emergencies, and put your phone away. Have a few things ready ...
One other confession: not every item here is the exact product I used. Some I couldn’t find, so I included the same type of item.
If you try the challenge, let me know. I’d love to be part of your cheering section. Who’s in charge—you or your phone? Let’s find out.
Affiliate disclosure: Some links are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea my phone had become such a controlling presence in my life. The first time I tried this challenge, I lasted about 10 hours. But to be truthful, I started an hour before bedtime, so I slept through most of my impressive...
Now I take the challenge at least once a year to prove I still can—and to give myself a break. It’s a chance to slow down, pay attention to the people around me, and enjoy something without reaching for my phone every few minutes.
I made this list as a quick cheat sheet of useful items that can make a phone-free weekend more doable and enjoyable. My advice? Pick a weekend, let your people know, plan a way to handle emergencies, and put your phone away. Have a few things ready ...
One other confession: not every item here is the exact product I used. Some I couldn’t find, so I included the same type of item.
If you try the challenge, let me know. I’d love to be part of your cheering section. Who’s in charge—you or your phone? Let’s find out.
Affiliate disclosure: Some links are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Sections
4
Paper Journals & Notebooks
Clocks, Watches & Timers
App Blockers & Lock Boxes
Screen-Free Swaps
Paper Journals & Notebooks
Use these to replace notes apps, habit trackers, and the quick phone check that turns into twenty minutes. Keep your journal in the exact spot your phone usually sits so you reach for paper first.
The notebook that replaces your notes app. The Leuchtturm1917 A5 has 251 numbered pages, a lay-flat sewn binding, and 12 perforated sheets in the back for grocery lists you don't want to keep. The 80 gsm acid-free paper resists bleedthrough from roll...
Leuchtturm1917 Hardcover Notebook - Medium (A5) - Black - Dotted
The pick if you write with a fountain pen or markers. Rhodia's Webnotebook uses 96 sheets of ivory 90 gsm acid-free, pH-neutral paper, a little heavier and smoother than most, so ink glides instead of feathering. It has a leatherette hardcover, elast...
Rhodia Webnotebook - A5 (5.5" x 8.25") - Dot Grid - Black
Your pocket phone substitute. Half the time you grab your phone, it's to jot something down, and then twenty minutes disappear. These Field Notes memo books are 3.5" x 5.5", sized for a shirt pocket or purse, with 48 dot-graph pages each. They're mad...
Field Notes Pitch Black Memo Books - Dot-Graph 3-Pack
A guided routine that takes about five minutes, which is less time than most of us spend in the weather app. The Five Minute Journal gives you short gratitude and intention prompts in the morning and a quick reflection at night. It's undated, 264 pag...
The Five Minute Journal - Original Linen
Clocks, Watches & Timers
Most phone pickups start with checking the time, setting an alarm, or starting a timer, so give those jobs to a dedicated device. Put the alarm clock by the bed and charge your phone in another room.
Get the phone out of the bedroom. The usual excuse is “I need it for the alarm,” and this clock fixes that. The Braun Classic has a crescendo beep that gets louder, a 5-minute snooze, a light that shows for 5 seconds when pressed, and a quiet quartz ...
Braun Classic Travel Analogue Alarm Clock – Black/White
A focus timer that doesn't live on your phone, which is the whole point. Using your phone's timer means picking up your phone, and we know how that goes. The Time Timer MOD shows time as a colored disk that disappears as minutes pass, with no loud ti...
Time Timer® MOD - Home Edition
App Blockers & Lock Boxes
These add physical friction, so getting back into a distracting app takes real effort instead of a thumb swipe. Keep the key or box in a different room from where you usually scroll.
This one puts real distance between you and your apps. Tap your phone to the Brick to block the apps you pick, and you have to tap it again to unlock them. Leave it in another room and scrolling suddenly takes effort. The Brick app is subscription-fr...
Brick Physical App Blocker
A keychain-sized NFC tag that works like a key for the apps you've decided to block. The Unpluq Tag comes with a year of Premium and a mini-carabiner, works with iOS 16+ and Android, and offers schedules and other unlock methods too. Here's the catch...
Unpluq Tag + 1-Year Premium Subscription
For phone-free dinners or bedtime with the whole household. The Mindsight Timed Lock Box holds 3 to 4 phones and has 3 willpower modes, and Fortress mode has no override at all. There's a charging slot so phones charge while they're locked away, and ...
Mindsight Timed Lock Box (Holds 3–4 Phones)
Screen-Free Swaps
These replace the bigger things your phone does, like writing, listening to the news, or even calling. Start with one swap that matches your worst habit before you change everything at once.
Writing by hand is a lot more fun with a pen you actually like. The LAMY safari is a classic beginner fountain pen with a steel extra-fine nib, an ergonomic grip section, and an ink window in the barrel so you know when it's running low. It comes wit...
LAMY safari Fountain Pen - Charcoal Black - Extra Fine
News and music without opening an app. The Sangean WR-11 is a wooden-cabinet AM/FM radio with a rotary tuning dial, a 3-inch 6.5-watt speaker with bass compensation, and an AUX input. It's AC-powered only, so pick a spot near an outlet, like the kitc...
Sangean WR-11 AM/FM Wooden Cabinet Radio (Walnut)
For people ready to go all the way. The Mudita Kompakt is a minimalist phone with a 4.3-inch E Ink screen, a battery designed to last at least 6 days in standby, a 2-year warranty, and 5 years of software and security updates. Two things to know: eme...
Mudita Kompakt Minimalist E Ink Phone