‘It was like trying to give up smoking’

What happened when Aylar Akmyradova a Dubai digi-addict tried the seven-day plan

Aylar Akmyradova, 20, is an architecture student at HeriotWatt University. She is originally from Turkmenistan but now lives in Dubai International Academic City. She says…

‘Like many people I used my phone too much. But unlike many people of my age, I had recently started feeling a little uneasy about how often I was on it.

I am currently studying for my final year exams and it was this which finally made me realise I might be a ‘phone addict’. I was finding revising challenging and not getting as much done as I wanted. When I thought about why, it was quite obvious: I was constantly getting distracted by my phone – by social media, messages, news sites, all the usual.

So, when Friday gave me the chance to take part in a digital detox, I jumped at the chance. It’s just what I needed. I knew I was over-dependent on this little box. I didn’t like that I’d wake up in the middle of the night and check Instagram or that I’d be at the beach constantly checking other people’s feeds. I wanted to change.

Which I think maybe made the detox easier for me than it might be for others. I wanted to succeed.

That’s not to say there weren’t moments of difficulty. Removing Facebook off my phone felt a little like splitting up with a partner. When I made meal times one of my phone-free zones, not having it there to check when I finished eating was, I imagine, sort of like a smoker might feel when he can’t have a post-lunch cigarette. On day six, going out without my phone – the first time I’d done so in years – made me feel strangely vulnerable.

Yet the benefits were instant. Not having notifications bleeping away while I was studying was a massive boost to my productivity. For the first time in ages, I left the library feeling I’d achieved what I wanted. Being disconnected from email and WhatsApp felt really liberating too. Only responding at certain times of the day meant I wasn’t being bombarded with a constant procession of replies.

There is a clause to my own experience. Because, as a student, I live with a good friend, I am never truly disconnected. If something is going on socially – a trip to the mall being arranged in a group chat, for instance – she will tell me about it.

Now that the detox is over, I have decided that I’m going to keep to its rules. For too long, my phone has made me feel I have the whole world is my hands but I don’t see enough of what is in front of my eyes. Now that’s changed – and I like it.