By Koh Shin Robbie (26A01A)

In 2016, Raffles Press first attempted the Phone Fast Challenge. The rules were simple: for five days, participants were allowed no more than two half-hour periods of smartphone usage daily. During the challenge, they struggled greatly in resisting the temptations of social media, but ultimately pulled through, even engaging in more meaningful conversations and relationships when phones were kept away.

Almost a decade has passed since then, so how would this challenge feel like today? For that, I recruited four friends to join me in this challenge— Wong E Vee (26S02A) and Clara Yen (26A01B), who sought a chance to ‘lock in’, as well as Lee Zhi Ying (26A01A) and Liu Zhishan (26S05B), who sought to resist the temptation of their TikTok pet.

Since then, phones have become all the more vital in our daily lives. When presented with the challenge in its original form, the five of us had our reservations. On one hand, a simple ban on phones alone would mean little in an age where refrigerators have access to internet browsers and everything you can do on a phone can just be done on just another device. On the other hand, fast-paced communication has become the norm. Being online for thirty minutes in the morning and disappearing till the next half-hour window simply does not suffice under today’s expectations.

With these considerations in mind, a new set of rules was implemented for the challenge:

1. Usage restrictions would apply to all smart devices. This included our laptops, iPads and even smart televisions.

2. Communications apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram were allowed, but viewing of channels or statuses was not.

3. Social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok, e-commerce apps such as Shopee and Lazada, as well as mobile or online games, were all prohibited.

4. To minimise the disruption this challenge had to our learning, apps deemed vital in our ‘study set-ups’ were allowed. This included the use of YPT and Spotify (which had become a necessity in masking loud noises). Side note: Raffles Press actually has an article on using YPT for studying! You can read it here!

5. Other apps considered as daily necessities were allowed at the discretion of the group.

To keep ourselves in check, we used a group chat to record our experiences and emotions as they occurred.

The Productivity Problem

When the challenge first began, it seemed like the perfect chance to finally ‘lock in’. Ignoring all prohibited notifications, we began devoting our time to our work. With basically nothing else to distract us, productivity was at an all-time high, and we completed assignments with unprecedented speed. In no time, we were done with the work we had set out to complete.

Then came the issue: what now? Usually, we would have whipped out our phones and began scrolling as a little break from all the work, but this was no longer an option. The worst part? While we were barred from using social media apps, our friends were not. Watching their names pop up in succession, yet sealed behind a locked screen, was a painful process— like withdrawal symptoms, even. It was clear that our devices had become the primary tenants of white space in our life.

At first, we wallowed in the emptiness, even making instinctive blunders of tapping into apps. However, we would soon realise there were more ways to use the white space meaningfully. To some, this meant catching up on old hobbies, such as playing the guitar or reading books. To others, this meant more time to catch up with loved ones, setting timeout to talk more with family members, or even play more with pets. Approaching the midpoint of the challenge, a new norm began to take shape.

The Unexpected Needs

In the canteen, there are two main camps of students: those who pay by cash, and those who pay by PayNow. This became an issue, as physical cash had become a relic of the past to some of us who rely on digital banking apps. Faced with the real struggle of obtaining food, exemptions were made for such apps, and our extensive reliance on digital banking was made apparent.

In other news, one of us (whom I shall not name) had gotten lost looking for a library over the weekend,  and was faced with yet another issue. Without GPS apps such as Google Maps, navigation had become more like a jungle expedition, especially when it came to planning MRT or bus routes. In addition, bus rides, without access to transport apps such as MyTransport, rendered the process similar to the times our parents attended school. As probably expected, these apps were allowed later on, in view of its high necessity.

The last unexpected need came as a surprise— reposting. You might be wondering, “What happened to not using social media?” See, that was where the issue came in. As much as social media is a tool for entertainment, it is also a tool for marketing and outreach. As our CCAs, VIAs or various projects began rolling out posts or reels on Instagram, reposting them has become a necessity if we want to rally our friends and family to attend them. 

It was in such instances that we saw the duality of social media in our lives at play. We always talk of being distracted by reels or posts sent to us by our friends. Little do we realise that we play an equal part of the content feeding chain too. 

The Inability to Escape

Despite our best attempts to avoid non-essential device use and exposure to digital content, it was simply everywhere. Walking through transport interchanges or even bus stops, you’d see the latest advertisements or events displayed in large electronic panels—digital content is everywhere. Back at home, even our parents were watching it on the television, or their own devices, leaving us in reception of such content whether we like it or not.

Taking a step back and watching the world interact with digital content, it was interesting to observe how such content has become deeply integrated into our daily lives. Beyond that, many believe that our generation uniquely experiences this problem due to our frequent usage of devices since young. Yet, it appears that even older generations have seen the arrival of such devices into our everyday routines. 

The Lifestyle Created

As the challenge approached its last stretch, we realised that some practices simply did not shake off despite our adaptation. For instance, we still found ourselves instinctively checking our social media apps for notifications or new content in the morning, even when we knew there would be no such content. Beyond this, our minor habits had become full-on lifestyles too, taking the form of various streak functions on Snapchat, Duolingo and more.

That much was made apparent when the rules were lifted on Day Five, and the return to our original lifestyle was near instant. Posts were uploaded, videos were watched, and that inbox of reels from friends was emptied in mere minutes, before we became the ones sending the reels. The digital lifestyle is just too invasive—and we came to realise it.

Final Reflections

After satiating our social media-deprived souls with hours of mindless scrolling, we came together to share our thoughts at the end of the day.

“It was kinda sucky at first, but then I got used to it,” E Vee shared, “It made me realise that I depend a lot on my devices though. Also, when I fell sick, I got a headache doing pretty much anything except listening to music and that made me realise that you really can’t survive without devices in this day and age.”

Clara agreed that the challenge had helped her lock in, though adding that “it was a bit too radical because we went completely cold turkey!” During these few days, she had managed to do more work, but felt kind of miserable with no mindless entertainment time at all.

For Zhishan, she felt that peer influence helped bolster her commitment. Doing the challenge together as a group, temptations became less uncontrollable as we reminded each other through our practice of declaring your usage in the group chat.

Immediately, the benefits of the device detox became apparent. With schoolwork being completed earlier, more time was available at the end of the day. Amidst the hectic lifestyles we lead in school, this came a long way in helping us catch up with relationships and spend quality time with loved ones, phone-free.

Even when we weren’t in the company of others, we had far more me-time to engage in our various hobbies or interests, which was a far more meaningful use of our time. Even when we weren’t doing anything, we were sleeping earlier, resting up for another refreshed day.

Distancing ourselves from social media, we were able to not only experience first-hand symptoms of addiction, but also observe how it shaped the world around us. We felt the rush of urgency to respond to social media reels being forwarded, saw how everyone else was distracted by their phones, and only then realised the costs that come with today’s connectivity. It hadn’t always been the norm, but it is now, and it sure isn’t going away.

On the flip side of the experiment, we also realised how many tasks completed by our phones go overlooked, in every facet of our lives, from making purchases to even navigating the world around us. Got a place to go in mind? Have a look at its reviews online. Lazy to travel for food? Then select a restaurant from a food delivery app. Thinking of travelling to Malaysia over the weekend? Have a look at the currency exchange rate before you plan how much to exchange. It was the little things that filled every nook and cranny of our lives.

Epilogue: The Road Ahead

Would we consider this detox challenge an effective way to “lock in”? Yes, definitely. Would we consider it desirable, though? No, not really.

While the challenge did produce the raw results of productivity, the gap in entertainment and de-stress options was all the more noticeable too. In the long run leading up to examinations, this would only lead to increased fatigue, and eventually burnout— with recovery being an even more taxing process. Rather, we looked into the specific practices that led to the success of this challenge.

For work, we recognised that the heart of productivity was ignoring distracting notifications, and so a simple act of stowing phones away could go a long way. For spending quality me-time or time with others, it was about making the effort to pursue such goals, and committing yourself to the act, free from other distractions.

It’s now 9 PM on a weeknight. You’ve just had a heart-to-heart conversation with your siblings, a rare opportunity only made possible when you all came together with the “phone stack”.

Returning to do your homework, a notification pops up: a new reel in your DMs. You dismiss it without much thought, because now you have something else to unwind with after the grind.