MY Diary Game ON | 22-05-2026 | What Happened When I Put My Phone Away for 4 Hours!

(AI-aided)

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Assalamu-Alaikum-wa-Rahmatullahi- wa-Barakatuh!

I decided to do something small today; I clipped my phone in a different room and didn't touch it for 4 hours.
No WhatsApp. No Instagram. No 'just checking one thing'.

And here are some things I learned.

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Reasons I did it

Lately my head has felt like 20 tabs and I've tried to sit down to write or read but invariably within 5 minutes or so I was scrolling for no reason; whatsoever.
I wanted to see if a few hours without my phone could help me focus.

What I did during this time

1. Read a book and completed a complete chapter (with all types of distractions I normally would take 2 hours to do). It took me about 40 minutes today to complete this.
Because my phone was not buzzing around me, I was able to follow the story completely.

2. Made a cup of tea, went out and just sat for a bit. No music. No video... Just quiet. I could hear the birds, feel the air hit my body, and my head was no longer as noisy.
Sound trivial, but it was nice!

3. Blog Post Planning with Paper
Planning my blog posts on paper has slowed the amount of time I spent planning my blog.
In 20 minutes I created 3 ideas for posts that had been stuck in my head for days while I worked on my phone.

What Surprised Me

(AI-aided)

I thought being on a computer for an hour would be boring, make me feel restless, but by the end of the first hour, I can say I was truly able to keep my mind off of what was showing up on my phone!

I was able to accomplish 4 times the amount of things in 4 hours than I did typically do in 6 hours.
My brain was much more calm than fragmented.

It reminded me of a verse from the Qur'an:

"Remember Me, and I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and do not deny Me."
فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِي وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:152

How can anyone remember Allah or even their own thoughts when their mind's jumping from one app to another as fast as they can?

Will I Do This Again?

Yes, I will. Not every day; maybe 2 or 3 times a week.
The simple act of taking a break from my phone can be such an impactful difference.

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(AI-aided)

Sometimes it's not about needing more time; sometimes it's about needing less distraction.

Have you..

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