I honestly do spend every free moment on my smartphone even when I’m at work. Which is why my manager thought I needed an intervention.

Hi, my name is Lauren and I’m a mobi-game-and-app-aholic.

With 24 games (of which I only play about 6 consistently) and 7 chat apps (don’t judge, you have WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook too!) my phone is an extension of my arm, brain, and well, livelihood.

Even though I’ve never lost a phone in my life, not even to theft, all my phones’ batteries have given in before my 18-24 month upgrade is due. I haven’t even had my current phone for 12 months and I’m already experiencing battery issues.

Playing at work

I honestly do spend every free moment on my smartphone. Even when I’m at work, I peek at my phone every few minutes to check the time. Okay, I admit, I don’t just check the time, I see if there are any free coins or free boosters to collect or if any of my lives are full. I’d leave my desk to hide somewhere and play those games’ lives up.

At the same time, I always have a WhatsApp tab in my browser. I activated the pop-up notification for Facebook too. And of course, the urge to check it out is very high. And, just as research studies prove, what I think is going to be a 2 second check in, turns into 10 minutes or more. Social applications have the tendency to make the user lose their sense of time. Responding to that one update gets you to check ‘just one more’ update for 10 more minutes. This means that added up, you could easily lose hours of productivity every week.

Experts claim that a dependency on social apps and mobile games also negatively influences our attention spans. At work, this is mostly evident in my behaviour during meetings. Through my own admission, I often unconsciously (and probably disrespectfully) ‘check the time’ on my phone whenever I’m slightly distracted, consoling my guilty conscience with ‘it’s quick’. Also, I leave my phone on Vibrate instead of silent, consoling my guilty conscience with the fact that ‘at least it’s not on Loud. However, this is evident of how bad my FOMO really is. Believe it or not, but the first thing I do after long meetings is play at least one stage of any game.

But oh, that feeling of winning a stage, getting points, beating an opponent, and earning lots of coins and special characters… it’s really satisfying.

Science explains the craving
I can’t stop playing games on my phone and according to resident psychologist at ClickTale, Dr Liraz Margalit, it’s because I receive instant gratification from the change in my mental state or the feeling of detachment from all else. The fact that I don’t have to plug-in a console, or collect Lego blocks, and rather have the game in my hand at all times only feeds the urges. 

At the same time, humans have a basic obsession with ‘tidying up’. Mobile games tap into this successfully.

She also explains that like thirst or hunger, these urges come from the part of the brain that deals with emotions and motivations. The chemical, dopamine, responds positively to recognising familiar patterns but becomes more excited when the reward (beating a pattern) is unexpected. Dr Margalit insists that the dopamine in our brain becomes addicted to these kinds of rewards, in the form of pleasure.

My manager thought I needed an intervention
For the next 5 days, I would be banned from my mobile. The rules are:

1.    No game playing at work from 9am to 5pm.
2.    No personal Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat activity or any other social network for the   entire work day.
3.    WhatsApp only at lunch.
4.    Record the experience.
5.    Enjoy your one week mini Digital Detox! 

Digital Detox, here I come
On the inside I was screaming “There’s nothing mini about any kind of Detox!” but only on the inside because I‘m a professional. But I must’ve had a look of horror on my face because, she threatened that if my self-discipline failed me (which, let’s be honest, I was already envisioning)  she’d take my phone away. I threatened to call the police on her for theft! After an awkward laugh (what if she’s serious?!), I reluctantly agreed to the terms.
 
I wanted to prove to everyone I am in control and casually, safely and responsibly enjoy my apps. Besides, after hours I could play to my heart’s content anyway.
 
And then Day 1 happened
On my way to the office, I looked at my notifications. And as I’m checking my Twitter updates, replying to Whatsapp messages, I almost open Candy Crush to spin the wheel and collect a free Booster, like I usually do. Instead, I put my phone off to minimise the temptation.
 
Now before you call ‘foul’ because I didn’t delete my apps as the rules explicitly state, let me explain: I’ll lose my game progress; When I reinstall the games, the risk that I’d have to begin from Stage 1 is too big a risk to take.
 
No, it’s not cheating. I can still follow the rules. Just… easier.
 
So, did I ever slip up?
Well, if I must be honest, sort of.
 
On day 2, I was doing my research on Facebook (Desktop) and received an inbox message. I read it. It was from my Aunt who needed me to send a ticket to move to the next stage in Candy Crush. I replied. Saying I can’t because I’m banned. She replied but I didn’t check it again after remembering Facebook is still off limits.
 
Also, my lunch buddy decided to bypass my No Facebook No Whatsapp rule and instead sent an email (to my work address) to discuss lunch plans.
 
But generally, the week did have a few dark moments
 
I must admit, it was hard for me to adjust to the change in my lifestyle. I felt like I lost control of my independence and freedom of choice. I became slightly agitated every single time I realised I couldn’t forward, send, or post a funny meme, interesting news, or relatable quote. 

It would take 2 seconds to copy and paste something to my favourite social networks, and yet, I couldn’t. I became quite agitated every single time I realised I couldn’t grab my phone when I leave my desk. 

And I became slightly agitated every single time I was forced to put my phone off at 9:00am.

I also found myself unable to stay away from any kind of interactional stimulation for too long. Every time I got up from my desk, I’d rush back as soon as possible. I’d just get bored so quickly. Also, because I dreaded going to the bathroom phone-less, I tended to ignore my body’s bathroom warning lights.

I found myself becoming impatient with most activities. During work hours, my irritability levels soared when waiting for the lift to come, waiting in the coffee queue, or waiting for my browser to load. Even after hours I found myself feeling frustrated when my mobile games wouldn’t load fast enough, when TV ads just wouldn’t end, for example. ‘Waiting’ never bothered me this much before my detox.

Yeah, I know it sounds like I had a terrible week. But there were a few positives too. Check out Part Two of My week of Digital Detoxing to see if the process changed my life.

Lauren van Schalkwyk is a writer at Careers24. She started writing articles for South African professionals through Who’s Who SA, where she was also gained experience as a social media community manager. In addition to the career advice she contributes to Careers24, she is also studying full time. See more of her work on her Who’s Who profile.