Cell division: How to really pull the plug on your screen addiction

Everyone loves the idea of unplugging. No one really does it. Here’s what happened when four phone-obsessed people gave up screen time for real

Boomers call it a digital detox. Gen Z calls it analogue living. It’s the same old desire to unplug from tech and live outside the screen. “But we’re too anxiously attached to our devices,” says Mumbai businessman Siddharth Bhimani, 38. “It’s also impossible to completely disconnect because of all the things we need our phones for.” Turns out, there are reasonable boundaries that actually work. Here are some.

Scroll to a halt

Three years ago, Bhimani was looking to ways to switch off after his daughter — then five years old — complained that he was always on his phone. So, he got a Nokia flip phone to use on the weekends. He’d switch off his iPhone and only pick up emergency calls on that second number. It was instant “mental decluttering” over those two days, he says. “There’s something calming about knowing no one can contact you.”

Harita Odedara downloaded an app that turned her phone black-and-white so she’d use it less.

It also changed how he interacted with people. Bhimani learnt to cook new recipes from scratch with his daughter. When out with friends, he’d suggest playing games rather than having everyone be on their phones. He slowly stopped missing the dopamine rush of checking Instagram or Facebook even on his iPhone.

For freelance music writer Harita Odedara, 23, the trigger for going analogue was the student protests in July. She lives in Himachal Pradesh and was on her phone for 12 hours a day, liking and sharing Reels in solidarity. The day she and her partner booked bus tickets to attend the protests, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. “All of a sudden, I felt so empty.”

Odedara downloaded an app that turned her phone black-and-white, so she would be dissuaded from looking at it. She restricted short-form video content and set “social media hours” during 6pm to 8pm. It freed up her hours dramatically, giving her time to sketch, read and connect with artists.

Then, a challenge she still hasn’t accounted for: All the “uncomfortable emotions and feelings that come up when you aren’t looking at a screen,” she says. “We don’t talk enough about this side of digital detoxing — learning what to do with yourself when you’re not doomscrolling.”

Businessman Siddharth Bhimani uses an old-school Nokia flip phone to reduce screen time on weekends.

Pull the plug

Some self-confessed phone addicts (aren’t we all?) have resorted to extreme measures. Business manager Ayan Modi, 26, was on a solo trip in Europe in 2023 when he realised that he was more focused on uploading photos and Reels than enjoying his grand adventure. Back in Mumbai, he experimented with going off his smartphone completely for seven days “just to see what happened”.

He got a dumbphone, a Karbonn K140 Pop, began using cash for payments, and went MIA online. That one week turned to two, then a month. And before Modi knew it, he’d spent five months without a smartphone. He requested his boss to call him if a task was urgent. Because his job at the time involved tracking sales data and crunching numbers, all he needed was his work laptop to stay updated on developments in his field. “I felt more focused at work because my phone was not around to distract me.”

Business manager Ayan Modi used a dumbphone, a Karbonn K140 Pop for several months.

Even after he returned to using his smartphone, the benefits carry over. He’d rather play music on a record player or the radio than pick up the phone. He’s more conscious about his spending and instead of idly scrolling, he tries to “actively consume only long-form content, such as 25-minute YouTube content or podcasts”.

The clean break isn’t for everyone. Malvika Fulwani, a 34-year-old clinical dietician, averages 15 hours of screen time a day. Even after keeping her phone far away (or another floor of her house while she worked) the FOMO was real. “I had to get out of the spiral.” Her way out was 10-day Vipassana retreat in Nashik. No devices, no talking, no books, music, games, nothing. Just meditation.

“When I came back, I realised I could leave my phone unattended for an hour or more. I now put it in DND mode from 10.30pm to 6am,” Fulwani says. “I still have to be on social media for work. But at least I’m no longer so attached to it.”

Malvika Fulwani, a dietician went on a 10-day Vipassana retreat and came back less addicted to tech.

Cut the cord

Bhimani, when he uses his Nokia, relies on his wife’s phone to make online payments or to use GPS or book tickets for events. He’s missed client calls and delivery OTPs. “Get a dumbphone only if you’re okay putting up with these inconveniences.” Missing work updates hurts less when you run your own business and aren’t reporting to a higher-up. It’s harder if your job requires you to be present online. It might be hardest for women who rely on online trackers to let loved ones know they are safe.

Modi says he is no longer locked in on the latest memes or hip cafés. But going smartphone-free takes a village. When his friends were meeting, they’d call and let him know. His colleagues would book Ubers for him after post-work drinks. Work communication happened on Slack, not WhatsApp, so not having a smartphone didn’t matter.

For those considering cutting down screen time, Bhimani advises starting small: Perhaps two hours after work, or just on Sundays. Get comfortable with leaving the phone at home for short outings. Or get a phone dock and hang it up on the wall like a landline. “The world isn’t going to end if you don’t check your notifications all the time,” he says.

From HT Brunch, October 24, 2026Follow us on www.instagram.com/htbrunch