30-day digital detox without going offline.
A digital detox does not have to mean a month offline. This one takes back a little time from your phone each day: a slower morning, a meal with no screen, a walk with your phone in your pocket and a quiet hour before bed.
- 30 days
- four habits a day
- one prompt a day
The rules: four small habits.
Four phone-free moments in the day. Start them small and let them grow.
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Phone-free morning
Start with the first 15 minutes after you wake, then make it longer. An alarm clock helps.
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A meal with no screen
One meal a day with the phone out of sight. Taste it, look around, or talk to whoever is there.
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Walk, phone in pocket
Ten minutes outside without looking at a screen. Music is fine; scrolling is not.
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Charge it outside the bedroom
Plug your phone in another room an hour before sleep, and read or rest instead.
Your 30 days, one small step each.
Keep the rules every day, and add the day's prompt on top. Swap any prompt for one you like better.
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Week 1 Notice
- Day 1 Check your screen time, just look
- Day 2 Turn off notifications you don't need
- Day 3 Move social apps off your home screen
- Day 4 Eat lunch without your phone
- Day 5 Leave your phone in another room for an hour
- Day 6 Find an alarm clock
- Day 7 Look back: which app pulls you most?
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Week 2 Make space
- Day 8 Try your phone in grayscale for a day
- Day 9 Unfollow accounts that drain you
- Day 10 Read a paper book or magazine
- Day 11 Take a walk without your phone
- Day 12 Call someone instead of texting
- Day 13 Delete one app you don't need
- Day 14 Spend a morning offline
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Week 3 Fill the gaps
- Day 15 Pick up an old hobby
- Day 16 Cook something new from a recipe book
- Day 17 Write a letter or a card
- Day 18 Sit in a café without your phone
- Day 19 Do a puzzle or a crossword
- Day 20 Draw or doodle for 10 minutes
- Day 21 Spend an evening offline
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Week 4 Keep it
- Day 22 Make one room phone-free
- Day 23 Watch a film with your phone away
- Day 24 Meet a friend, phones in bags
- Day 25 Try a day with no social apps
- Day 26 Write what you did with the time
- Day 27 Plan a phone-free weekend morning
- Day 28 Set a time limit on your top app
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Days 29 and 30 Look back
- Day 29 Check your screen time again
- Day 30 Choose the rules you'll keep
If you miss a day.
Missing a day is part of any challenge, not the end of it. Pick up with the next day's prompt and carry on. A month of most days is still a month of small habits kept.
In Cozy, a busy day does not have to cost you a streak: skip the habit for the day and its streak holds. Away or unwell for a while? Pause the habit, and its streak waits for you.
More on what to do when you miss a day.
Keep the challenge in Cozy.
Make these four habits in Cozy and tick each one off as you go. The cards fill with color and your streak counts the days.
Three tips for 30 days.
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Make the phone harder to reach
Log out of one app, move it off your home screen, charge the phone in the hall. A little friction goes a long way.
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Have something to reach for instead
A book, a puzzle, a sketchbook. A slow morning routine without a screen is a good place to start.
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Tell the people around you
Say you are answering more slowly this month. Most people are kind about it, and some will want to join.
Rather use paper?
Print the monthly habit tracker and keep it on the fridge: ticking a box on paper is one less reason to pick up your phone.
Questions, answered.
What is a digital detox challenge?
A set time, here 30 days, where you use your phone and screens less on purpose, in small daily steps.
Do I have to stop using my phone?
No. This plan keeps your phone for what you need and takes back a little time each day: mornings, meals, a walk and bedtime.
How do I start a digital detox?
Look at your screen time first, then pick one moment to keep phone-free, like the first part of the morning. Add more when that feels easy.
What if I slip up?
Carry on the next day. In Cozy you can skip a habit for a busy day without losing its streak, or pause it for a while.
More challenges
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75 soft challenge
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More from Cozy
Day 1 starts today.
Download Cozy, make your challenge's habits and tick off the first one.
A cute habit tracker for iPhone and Android.
