Put the phone in another room — a small experiment
The night before a chemistry test, my phone sat on the desk “just in case”. By midnight I knew the names of three stray cats in Sham Shui Po and nothing about electrolysis. The cats were charming. The paper the next morning was not. I tried a dull trick for one week: the phone charged in the kitchen, not beside the bed. The first two nights felt rude, as if I had snubbed a friend who kept buzzing. I stood in the doorway twice and went back to the notes. Then the evenings grew longer. I finished a chapter. I slept before one. On Friday I still checked the news — after the bag was packed. This is not a sermon against the internet. Maps, group chats about homework and a parent’s call at 11 p.m. are why the device exists. It is a reminder that attention leaks in millilitres. Notifications are designed by people whose bonus depends on you opening one more clip. If the device is in another room, you have to stand up to leak. Most of the time, you will not bother — and that is the whole point. Schools like to print posters about “digital wellness”. A poster cannot outwait an app. A kitchen socket can. Try it before the next exam week, not as a personality change, just as a piece of furniture. The cats will still be there in the morning. Electrolysis, unfortunately, will also still be there — but you may remember it.