Abel Fonseca is a San Benito native and a longtime San Benito CISD ACE Program Site Coordinator at Miller Jordan Middle School and Collegiate Academy. He can be reached at afonseca@sbcisd.net.
What would happen if you turned it all off?
For just 24 hours, there would be no phone, no notifications, no scrolling, and no buzzing in your pocket reminding you that someone, somewhere, needs your attention. Could you do it?
It sounds simple, almost easy. But for most people, the idea is uncomfortable.
We live in a world where being connected isn’t just normal, it’s expected. We wake up to alarms on our phones, check messages before getting out of bed, and fall asleep with screens still glowing beside us.
So, what happens when all of that disappears?
At first, it’s strange. You reach for your phone without thinking. You feel like you’re missing something important. There’s quiet anxiety, like the world is moving on without you. But then, something unexpected happens — you begin to notice things such as the sounds of birds in the morning, conversations that don’t compete with notifications, the way time seems to stretch instead of move quickly.
Indeed, you begin to focus on not just what’s in front of you, but on how you feel.
A glimpse into the “analog” world
To truly understand what we’re missing, we have to look back at how life felt in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. Before the world was tucked into our pockets, life had a different rhythm. It was a time of “unintentional presence.”
The Morning Ritual: Instead of waking up to a backlit screen of world tragedies and social media drama, you walked to the end of the driveway or the local corner store to pick up the newspaper.
You’d sit with a cup of coffee and physically turn the pages. You read the news when you were ready for it, rather than having it pushed at you every second of the day.
When you closed the paper, the news was over, and your day truly began.
The Freedom of the Bike: Back then, your bike wasn’t just a toy; it was your ticket to the world.
You’d leave the house after breakfast, tell your parents you’d be back when the streetlights came on, and simply disappear into the neighborhood. There was no GPS to track you, only the unspoken rule of being home for dinner.
Spontaneous Adventure: If there was a body of water, you fished in it. Whether it was a local creek, a neighborhood pond, or a roadside ditch, you didn’t need a YouTube tutorial to enjoy the afternoon. You just needed a rod, some bait, and patience.
The Art of “Stopping By”: If you wanted to see a friend, you didn’t text them. You rode your bike to their house and looked for their bike in the front yard. If it was there, you knocked on the door. If they weren’t home, you just found something else to do.
Waiting was Productive: Waiting for a bus or sitting in a doctor’s office didn’t involve scrolling. You watched, you read the back of a cereal box, or you simply sat with your own thoughts. Boredom was the soil where creativity grew.
Reclaiming the Present
People who try this experiment today often say the same thing: they feel lighter, less distracted, and more present. But it also reveals something deeper.
Have we become too dependent on being constantly connected? When every free moment is filled with scrolling, when silence feels uncomfortable, and when boredom no longer exists, what are we losing?
This isn’t about saying technology is bad. It’s about asking whether we’re still in control of it, because somewhere along the way, “just checking” turned into hours. A quick glance became a habit, and being alone with our thoughts became something we avoid.
Maybe the real challenge isn’t turning off your phone. Maybe it’s facing what’s left when you do. You might find that the world hasn’t changed as much as we think. The bikes are still in the garage, the fish are still biting, and the streetlights still come on at dusk.
So, here’s the question: If you unplugged for just one day, what might you discover about the world and about yourself?
You don’t have to answer right now, but maybe, just maybe, it’s worth discovering the answer.