Week 3 · Challenge 3
#3 Smart Phone Challenge
Create space by keeping your phone out of private rooms.
Keep your notifications off, your meals phone-free and your first and last waking hour protected, and now add this week's habit on top.
This week's challenge
No smart phone in bathrooms & bedrooms
So many of us take the phone into the bathroom to kill time, or scroll in bed until we drift off. This week, give those private spaces back to yourself: leave the phone outside.
Using a phone in the bedroom can be okay when it's playing quietly in the background, for music, an audiobook, relaxation, healthy reasons, or a private conversation with someone you know in real life. The goal is to stop the mindless, screen-in-hand habit, not to ban every use.
Why no smart phone in bathrooms?
Germ Overload & Hygiene Problems
- Phones can be 10× dirtier than a toilet seat and can carry bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella, norovirus and MRSA.
- The "toilet plume" from flushing can contaminate your phone.
- Touching the phone then spreads those germs everywhere you take it.
Extended Toilet Time = Health Risks
- Phone use turns a quick bathroom break into a prolonged sitting session.
- This is linked to hemorrhoids, constipation, poor posture and back and neck strain.
Risk of Damage to Your Device
- Moisture and steam can damage a phone.
- Dropping it in a toilet or sink can cause water damage.
Disrupted Mental Break
- Bathrooms can offer a rare moment of calm or "me-time".
- Phone use prevents that moment of disconnection and reflection.
Real-life voices
"Once I stopped taking my phone to the bathroom, I realised how much time I'd been wasting in there."
"It feels weird at first, then genuinely freeing, like a tiny break in the day."
Tips for phone-free bathroom use
- Leave your phone outside the bathroom, or off your person.
- Replace it with a magazine, or a few minutes of quiet reflection.
- If a phone must be brought into a public restroom for accessibility, avoid placing it on surfaces, wash your hands thoroughly before and after, and disinfect the phone regularly.
In summary
Phones in bathrooms become "microbial hitchhikers", extend toilet time in unhealthy ways, risk device damage, and interfere with a valuable moment of digital disconnection. Leaving the phone at the door protects your health and gives you back a little calm.
Why no smart phone in your bedroom?
Improved Sleep Quality
A phone-free bedroom removes the light, noise and temptation that fragment your sleep, so you rest more deeply.
Better Mental Health
Without late-night scrolling and comparison, the bedroom becomes a place of calm rather than stimulation.
Reduced Sleep Procrastination
It stops the "just five more minutes" scroll that keeps pushing your bedtime later and later.
Improved Relationships
A screen-free bedroom makes space for connection and conversation with the people you share it with.
Setting Healthy Boundaries
Keeping the phone out draws a clear line between rest and the demands of the outside world.
More Time for Healthy Habits
The time you'd spend scrolling can go to reading, stretching, journaling or simply resting.
Reduced Dependence
Breaking the bedside habit loosens your overall reliance on the phone.
From a challenge participant
I began keeping my phone in the living room, which gave me that moment to pick up art projects I'd never found time for.