Day 4: You Gotta Keep Pushing | How Smartphones Affect Your Hormones

As I enter day four of having no-phone for my daily life, I'm facing some more barriers than is pleasurable. I'm still going back and forth with my university trying to find an alternative to 2-Factor Authentication, but so far the best solution they've given me is driving 3 hours to campus and reset the Okta Verification app in person. Obviously, I don't want to do that. The problem arising is I have a review from my Master's supervisor that was actually due last week on Wednesday, and it's currently the weekend. I can't sign in to my student portal without the Okta verification, and I need a cellphone number to use that. Sooo, that's problematic.

But I'm not giving up. I'm pushing through all these newfound barriers of living without a phone. And I think that's the key to living your life with no phone. The people around you are going to make it difficult for you to live with no phone, and perhaps not even any malicious of their own. Every one in our society is so engrained to having a smartphone, when you tell people you don't have one, I don't think they even comprehend fully what you just said. It's as if they hear it like you don't have a smartphone because yours broke or you lost it, and it's just a matter of time before you get another one. Surely nobody would be foolish enough to give up their smartphone in this day and age when practically everything requires a smartphone. 

But that's exactly what I did. And I already feel like I'm seeing the benefits. As I said on Day 2, my sleep was noticeably better. Without blue-light at night (as well as just general screen light and having my brain 'turned on' from activity on the phone before bed) it seems I fall asleep much faster, and I stay asleep much longer. My brain actually feels like it's resting for a change, and that is a huge plus for me. I think we all struggle with sleep in this hyper-technological age ... so this is something that I'm really enjoying, and motivating me to stay no-phone in my life. Getting good sleep after years (dare I say decades) of poor-quality sleep is like drinking water after living in the desert. Why would I ever go back to the desert?

Well, in this analogy, the 'desert' that is our society provides a lot of benefits, at the expense of your sleep, your time, and your emotions. Hell, even your hormones are affected by smartphone use. I'm a Master's student as many of you know from reading my previous blogs, and so because of that I enjoy reading and sharing research. I'd like to share some research I came across on smartphone use and hormones: 

• Excessive Smartphone Screen Time Linked to Earlier Puberty Onset (2022) link
• "Excessive screen time can influence hormonal balance by disrupting the body's natural sleep and stress rhythms" says Neuroscientist Dr. Emilė Radytė. Both men and women are affected similarly and different ... check out this excerpt from Dr. Radyte
• "Most adults now clock over seven hours of screen time a day. That number alone is striking, but for women dealing with menstrual pain, mood shifts, or bone-deep fatigue that seems to come from nowhere, it takes on a different weight entirely. The light from phones, laptops, and tablets does far more than tire the eyes. It reaches deep into the brain, disrupting hormones that shape sleep, stress, and the entire menstrual cycle" (2026) source
• And this one on technological and WiFi radiation alone is eye-opening: 
• "Long-term exposure to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones and Wi-Fi devices decreases plasma prolactin, progesterone, and estrogen levels but increases uterine oxidative stress in pregnant rats and their offspring" (2016) source

These are some of the studies I've read recently that were eye-opening enough to keep pushing through the barriers and obstacles that come with not having a smartphone. When people around me scoff at the idea of ditching their own smartphone "because everything is on the smartphone now", I remind myself that, while this is definitely true, doesn't mean that this is the only option for us in 2026. We must work hard to find workarounds when difficulties arise from a society that has largely been designed to work with a smartphone. From bus tickets to movie tickets to ferry tickets to 2-factor authentication, yes, everything is easier with a smart-phone. But eating junk food over healthy food, watching television instead of exercising, staying up light, all of these things are also easier than doing their counterparts. Easy has never been the correct answer, and having the convenience of the smartphone is no different. There are clear health benefits that come from ditching your smartphone, from physical benefits, to mental and emotional benefits. 

To me, the benefits of not having a smartphone far away the convenience of having one. 

Stay strong my friends, stay thirsty (?), or better yet hydrate your new smartphone-free life with the fruits of the world around you, rather than the plastic ones they sell at Walmart. Does that analogy work? Regardless, thanks for tuning in for Day 4 today and being apart of this blog. I really appreciate it! I've been trying to spread the word about this blog, and I'm proud to say we're boasting 4 (four!) subscribers, which may not sound like a lot, but in the age of YouTube and streaming, blogs are pretty "dead". But mp3's and retro tech is coming back, so why not blogs? Let's read and write more!

I'd love to hear from you below in the comments. It really makes my day when I receive a comment. Maybe partially because I'm going through phone withdrawals, so reading your comments really gives me a nice dopamine hit; so thanks for that. Also, you'll notice on the left side of your toolbar is a Subscribe button under "Join the Movement". All that means is you'll be apart of the blog and receive emails when I post (you can also disable this if you don't want emails). It just means a lot to me to see people become a member of this NoPhoneBlog!

See you tomorrow for Day 5!