Digital Detox and Phone Use Log

Who this is for

A daily log of what the phone actually got. Each row takes the date, the pickups and screen minutes if your phone reports them, when you first checked it and when you last did, and whether the phone-free block you chose for yourself happened — totalled over the sheet, with no limit of ours attached.

Anyone who suspects the phone is getting more of the day than they meant it to, people trying a stretch of evenings or mornings without it, and anyone who wants the figures their phone already keeps written down where they can be seen across a month.

What this helps you track

• Pickups and screen minutes each day, copied from what the phone reports
• The first and last check of each day, in your own words or times
• Whether the phone-free block you set yourself happened
• Totals and hours for the sheet, and how many days the block was kept
• A note on what the day was like, so a high or low figure has a reason beside it

How to use it

1. Write your name, the week or period, and the phone-free block you have chosen for yourself — a time, a place or a situation — at the top.
2. Each evening, or the next morning, add a row: the date, then pickups and screen minutes if your phone's own report gives them.
3. Write when you first checked the phone and when you last did — a time, or 'before getting up' — in your own words.
4. Tick the block column if the phone-free time you chose actually happened.
5. The totals and summary are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, add up at the end of the week.
6. Keep the notes column honest — a day with a long call to a relative is a different day from one spent scrolling.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Does the sheet say how much phone use is too much?

No. There is no limit, no daily allowance and no figure of ours on it. It totals what you wrote and leaves the judgement to you.

Where do the pickups and minutes come from?

From whatever your phone reports, if it reports anything. Many phones have a usage screen in their settings; copy the figures from there. If yours does not, leave the columns blank and log the rest.

What is the phone-free block?

Whatever you decided — the first hour of the morning, mealtimes, the evening, the bedroom. You write it at the top, and the tick simply records whether it happened that day. The sheet does not suggest one.

Can I log a tablet or a laptop as well?

Yes, if you want one line for all screens; say so in the notes. Most people find it clearer to keep one sheet per device, or to log the phone alone.

Why record the first and last check?

Because those two times say more about how the day was framed than the total does, and they are the easiest thing to change if you decide you want to.