I Traded My Phone for an “Analog Bag” at Night — Here’s What Happened

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As a digital journalist and content creator, I spend far too much time on my phone. I’ve always used my profession as an excuse to avoid limiting my screen time, but over the last few months, I’ve been experiencing extreme screen fatigue. Between persistent headaches and the way late-night doomscrolling negatively affected my sleep, I was desperate for a change. When I saw content creator Sierra Campbell’s viral “analog bag” video on TikTok, I knew I had to try it. I had nothing to lose!

As Sierra shared in her video, an analog bag is simply a tote filled with your favorite tactile activities — such as crosswords, novels, journals, or knitting tools — to keep you from reaching for your phone. When I began curating mine, I thought about activities I liked and went from there. Since I primarily work from my apartment, my goal was to create an analog bag that would help me decompress at home after a long day on my computer and phone.

I started by making sure one of my favorite tote bags was empty. I placed a sudoku book, the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (which I’ve been wanting to read for a while!), a set of sheet masks, a daily gratitude journal with pencils, a Rubik’s Cube, a pack of playing cards, a puzzle, and a Playmobil figurine in it. Since I live with my husband, I also included some items we could use together, games like Monopoly Deal, Uno, and Catan. I kept the bag in my den because that’s where I usually like to relax after work.

I decided to set 8 p.m. as the time to put away my phone and bring out my analog bag. On the day I began, I took a shower and changed into my comfy pajamas. Then, I dimmed the bright lights, lit a few aromatic candles around my den, and put on some calming jazz music in the background. It felt like a signal to my mind and body to forget about the worries of the day and relax.

The first evening I pulled out my analog bag, I was super excited. I found myself gravitating to the items I was most interested in. I used to love putting together Playmobil figurines as a child, so I pulled that out first. As this puzzle toy had only 10 pieces, it took just a few minutes to put together. Thereafter, I pulled out the Rubik’s Cube, another activity I thoroughly enjoy. After that, I was a bit tired, so I used a face mask as the last relaxing activity before going to bed.

The next evening, I pulled out The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and read it for a couple of hours. On another night, I found myself drawn to the sudoku book. I solved a few and played a couple of solo card games. The night after that, I felt too exhausted, so I just pulled out my daily gratitude journal and wrote about a few things I was grateful for before retiring for bed. Some evenings, I spent about 30 minutes with my analog bag, and on others, I was occupied for more than two hours.

Initially, I found it quite difficult not to pick up my phone. However, once I got into the analog activity, I was so engrossed in completing it that I forgot about the device. On the days I used my analog bag, I logged an average of 45 minutes less on my phone as compared to days I didn’t use the bag, which is huge — there were evenings when I didn’t check my phone for almost three hours, which had never happened before! I was getting my dopamine hit by engaging in my offline hobbies. I also loved using my hands and thinking about problems outside of work.

Additionally, I realized that I was overall feeling less stressed, sleeping better, and even had more energy during my days. I plan to continue to use my analog bag, get my husband involved on some days, and keep updating it with fun items. 

If you’re like me and are looking for easy ways to spend less time online, try curating and using your own analog bag — you’ll want to thank me (and Sierra) later!