I gave up 3 of my worst nighttime tech habits for one week - and it was harder than I ever expected

I woke up feeling groggy. No connection to the texting, I'm sure.

Instead of feeling bad about that, I felt guilty about all I didn't accomplish the night before. Every day, I need to bring a change of clothes, makeup, lunch, reusable containers, coffee, and book for the metro with me to work, and I swear, getting it all into one bag takes more time and brainpower than packing for a two-week trip. This experiment provided the perfect reason to pack this bag the night before work rather than the morning of.

Did I end up making use of the time? Of course not.

This morning I couldn't find the undershirt I needed for the dress I planned to wear, so I had to swap outfits and repack. I left for work running late and with dishes in the sink. I blamed the eight minutes of yoga.

Tuesday night, I tried a different approach. No internet after 10 p.m. meant I couldn't save my freelance work until after a Netflix break, which meant I needed to do it as soon as possible. Since I needed to work out and clean my house, I preferred to do that while I could still listen to music.

Instead of seeing the night as an expanse where I could get anything done, preferably later, I felt the urge to get everything out of the way right away.

It worked a little too well. When 10 p.m. rolled by, I didn't want to stop being productive. Instead, I just pushed my bedtime back by an hour. Mistake No. 3.

Maybe out of guilt for changing my bedtime, I started in on all of my least favorite tasks.

Normally, I hate blow-drying my hair at night even though it saves time in the morning, but Tuesday night I actually did it. Then I packed my bag and made coffee for the next morning before realizing I still owed myself an hour of tech-free time. I had, of course, been texting friends all the while.

I decided reading would help me wind down after all of that productivity. Even though I silenced my phone, I felt phantom vibrations coaxing me to check for messages. I noticed a dripping sound coming from the shower, but resisted the urge to search "leaky faucet fixes." I wondered if morning workouts burned more calories than evening workouts, but didn't Google. Eventually, I fell asleep.

Guess who slept through all their alarms? I didn't mind. My hair was already styled, my day was packed and my house smelled pleasantly of mint and lemon. Good. This was going to be a busy day. After work, I had a happy hour, a committee meeting for a local environmental group, and then was having a friend over for drinks.

It was the ideal time to nix tech because, really, when would I have the time? When 10 p.m. rolled around, I diligently stayed away from my laptop and TV but kept texting. Shouldn't I make sure my guest got home safe?

And I was performing in an open mic comedy show the next night. Did it count if I was confirming plans with friends who wanted to attend? At some point, after yet another "just this last text," I did fall asleep.

After returning from the comedy show that night, my instinct was to watch interviews with my favorite stand-ups for advice and validation. Maybe email the MC to ask about the next opening. A guy also asked for my number after the show. Shouldn't I reply to him?

No. The answer was no. Begrudgingly, I left my laptop and phone alone and picked up my book instead.

Reading at night helped me read more overall. By carving out time to read each night, I found myself in the "good part" of a few books. In quieter moments, like as I waited in line or rode the metro, I was more inclined to open my book than social media.

After work, I decided to take a nap before going out with friends. The nap ended up lasting until morning. Clearly, restful sleep was not an outcome of this project. Let's continue to blame the yoga.

A long-distance run Saturday evening left me exhausted. New York heat in August has a way of ringing you out like a rag. Since plans to visit home for the weekend fell through, I didn't have to be anywhere.

What a perfect night to watch a movie or two. Order Seamless. Fall asleep by 10 p.m. Well, probably midnight if I knew myself well enough. But what was the point of starting a movie if I couldn't finish it before my tech cutoff? I was also starting to see the book I was devouring in a new light. At the end of each chapter was a definite ending. No infinite scroll or autoplay like on social media.

Knowing texting had been my downfall all week, I made time during the day to call two of my best long-distance friends and filled my Sunday with social plans. And since I didn't have to wake up with an alarm the next morning, I let myself turn my phone off completely for the first time all week.

I technically had an hour of tech time left, but why start a conversation or a movie you couldn't finish? Earlier that day, I became the temporary mom of an incredibly shy foster cat, so I focused on making the little guy feel more comfortable while he hid under the bed.

I skipped out on some of my more ambitious nighttime goals like meal prep or learning embroidery. But I did end up doing the dishes and finding something to wear the next day.

I was grateful to have caught up on sleep over the weekend and, with my phone safely on silent, crashed pretty quickly.

Now that my one-week challenge is complete, I can safely recommend that other people try similar challenges, because they help you identify needs in your life.

For example, I can't kick myself too much for texting after my cutoff each night because it helped me realize I was craving time with long-distance friends. Reaching out during the day made it easier to shut my phone off at night, a change I'm sure my REM cycle appreciated.

When it came to time-sucks like Netflix and Twitter, I discovered that I didn't miss them once they were gone. At the same time, going overboard on the productivity front also had its shortcomings.

While I'm not sure I would do this every week, I like the idea of doing this on a quarterly basis as a way to slow down and do a check-in on my relationship with technology.

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