A Day Without My Phone: Habits, Distractions, Polite Requests and a Dead Battery

On a Friday evening Paul left his phone on his friend Daniel’s bookshelf and went home without it. By ten o’clock on Saturday morning his hand had gone to his trouser pocket again and again: “I counted later. Eleven times before ten o’clock.” (02:22) Emily’s answer is short: “Eleven times, and the pocket was always empty.” (02:26)

That small accident is the story behind the whole episode. Paul and Emily ask “Could you spend one whole day without your phone?” (00:49) and then go through what they notice: the habits that move your hand for you, the strange feelings of a screen-free hour, the way a message cuts your attention in two, and what to say when a phone is a problem at dinner or a dead machine at a train station. There is a five-question quiz and two role plays near the end, and the hosts are clear about the goal: they do not want you to throw your phone away, they want you to choose when you use it.

The episode is made for B1 learners (“this episode is made for B1 learners” (00:43)), and it runs about 22 minutes. There are short pauses where you answer out loud, so listen somewhere you can speak.

Watch the episode: Watch the episode on YouTube

Time: about 22 minutes to listen. The practice below takes about 15 minutes. The chapter list at the bottom lets you jump to one part.

Before you listen: look at where your phone is right now. Is it in your hand, in your pocket, face down on the table? Guess how many times you picked it up this morning, and keep your guess for the end of the episode.

How to use this page: listen once for the stories. Then replay the quiz (18:49) and the role plays (19:45) and say each answer out loud before Paul and Emily do. If a line goes too fast, the full transcript is at the bottom.

What You’ll Learn

• Phone-habit expressions: out of habit, on autopilot, reach for and get distracted
• Two feelings without a screen and the difference between them: restless (the body) and uneasy (the mind)
• Losing your focus: lose track and lose the thread, and the polite line Sorry, I lost the thread. What were you saying?
• Notifications, and the phrase put something off for the escape you take when work feels difficult
• Hearing versus listening, pay attention, and three kind ways to ask someone to put their phone away
• Planning for a dead battery: rely on, backup, and three sentences for a bad day
• A plan you can really keep: manageable and cut down on

Key Idea

Use it on purpose, not out of habit.

Emily gives you this line before the stories start (01:33) and the hosts bring it back in the middle of the episode and again at the end. The picture they use for the problem is a brown path in green grass: when enough people walk the same way every day, “nobody chooses it anymore.” (04:02) Your hand follows the path to the phone before you decide anything. The goal is not to remove the path. It is to notice it, and now and then to choose a different way.

The task for today is small. Choose one hour when your phone is “closed”, like a shop, and when your hand starts to reach, say the line to yourself. The challenge for the comments is one English sentence about the time your phone will be closed.

Paul’s Story: The Phone on the Bookshelf (01:47)

Paul had watched a football match at Daniel’s on Friday and noticed the missing phone only on Saturday morning, “at about eight.” (02:14) The first hour was uncomfortable. But then something nice happened: “I sat by the window and read a whole chapter of my book.” (02:33) Emily’s comment is dry: “That sounds rare for you.” (02:37)

The day was not a complete success. Paul could not remember whether his coffee with Daniel was at eleven or half past eleven, because the time was in his phone. So he walked to the café at eleven, “just to be safe”. Daniel had been there since ten forty, and Emily guesses the rest: “Because he was trying to send you a message.” (03:10) Paul finishes the joke: “To a phone that was sitting on his own bookshelf.” (03:14)

Out of Habit: The Path in the Grass (03:24)

Emily asks what people do first when they wake up, and Paul says many pick up the phone “before they even open their eyes properly.” (03:29) The first expression is for exactly that: “Out of habit means you do something automatically, because you always do it.” (03:37) The hosts build the grass picture together until Paul sums it up: “So a habit is a path in the grass. My hand follows it to my phone.” (04:06)

Listen for the two plain examples. They are good models for your own: “I check my email out of habit, even on Sundays.” (04:16) and “She says yes to extra work out of habit.” (04:21) The phrase is not only about phones. It is about any small action you do without choosing it.

On Autopilot, Reach For, Get Distracted (04:28)

Three more phone-habit expressions come quickly. For on autopilot, Emily uses a plane: “A plane on autopilot flies without the pilot touching anything.” (04:28) Paul makes it personal: when you do something on autopilot, “your body works, but your mind is not there.” (04:36) Emily’s own example is a good one to repeat: “I drove to my old office on autopilot last month. I do not even work there now.” (04:40)

Reach for is simpler: you move your arm to take something, a cup, a book, the salt. Today, Paul says, most people reach for one thing more than the others, and both hosts have a trigger: Emily reaches “when I feel bored” (05:12), Paul when “a conversation goes quiet” (05:17).

Get distracted comes with Emily’s best story. She opened her phone on Tuesday to check the time: “Fifteen minutes later, I was reading a recipe for lemon cake.” (05:35) She did not even know what time it was. The hosts end the section with a question for you: where does your hand go first in the morning?

Restless and Uneasy (06:22)

After the first hour without his phone, Paul “could not sit still.” (06:12) Emily gives him the word: restless, which means you cannot relax or stay still because you feel a little nervous or bored. Her example is children on a long car journey. Paul adds adults who wait without a screen.

There was a second feeling, and Paul describes it with a picture: “I felt like I had left the oven on at home.” (06:39) That is uneasy: “a little worried, but you are not sure why.” (06:53) The hosts give you an easy way to remember the difference: “So restless is about the body, and uneasy is about the mind.” (06:57)

Then comes your first speaking pause. Paul starts the sentence, “I often get distracted by…” (07:26), and you finish it out loud in about three seconds. Emily’s model is about messages from her sister, Paul’s is about football news. Emily’s advice for your answer: “Short sentences are perfect here.” (07:48)

Waiting, Lose Track and Lose the Thread (08:02)

Emily tells a quiet story about a clinic. Last week her battery was dead, she waited ten minutes without her phone, and at first she felt restless again. Then she listened to the people around her and noticed “a little girl reading to her grandmother.” (08:21)

From waiting the talk moves to interruptions. If you read a page, answer a message and come back, you may not know where you are. “That is called losing track.” (08:49) Paul’s examples are two short sentences you can borrow: “I lost track of the story. I lost track of time.” (08:54) The second expression is lose the thread, and Paul explains the picture: it is “like the thread in a needle, when you are sewing.” (09:03) The thread slips out and you have to find the end and push it through the tiny hole again.

The line to keep from this part is one you can use in a real meeting or conversation: “Sorry, I lost the thread. What were you saying?” (09:20) Emily calls it “a polite and natural sentence.” (09:25) There is a pause for you to repeat it.

Notifications: The Doorbell While You Cook (09:41)

Most interruptions, Paul says, come from the phone itself. His picture for notifications is a cooking scene: the onions are in the pan and the doorbell rings, you go to the door and nobody is there, and it rings again. “That is what notifications do to your attention. They ring the doorbell all day.” (10:06) The first step they suggest is small: silence the apps that ring the loudest. Emily silenced three last month, shopping, games and one news app, and missed nothing.

But sometimes there is no notification and she still picks up the phone, usually when work feels difficult. That is where put something off belongs: “When you put something off, you do it later, because you do not want to do it now.” (10:46) Paul puts off his taxes every year, Emily puts off difficult emails until the afternoon. Paul’s conclusion changes how you can think about the phone: “So the phone is not always the problem. Sometimes it is our escape door.” (10:59)

Phones at Home: Pay Attention (11:15)

Paul describes a small kitchen at seven in the evening. A sister is telling you about her new job, your phone lights up, your eyes go down for a second, and “she stops talking in the middle of a sentence.” (11:34) The dinner table is worse, and Paul has an image for it: “A phone on the table is like a TV left on in the corner.” (11:47) Nobody is really watching it, but everybody looks a little, and “the conversation gets thinner.” (11:57)

The expression here is pay attention, and Emily separates it from hearing with a small test: Daniel told her his new neighbour’s name last month, and she cannot remember it because she was reading a message. “Hearing is automatic. Paying attention is a choice.” (12:35)

Then the hosts teach three kind ways to ask someone to put a phone away, each followed by a pause for you to repeat: “Could we put our phones away for dinner?” (12:48), “Do you mind if we keep the phones off the table?” (12:51) and “Let’s have a phone-free dinner tonight, just us.” (12:55) They also give you two ways to answer. One is agreement. The other is honest: “just one second, I am sending one last message” (13:04), and Emily’s comment is that it is “honest, and it is still polite.” (13:08)

When the Battery Dies: Rely On and Backup (13:22)

Now Emily is fair to phones: “There are days when you really need it.” (13:19) Her story is a dead battery at the train station at six in the evening, with her ticket, bank card and hotel map all inside it: “All in one small dead machine.” (13:37) She was lucky. She had some cash and bought a new ticket, and a woman at the station drew a paper map on the ticket. “It was the most memorable part of the journey, honestly.” (14:00)

That is the setting for rely on, “you need it, and you trust it to work” (14:12), and for backup, which Emily compares to a first aid kit in the kitchen: you hope you never open it, but you are glad it is there. “So a backup is not about fear. It is about being ready.” (14:46) The backup kit they suggest has cash, a small charger and a few useful sentences in English. You repeat three of them with a pause after each: “Can I pay for this in cash?” (15:05), “Could I borrow a charger for ten minutes?” (15:08) and “Excuse me, which way is the station?” (15:10)

A Manageable Plan: Phone Opening Hours (15:28)

The answer to phones good or phones bad, says Paul, is a plan that is manageable: “Manageable means you can actually do it, without too much stress.” (15:28) A whole day is not manageable for him right now, but “one hour is manageable.” (15:39) His last picture is a shop with opening hours: “Your phone can have opening hours too.” (15:50) It opens after breakfast, it closes during dinner and after ten at night.

Emily explains why a small rule works better than a big one. “Because if you break a big rule, you often give up the whole plan.” (16:07) She then adds the last expression, cut down on, which means to use less of something, with examples about sugar and coffee. Paul wants to cut down on screen time in the evening.

Before the review, Paul makes his own plan in front of you: his phone opens at eight thirty and stays in the kitchen at night, and he will buy a small, old-fashioned alarm clock. Emily’s comment is that this is another backup, “two expressions in one plan”. His last tip is one to copy: “Write it on paper, not in your phone.” (17:10)

Review: Paul’s Saturday Again (17:13)

Emily retells Paul’s Saturday and stops at each expression so that you can say it with Paul: out of habit, on autopilot, reach for, get distracted, restless, uneasy, lose track, lose the thread, put something off, rely on, backup, manageable and cut down on. It is the best part of the episode to replay if you only have five minutes, because every phrase appears in the same short story.

Quiz: Five Questions (18:49)

Paul and Emily take turns asking, and you answer in the pause. The five situations are: you cannot sit still before a big exam (restless), a friend talks while you look at your phone (pay attention), you keep doing your homework later and later (put it off), a message stopped you and you cannot follow the meeting (Sorry, I lost the thread. What were you saying?), and which is more polite at dinner, an order or a question. Paul’s answer to the last one is worth remembering: “A question sounds softer than an order.” (19:39) Emily’s comment on your score: “Even three is a good result.” (19:43)

Role Play: Dinner and the Ticket Office (19:45)

There are two short role plays, and in each Emily goes first and then it is your turn. In the dinner scene Paul keeps checking his phone, and you ask kindly. Emily’s model is “Do you mind if we keep the phones off the table tonight?” (20:01) In the second scene your phone has died and you are at the ticket office, and the model is “My phone died. Can I pay for this ticket in cash?” (20:22) Emily’s advice after your turn is a good rule for every answer in this episode: “Short and clear is enough.” (20:37)

Today’s Action and Your Challenge (20:43)

The action is the opening hours idea: “Choose one hour today when your phone is closed. Like a shop.” (20:43) Paul suggests during dinner, or the first hour after you wake up. When your hand reaches for the phone, remember the line. The challenge for the comments is a single English sentence about the time your phone will be closed today. Paul’s example: “my phone will be closed from seven to eight tonight.” (21:22) The next episode is about small talk with neighbours.

Useful Language from the Episode

Expression	Meaning	From the episode
out of habit	automatically, because you always do it	“I check my email out of habit, even on Sundays.”
on autopilot	doing something with your body while your mind is not there	“I drove to my old office on autopilot last month.”
reach for	move your arm to take something	“I reach for my phone when I feel bored.”
get distracted	have your attention taken away from what you are doing	“I did not even know what time it was. I got distracted.”
restless	you cannot relax or stay still, a little nervous or bored	“Children often feel restless on a long car journey.”
uneasy	a little worried, but you are not sure why	“I felt like I had left the oven on at home.”
lose track	stop following something	“I lost track of the story. I lost track of time.”
lose the thread	lose the line of what is being said or done	“Sorry, I lost the thread. What were you saying?”
put something off	do it later because you do not want to do it now	“I put off my taxes every single year.”
notifications	the little sounds and messages on your screen	“Notifications. The little sounds and messages on your screen.”
pay attention	listen or watch carefully	“Hearing is automatic. Paying attention is a choice.”
rely on	need it and trust it to work	“I rely on my phone for maps.”
backup	a second plan or a second thing if the first one fails	“So you need a backup.”
manageable	something you can actually do, without too much stress	“But one hour is manageable.”
cut down on	use less of something	“I want to cut down on screen time in the evening.”

Mistake and Repair

Some of these phrases take a small word that is easy to lose, and some are easy to turn into a different verb. The table below is written for this page and shows common mix-ups next to the form used in the episode.

A common mix-up	The episode’s form
I am distracting by messages.	I get distracted by messages.
I lost the track of the story.	I lost track of the story.
I rely in my phone for maps.	I rely on my phone for maps.
I want to cut down screen time.	I want to cut down on screen time.
I feel me restless.	I feel restless.
Put your phone away! (an order)	Could we put our phones away for dinner? (a question, with we)

Practice with the Episode

1. Choose the expression

Complete each sentence with out of habit, on autopilot, reach for, lose the thread, put off, rely on, cut down on or get distracted.

1. I opened the fridge ___, but I was not even hungry.
2. Please do not talk to me while I read this. I will ___.
3. I ___ my phone every time the bus is late.
4. He was so tired that he did the whole job ___.
5. We ___ the bus app to know when to leave.
6. I am trying to ___ coffee in the afternoon.
7. I will ___ the dentist until next month. I know, I know.
8. A message arrived while I was cooking and I ___ by the news.

Answers (written for this page)

1. out of habit
2. lose the thread
3. reach for
4. on autopilot
5. rely on
6. cut down on
7. put off
8. got distracted

2. Restless or uneasy?

Write restless or uneasy for each situation.

1. You wait at the doctor’s and you cannot sit still.
2. You locked the door, but later you are not sure.
3. The meeting is very long and you keep moving your legs.
4. You did not get a reply to your message and you feel a small worry, but you do not know why.

Answers (written for this page)

1. restless
2. uneasy
3. restless
4. uneasy

3. Turn the order into a question

Change each sentence into a kind question with we.

1. Phones away, now.
2. No phones at the table.
3. Stop checking your phone.

Sample answers (written for this page, based on the episode)

1. Could we put our phones away for dinner?
2. Do you mind if we keep the phones off the table?
3. Let’s have a phone-free dinner tonight, just us.

4. Build your bad-day backup

Your phone has died at a station. Write one sentence for each need: you want to pay with cash, you need to charge the phone, and you need to find the station.

Sample answers (from the episode)

1. Can I pay for this in cash?
2. Could I borrow a charger for ten minutes?
3. Excuse me, which way is the station?

5. Say it out loud

Finish this sentence in English and say it out loud three times: My phone will be closed from ___ to ___ today. Then write the same sentence in the comments, and add one polite question for someone you eat with, for example Could we put our phones away for dinner?

Keep Practicing

Do you want to ask someone to put their phone away without sounding rude, and answer kindly when someone asks you? Read Could We Put Our Phones Away? How to Ask Kindly and Answer Honestly in English, a page about the dinner table.

Chapters

• 00:00 Could You Spend a Whole Day Without Your Phone?
• 01:30 Today’s Pocket Line
• 01:47 Paul’s Story: The Phone on the Bookshelf
• 03:24 Out of Habit: The Path in the Grass
• 04:28 On Autopilot, Reach For, Get Distracted
• 06:22 Restless and Uneasy
• 08:02 Waiting, Lose Track and Lose the Thread
• 09:41 Notifications: The Doorbell While You Cook
• 11:15 Phones at Home: Pay Attention
• 13:22 When the Battery Dies: Rely On and Backup
• 15:28 A Manageable Plan: Phone Opening Hours
• 17:13 Review: Paul’s Saturday Again
• 18:49 Quiz: Five Questions
• 19:45 Role Play: Dinner and the Ticket Office
• 20:43 Today’s Action and Your Challenge

Full Transcript

Emily: Have you ever reached for your phone, and then forgotten why?

Paul: Every day. Sometimes three times before breakfast.

Emily: That is not a guess, Paul. I counted this morning.

Paul: You counted. That feels a little unfair, Emily.

Emily: You unlocked your phone three times before the tea was ready.

Paul: Okay. I was checking something important, I think.

Emily: I am curious what it was.

Paul: I honestly do not remember. And that is the problem.

Emily: If that sounds like you too, you are in the right place.

Paul: Welcome to English Practice Daily. I’m Paul.

Emily: And I’m Emily. This podcast is for real English and real days.

Paul: And this episode is made for B1 learners.

Paul: Today, we ask one simple question. Could you spend one whole day without your phone?

Emily: No messages, no maps, no quick look at the screen.

Paul: Just hearing it makes my hand move towards my pocket.

Emily: We will not tell you to throw your phone in the sea.

Paul: Good, because I still need it to pay for lunch.

Emily: Our goal is smaller and more useful. We want to notice our phone habits.

Paul: And we want to talk about them in clear, natural English.

Emily: You will learn twelve useful expressions in this episode.

Paul: We also add three more, plus a few lines for real problems.

Emily: Like what to say when your battery dies at a station.

Paul: Here is one line to keep in your pocket today.

Emily: Use it on purpose, not out of habit.

Paul: We will come back to that line a few times.

Emily: If you want, you can repeat after us, out loud. Even quietly is fine.

Paul: And near the end, there is a short quiz and a role play for you.

Emily: Paul, I think you have a story for us today.

Paul: I do. It is about last Saturday, the day I lost my phone.

Emily: Oh no, you lost it. Tell me where.

Paul: Not really lost. On Friday evening, I visited my friend Daniel.

Paul: We watched a football match, and I put my phone on his bookshelf.

Emily: And you went home without it.

Paul: Exactly. I only noticed on Saturday morning, at about eight.

Emily: That must have felt strange.

Paul: Very uncomfortable. My hand kept going to my trouser pocket.

Paul: I counted later. Eleven times before ten o’clock.

Emily: Eleven times, and the pocket was always empty.

Paul: Always empty. But then something nice happened.

Paul: I sat by the window and read a whole chapter of my book.

Emily: That sounds rare for you.

Paul: Months ago, maybe longer. It was quiet, and it felt wonderful.

Emily: So the day was a big success.

Paul: Not completely. I had a coffee with Daniel at eleven. Or was it half past eleven?

Emily: Oh no. The time was in your phone.

Paul: Of course. So I walked to the café at eleven, just to be safe.

Emily: Let me guess. He was late.

Paul: No. He was already there at ten forty, waiting for twenty minutes.

Emily: Because he was trying to send you a message.

Paul: To a phone that was sitting on his own bookshelf.

Emily: That is a very good story for today, Paul.

Paul: It was good for me too. I learned a lot in one morning.

Emily: Let’s start with mornings, then. Think about the first thing people do when they wake up.

Paul: Many people pick up their phone before they even open their eyes properly.

Emily: Not because they need something. They do it out of habit.

Paul: Out of habit means you do something automatically, because you always do it.

Emily: Here is a picture for this idea. Imagine a field of soft green grass.

Paul: Like the park near my flat.

Emily: Yes. Now imagine people walk across the same part of the grass every day.

Paul: After a few weeks, there is a brown path in the grass.

Emily: And then everyone uses the path. Nobody chooses it anymore. Their feet just follow it.

Paul: So a habit is a path in the grass. My hand follows it to my phone.

Emily: That is a lovely way to say it. Here are two simple examples.

Paul: I check my email out of habit, even on Sundays.

Emily: She says yes to extra work out of habit.

Paul: There is a close expression we like too. On autopilot.

Emily: A plane on autopilot flies without the pilot touching anything.

Paul: So when you do something on autopilot, your body works, but your mind is not there.

Emily: I drove to my old office on autopilot last month. I do not even work there now.

Paul: That is a perfect example. Try this one with us. I was on autopilot this morning.

Emily: Now, the next expression is reach for.

Paul: When you reach for something, you move your arm to take it.

Emily: You can reach for a cup, or a book, or the salt at dinner.

Paul: But today, most people reach for one thing more than anything else.

Emily: Their phone. I reach for my phone when I feel bored.

Paul: And I reach for my phone when a conversation goes quiet.

Emily: The third expression is get distracted.

Paul: You get distracted when something takes your attention away from what you are doing.

Emily: Here is my real example from Tuesday. I opened my phone to check the time.

Paul: Just the time. Simple.

Emily: Fifteen minutes later, I was reading a recipe for lemon cake.

Paul: So now you had a lovely cake.

Emily: No cake at all. I did not even know what time it was. I got distracted.

Paul: That happens to everyone. We all have our own path in the grass.

Emily: Think about your own path for a second. Notice where your hand goes in the morning.

Paul: For me, it goes to the phone before the kettle.

Emily: For me, it goes to the phone while my coffee is still too hot to drink.

Paul: Let’s go back to my Saturday. After the first hour, I felt something new.

Emily: Tell me about it.

Paul: I could not sit still. I stood up, sat down, and walked around the kitchen.

Emily: There is a good word for that. Restless.

Paul: Restless means you cannot relax or stay still, because you feel a little nervous or bored.

Emily: Children often feel restless on a long car journey.

Paul: And adults feel restless when they wait without a screen.

Emily: There was another feeling too, I think.

Paul: Yes. I felt like I had left the oven on at home.

Emily: But you knew where the phone was.

Paul: I knew exactly. On Daniel’s bookshelf. But the feeling did not go away.

Emily: That feeling is uneasy. Uneasy means a little worried, but you are not sure why.

Paul: So restless is about the body, and uneasy is about the mind.

Emily: Here is another example of uneasy. You lock the door, and later you are not sure.

Paul: Oh, I know that feeling. I go back and check the door twice.

Emily: Now you can feel the difference. Let’s say them together. Restless. Uneasy.

Paul: Restless. Uneasy. Good. Now, here is a short sentence you can finish yourself.

Paul: I often get distracted by…

Emily: Pause and finish it out loud. Take three seconds.

Emily: Here is mine. I often get distracted by messages from my sister.

Paul: And mine. I often get distracted by football news.

Emily: Your answer can be very simple. Short sentences are perfect here.

Emily: Paul, let’s talk about waiting. Most of us wait many times every day.

Paul: At the doctor’s, at the bus stop, in a long queue at the supermarket.

Emily: Last week, I waited at a medical clinic for ten minutes without my phone.

Paul: That was a brave experiment.

Emily: Not brave at all. The battery was dead. At first, I felt restless again.

Paul: Of course. Ten minutes feels like an hour.

Emily: But then I listened to the people around me, and I noticed a little girl reading to her grandmother.

Paul: That is sweet. You would miss that with a screen in your hand.

Emily: Yes. Now, waiting is one thing. Being interrupted is another.

Paul: You mean when you are doing something, and something stops you.

Emily: Right. Imagine you read a page, then answer a message, and then come back.

Paul: All the time. And then I do not know where I am on the page.

Emily: That is called losing track. When you lose track, you stop following something.

Paul: I lost track of the story. I lost track of time.

Emily: There is another nice expression for this. Lose the thread.

Paul: Like the thread in a needle, when you are sewing.

Emily: Exactly. Imagine you are fixing a button, and the thread slips out of the needle.

Paul: Then you must find the end, and push it through the tiny hole again.

Emily: That takes time. Your mind is the same after every message.

Paul: So, I am sorry, I lost the thread. What were you saying?

Emily: That is a polite and natural sentence. You can use it in meetings too.

Paul: Let’s repeat it. Sorry, I lost the thread. What were you saying?

Paul: Now, most interruptions do not come from people. They come from the phone itself.

Emily: Notifications. The little sounds and messages on your screen.

Paul: Here is my picture for notifications. Imagine you are cooking dinner.

Emily: I like this already.

Paul: The onions are in the pan, and suddenly the doorbell rings.

Emily: So you go to the door.

Paul: Nobody is there. You go back, and the doorbell rings again.

Emily: Twenty times in one evening. The onions would be black.

Paul: That is what notifications do to your attention. They ring the doorbell all day.

Emily: So we need a plan. Where do we begin?

Paul: Begin small. Choose the apps that ring the loudest, and silence them.

Emily: Last month, I silenced three. Shopping, games, and one news app.

Paul: I bet you missed nothing important.

Emily: You are right, nothing at all. But I noticed something else. Sometimes there is no notification.

Paul: And you still pick up the phone.

Emily: Yes, usually when my work feels difficult. I want a small escape.

Paul: There is an expression for that. Put something off.

Emily: When you put something off, you do it later, because you do not want to do it now.

Paul: I put off my taxes every single year.

Emily: And I often put off difficult emails until the afternoon.

Paul: So the phone is not always the problem. Sometimes it is our escape door.

Emily: That is why our line is useful here. Use it on purpose, not out of habit.

Paul: If you open your phone, ask yourself one quick thing. Why am I opening it?

Emily: Okay, let’s go home now, and look at phones at home.

Paul: Picture a small kitchen at seven in the evening. Pasta is on the stove.

Emily: And your sister is making the salad.

Paul: She is telling you about her new job, and your phone lights up.

Emily: So your eyes go down, just for a second.

Paul: And she stops talking in the middle of a sentence. I have seen that face.

Emily: That sounds very familiar. The dinner table is even worse.

Paul: Here is my picture. A phone on the table is like a TV left on in the corner.

Emily: Nobody is really watching it.

Paul: But everybody looks at it a little. And the conversation gets thinner.

Emily: That is a powerful image. Now, there is an important expression here. Pay attention.

Paul: When you pay attention, you listen or watch carefully.

Emily: And there is a difference between hearing and listening.

Paul: You can hear someone talk and still not pay attention to the words.

Emily: Here is a test. Last month, Daniel told me the name of his new neighbour.

Paul: And what was it?

Emily: I have no idea. I heard the sound, but I was reading a message at the same time.

Paul: So the name went in one ear and straight out of the other.

Emily: Exactly. Hearing is automatic. Paying attention is a choice.

Paul: So, let’s learn how to ask someone to put their phone away, without sounding rude.

Emily: Here are three polite ways. Listen first, then repeat.

Paul: Could we put our phones away for dinner?

Paul: Do you mind if we keep the phones off the table?

Paul: Let’s have a phone-free dinner tonight, just us.

Emily: And if someone asks you, you can answer kindly.

Paul: Sure, good idea. Or, just one second, I am sending one last message.

Emily: That second one is honest, and it is still polite.

Paul: Now, Emily, we have been quite hard on phones so far.

Emily: That is true. Let’s be fair. There are days when you really need it.

Paul: Like when you travel.

Emily: Last month, my battery died at the train station at six in the evening.

Paul: And your ticket was in your phone.

Emily: My ticket, my bank card, and the map to my hotel. All in one small dead machine.

Paul: That sounds like a terrible evening.

Emily: It could be, but I was lucky. I had some cash in my bag, and I bought a new ticket.

Paul: And the hotel? The map was in your phone too.

Emily: I asked a woman at the station. She drew a little map on my ticket.

Paul: A paper map from a stranger. I love that.

Emily: It was the most memorable part of the journey, honestly. I still have that ticket.

Paul: There is an expression for that situation. Rely on.

Emily: When you rely on something, you need it, and you trust it to work.

Paul: I rely on my phone for maps. Many people rely on their phone to pay for everything.

Emily: And that is fine, until the battery dies.

Paul: So you need a backup. A backup is a second plan, or a second thing, if the first one fails.

Emily: Here is my picture for a backup. A first aid kit in your kitchen.

Paul: The little box with plasters and bandages.

Emily: Yes. You hope you never open it. But when you cut your finger, you are very happy it is there.

Paul: So a backup is not about fear. It is about being ready.

Emily: Exactly. Some cash in your wallet. A small charger in your bag.

Paul: And a few useful sentences in your head, in English.

Emily: Good idea. Here are three sentences for a bad day. Repeat after us.

Paul: Can I pay for this in cash?

Paul: Could I borrow a charger for ten minutes?

Paul: Excuse me, which way is the station?

Paul: These three lines could save your evening. Keep them in your backup kit.

Emily: So, Paul, now we need an answer. Phones good, or phones bad.

Paul: Neither. I think the answer is a plan that is manageable.

Emily: Manageable means you can actually do it, without too much stress.

Paul: A whole day without my phone is not manageable for me right now.

Emily: But one hour is manageable.

Paul: Yes. Here is my last picture. Think about a shop with opening hours.

Emily: Open at nine in the morning, closed at six in the evening.

Paul: Your phone can have opening hours too. Maybe it opens after breakfast.

Emily: And it closes during dinner, and after ten at night.

Paul: That is easier than saying no phone ever.

Emily: And it is kinder to yourself. You do not feel like you failed.

Paul: Because if you break a big rule, you often give up the whole plan.

Emily: But a small rule is easy to start again tomorrow.

Emily: There is one more useful expression here. Cut down on.

Paul: When you cut down on something, you use less of it.

Emily: I am trying to cut down on sugar. He is trying to cut down on coffee.

Paul: And I want to cut down on screen time in the evening.

Emily: That is a realistic goal. Small, clear, and completely manageable.

Paul: Let me make my own plan right now, in front of you.

Emily: Go on. I will remember it, so be careful.

Paul: My phone opens at eight thirty, after breakfast and a cup of tea.

Paul: It closes at dinner time, and it stays in the kitchen at night.

Emily: That sounds manageable. And where will your alarm clock be?

Paul: Good point. I will buy a small, old-fashioned alarm clock.

Emily: That is a nice backup too. Two expressions in one plan.

Paul: You can make a plan like this in one minute. Write it on paper, not in your phone.

Paul: Now it is time to remember everything. Let’s tell my Saturday story again.

Emily: I will tell it, and I will stop at each expression. You can say it with me.

Emily: On Friday evening, Paul left his phone on Daniel’s bookshelf.

Emily: On Saturday morning, his hand went to his pocket. Not on purpose. Out of habit.

Paul: Out of habit.

Emily: He was moving on autopilot.

Paul: On autopilot.

Emily: Eleven times, he tried to reach for a phone that was not there.

Paul: Reach for.

Emily: Without his screen, he did not get distracted. He read a whole chapter.

Paul: Get distracted.

Emily: But after an hour, he could not sit still. He felt restless.

Paul: Restless.

Emily: And a little worried. He felt uneasy.

Paul: Uneasy.

Emily: He did not lose track of the story, and he did not lose the thread.

Paul: Lose track. Lose the thread.

Emily: He did not put off his reading. He read it right away.

Paul: Put something off.

Emily: But Paul relies on his phone for the time of his meetings.

Paul: Rely on.

Emily: And he had no backup.

Paul: Backup.

Emily: So Daniel waited twenty minutes at the café.

Paul: Poor Daniel. I paid for his coffee, of course.

Emily: Now his plan is manageable. One hour closed, not one whole day.

Paul: Manageable.

Emily: And he wants to cut down on evening screen time.

Paul: Cut down on.

Emily: Very good. Now, a short quiz. I ask, you answer. Then we give the answer.

Paul: Question one. You cannot sit still before a big exam. How do you feel?

Paul: Restless. I feel restless before exams.

Emily: Question two. Your friend talks, but you are looking at your phone. What should you do?

Emily: Pay attention. You should put the phone down and pay attention.

Paul: Question three. You keep doing your homework later and later. What are you doing?

Paul: Putting it off. I keep putting off my homework.

Emily: Question four. A message stopped you, and now you cannot follow the meeting. What can you say?

Emily: Sorry, I lost the thread. What were you saying?

Paul: Question five. Which is more polite at dinner? Phones away, now. Or, could we put our phones away for dinner?

Paul: The second one. A question sounds softer than an order.

Emily: Count your correct answers. Even three is a good result.

Paul: Now, two short role plays. First, I am your friend at dinner, and I keep checking my phone.

Emily: You ask me kindly to put it away. I will go first, then it is your turn.

Paul: Sorry, I just need to check this.

Emily: Do you mind if we keep the phones off the table tonight?

Paul: Oh, sure. Good idea. Now you try. I am checking my phone again.

Paul: Nice. Any polite question works here.

Emily: Second role play. Your phone is dead, and you are at the ticket office at the station.

Paul: I work at the ticket office. Hello, can I help you?

Emily: Yes, please. My phone died. Can I pay for this ticket in cash?

Paul: Of course. Where are you going?

Emily: Now it is your turn. You are the traveller, and I work at the ticket office. Ready? Hello, can I help you?

Emily: Very good. Short and clear is enough.

Paul: So, here is one small thing to try today.

Emily: Choose one hour today when your phone is closed. Like a shop.

Paul: Maybe during dinner. Maybe the first hour after you wake up.

Emily: And when you feel your hand reach for it, remember our line.

Paul: Use it on purpose, not out of habit.

Emily: Today, we talked about phone habits, distractions, and having a backup.

Paul: We learned how to describe the feelings, and how to ask politely.

Emily: And we practiced lines for a day when your phone suddenly dies.

Paul: Now, a question for you. What time will your phone be closed today?

Emily: Write your answer in the comments, in one English sentence.

Paul: For example, my phone will be closed from seven to eight tonight.

Emily: We read the comments, and we love your examples.

Paul: In our next episode, we talk about how to make small talk with neighbours.

Emily: If this episode helped you, please subscribe to English Practice Daily.

Paul: Thank you for listening and practicing with us today.

Emily: Now, maybe put your phone down for a moment, and look around you.

Paul: See you next time. Bye.

Emily: Bye, everyone.