Workplaces
Put it to the team.
Try it yourself, introduce the idea, or get your workplace involved.
Mobile Free Mondays is an invitation to give your phone the day off. At work, that might mean putting your personal phone away while keeping your work phone available, or leaving the scrolling until Tuesday. You don’t have to stop doing your job to take part.
Start with your own Monday.
Think through what you need your phone for: work calls, signing in, travel, or contact with someone who relies on you. Keep those things working. If you use one phone for everything, try blocking distracting apps while leaving essential tools and calls available.
Check with your manager before changing how you handle work calls or messages. You might be able to put your personal phone away for the day, or start with lunch or a meeting. Keep it somewhere out of sight, but accessible when needed. Let anyone affected know how to reach you.
Introduce the idea at work.
Ask a colleague whether they fancy trying it, or bring it up at a team meeting. Explain why you’re interested and ask where less phone use would be welcome. It’s something to try together, not a test of anyone’s commitment to their job or a promise that everyone will get more done.
Share the practical tips and use our resources to help explain the idea. With consent, put a poster in a shared space, or adapt the workplace note to your team’s arrangements. Anyone who’s keen can make their own personal pledge too.
Planning it for the workplace?
Start by talking to the people doing the work, managers, and whoever looks after IT, HR, and accessibility. Ask what might make taking part difficult before deciding how it will work. Different roles may need different arrangements.
Agree a trial with a clear start and finish. One team or part of the day can help you test the arrangements before inviting more people. Explain which non-essential uses you’re asking people to put aside, what stays available, and when you’ll review it. The aim is a repeatable Monday practice, not a sudden ban.
Keep campaign participation voluntary. Anyone can choose not to take part without giving a reason or explaining private circumstances. There should be no phone checks, penalties, or reprimands for not joining in. Managers should follow the agreed arrangements too, including not expecting instant replies through a channel people have been invited to mute for the day.
Waffle party, anyone?
Frame it as a wellbeing benefit rather than a punishment. Focus on what they are gaining (mental clarity, stress reduction, and control over their time) and give them something to look forward to. Bring in lunch, put out some good snacks, or make time for a coffee together. Ask what everyone might enjoy, and consider dietary and access needs so everyone has a way to join in.
If there’s interest and budget, you could offer games, meditation, or quiet areas to help fill those breaks and moments in between work. These are extras, not a requirement for taking part. Don’t squeeze them into someone’s break or expect people to finish their work later to make up the time.
There’s no need to turn Monday into a wellness programme or a shared break into compulsory team bonding. People can put the phone aside and still enjoy some time to themselves. Food and activities should be open to everyone, not prizes for putting their phone down.
Leave some time free.
Ask whether Monday could have fewer unnecessary meetings or an agreed meeting-free block. Protect that time from non-urgent messages too, so people can get on with their work without being expected to answer everything immediately.
Make agendas and other essentials available without a personal phone, and agree when messages will be answered. Simply moving every interruption to a laptop won’t do much for anyone.
Flexible hours and different time zones can mean messages arrive long after someone’s working day has finished. Agree a policy that makes clear when replies are expected, so sending a message outside your own hours doesn’t mean someone else has to pick it up outside theirs. Keep any agreed on-call duties and urgent contact arrangements covered.
An automatic reply or status message can help explain when you’ll be available.
Compare notes.
After the trial, make time for a short, informal conversation. How did the day feel? What helped or got in the way? Did essential contact work? Did anyone end up covering extra messages? Were the alternatives usable? What would make next Monday easier? Leave room for people to say it made no difference or didn’t work for them.
Adjust the arrangements before extending the invitation. Keep what works and make it a repeatable Monday practice that fits your workplace. If you find useful tips along the way, we’d love to hear them.
The bit everybody asks about
Our clients expect an answer within the hour.
Then keep that commitment. Agree which calls and messages need a prompt response and who will handle them. You can put personal scrolling aside without switching off client contact. Don’t change response times without approval or leave colleagues covering extra messages without agreement.
What if we need phones for signing in or doing the work?
Keep using them. Check authentication, rotas, bookings, cameras, scanners, and other phone-based tasks before the trial. Ask IT about approved alternatives where useful, such as hardware security keys, but don’t disable two-factor authentication or introduce unapproved tools. Keep necessary phone access unless a suitable alternative is already in place.
How will family reach us in an emergency?
Agree a route that works for the people who need it. You can allow calls from selected contacts while muting non-essential notifications. A staffed reception number might also work, provided it’s available when needed. Tell the relevant people and test the route beforehand. Keep medical alerts, caring arrangements, and accessibility tools working without asking people to explain private circumstances to the team.
Do we need somewhere to collect everyone’s phones?
No. A personal bag or drawer is enough. If you offer shared storage or charging, make it optional and agree security, responsibility, and access first. People need to be able to retrieve their devices for essential use.
Will people feel pressured to take part?
Putting the phone away won’t help much if people still feel they have to be constantly available. That pressure to look busy or responsive online is often called digital presenteeism. You may also see reverse presenteeism used to describe work spilling into personal time.
Agree when replies are expected, respect working hours, and make clear that a message sent late doesn’t require an immediate reply. Mobile Free Mondays shouldn’t become another test of commitment. Keep participation voluntary, with no screen-time checks or comparisons.
We’re fully remote. Does it still apply?
Yes. You can put your personal phone aside while keeping work tools available. Agree response times and urgent contact first, and keep on-call duties covered. There’s no need for anyone to prove their phone is put away.
The automatic reply
Let people know you’re taking part in Mobile Free Mondays and won’t be checking messages on your phone.
I’m taking part in Mobile Free Mondays, so I’m not checking messages on my phone. I’ll reply when I’m at my laptop during my working hours, [start time]–[end time], [time zone]. For anything urgent, please use [agreed contact route].
Print, paste, share
Posters for the kitchen and the meeting rooms, add the recurring calendar event to the diary, QRs codes for flyers, and find more ways to make it stick…
Every Monday · #MobileFreeMondays
Trial it for four Mondays.
A pilot can be stopped, which is exactly why people agree to try one. Sign your own name to the first of them.
A campaign by The Dead Good Club
Mobile Free Mondays · A Dead Good Club campaign
Every Monday · #MobileFreeMondays