I'm a Gen Zer who lived without a smartphone for 9 months. Here's what I learned from having a clunky flip phone.

• Ella Jones wanted to know if she could live without her smartphone, so she got a flip phone. 
• She found it clunky and slow but said it reduced her impulse to mindlessly use her screen. 
• She's now back on a smartphone but feels confident she won't fall into screen addiction. 

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Ella Jones, 23, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, about her experience trying to manage her screen time. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I was born in 2000, and I don't remember a time when my family didn't have a computer.