Faraday Pouches for Distraction-Free Study at Terrell

February 17, 2026

Yondr Faraday Pouch and Opener

Terrell Library is a place where time disappears. You sit down to finish a problem set and suddenly you’re also revising a philosophy paper and running through French verbs. By the time “ils ont fini” is looping in your head, it feels obvious that you’ve earned a breather.

The default break, of course, is your phone. You unlock it to skim a few Instagram stories, meaning to stop after a minute or two. Then the co-op group chat lights up, someone shares a TikTok, you check where your friends are, and the next thing you know, you’ve fallen into one of those endless scrolls that leaves you more wired than rested.

That pattern may be less like rest and more like another kind of overload layered onto everything else: reading for class, rehearsals, meetings, late-night talks in the lounge. It makes sense to want small escapes in the middle of all that, but the question is whether social media is really giving your brain a break or simply a different kind of work

If that question is on your mind, look for the sign on the Terrell circulation desk: “Free yourself from your phone” and check out a sleek gray Faraday Pouch designed to hold a phone and block its signal. Students can check one out when they want a truly distraction free block of time — it’s a way to build intentional focus into a space already designed for study, but feel free to take it anywhere on campus.

The process is straightforward. You check out a pouch, slide your phone in, seal the top, and suddenly the main source of digital noise and distraction is out of reach. You may find that hand still drifts toward where your phone usually sits, only to find the pouch instead. That tiny bit of friction — having to go back to the desk to unlock it — makes a casual glance much less likely, and the absence of glowing notifications makes it easier to sink into reading or writing.

Breaks will start to look different, too. Instead of tapping open an app, you stand up, grab tea at Azzie’s, or wander over to the windows to watch people fighting the wind across Wilder Bowl. Five minutes away from your notes IS actually five minutes, not half an hour lost to an algorithm. The work gets done, but there’s also a quieter feeling underneath it, as if your attention has been allowed to stretch out instead of being pulled in ten directions at once.

In the end, the pouch is less about self-control and more about choosing a particular kind of stillness. It offers a gentle reminder that sometimes the most helpful thing a phone can do is disappear for a while. In a place like Oberlin, there’s plenty to notice when the screen goes dark.

Stop distraction. Stay focused. Check out a Faraday Pouch.