Life is not rocket science, it really doesn’t take a genius. By a rough estimation based solely on my own lived experience, and precise feminine intuition, you can solve about 72 to 82 per cent of your current life problems by going offline: Just Walk Away From The Screen. Close Your Eyes. No social media, no waking up to the news, no scrolling to sleep; Life is truly amazing unplugged. This might be the best kept secret of our times. You really don’t need any of the digital noise— None!— to live a perfectly balanced, enjoyable, exciting life.
(more…)Category: Productivity
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Let’s get physical!
And the thing about time spent offline is that you know what to do, you just don’t do it, or you don’t do it enough, or you do it for a bit but then you inevitably find yourself back in the rabbit hole of bottomless Instagram reels and clever Reddit posts while the book sits unread. And you wonder to yourself, What the fuck is wrong with me?
Nothing.
Some things are easier than others; social media is easy, real life is hard.
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I broke my laptop and my grades improved!
I wrote this article back in 2018, fresh out of school, after reading Susan Dynarski’s Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting. Back when I was just beginning to take my time spent offline journey seriously. Five years later, I reflect fondly and with gratitude on the small and big changes, inspirations, and lessons that got me here.
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100 ways to spend more time offline: Not your average list
I made this list for anyone who is also bored of the average things to do offline lists cluttering Google. I know who writes those things, just between you and I, *whispers* ChatGPT *shudders.* It has to be AI generated to be so boring, robotic, uninspiring, repetitive. I, too, got bored of such advice and went looking for my own answers. This list is 100% algorithm-free and made with deep appreciation for time spent offline, from my many years of relentless pursuit to find the pleasures of the offline world. Take what you need, leave the rest. ❤
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With love, time spent offline
You think, foolishly, mistakenly, if you hate the internet, social media, your stupidly overpriced phone— Remember, you chose it— and yourself for spending yet another weekend scrolling through the deafening sounds of tik tok, tik tok, tik tok, a ticking time bomb, then you will finally be able to unplug, disconnect, and get offline. Lord knows you have read all the articles under the sun: The Internet holds an infinite amount of information. You listen to the experts and diligently follow their advice. You track your ScreenTime meticulously, try 30-Day No Internet Challenges, and even remove the addictive apps off of your stupidly smart smartphone some of the time. And you cannot wait until you are finally that person: No social media, no internet, no email, no smartphone. You are foolish, and perhaps delusional, of course. If it were that easy, if it only required the hate you give until you were freed from your addiction(s), then everyone would be offline/sober. Especially you of anyone else. But what has your hate accomplished so far? Where has all your effort in blocking, removing, abstinence, and self-loathing has gotten you? Maybe a few days of solace on that camping trip where the service was spotty anyway, but you were back at it by Monday morning, with coffee on one hand, the other tapping, scrolling, loathing— Yourself and Others— on your stupidly expensive and smart phone.
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31 apps and other personal reflections on my dumb-smartphone
Last post, I declared my love for my smartphone.
We didn’t always have such a healthy, functional, and respectful relationship. In fact, it wasn’t until I set very firm boundaries that I learned to love, respect, and appreciate all the good my smartphone brings to my life. Turning my smartphone into a dumb phone remains a popular post. I’m glad I didn’t believe the lies, and there are a lot of lies; “you need social media,” “you need a smartphone,” “you need to be online.” Lies, lies, lies. The truth is there are no rules, only consequences. Early in my teens, naturally curious and deviant, I observed the adults to be full of lies. I found them pathetic; their lives dull and uninspiring. Not much of what they said ever added up to anything but half-truths at best. I vowed no matter what they said I would do exactly the opposite. I needed my life to turn out the opposite of the daily hell they seemed to be trekking through. Their passive misery bored me. I drowned out their noise with adolescence contempt and went about finding my own truth. I felt a strong conviction to know a thing or two for myself, no matter how long it took or how scary it was to walk the path less travelled, and not knowing the things that awaited on the other side of my longings.
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20 lessons from 24 hours spent without screens
- I love my smartphone. I love GPS. I love my music apps- Hoopla and Apple Music. I love looking up the weather and knowing before it’s too late. I LOVE THE UBER APP— more on this later. I love iMessage and trying to beat the text bubble appearing before my punch line. And I love brain-dumping in my Notes app. That’s about what my dumb-smartphone can do.
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New year, better problems
(Since I don’t listen, let me reframe.)
It’s a dangerous trap, the comfort of misery.
You can spend a lifetime on the same problem; getting used to it, becoming addicted even— the complaining, the exasperated sighs, the misery. “People let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, So what. That’s one of my favorite things to say. So what.” But the devil you know, and it is true. Because it shouldn’t be that difficult right— if I say I don’t want to spend too much time online, it’s a waste of my time, it’s lonely, isolating, boring— to get offline? But it’s easier to complain about the problems of Tinder from the comfort of my couch than to get dressed, go out, and awkwardly flirt with someone who didn’t show initial interest by swiping left/right. It’s a lot of work, this reality of ours. You are safe online. Your ego is safe, and plenty of fish to fill up on.
A lot can go wrong in real life. After all the effort it took to show up, you might not find a single person to try your luck with; you don’t run out of people on dating apps, but a venue can only hold so many people. Reality is unpredictable, indifferent to your efforts. Which brings me back to an important consideration, so what? Choose better problems in 2023. Ask yourself, what problems do I want to have this year? You will be surprised by how much better you will feel this way. You can choose the problem of app-induced loneliness, or socializing: The grass is greener where you water it. You can choose to escape yourself scrolling endlessly or face yourself in the deafening silence of stillness, to learn a thing or two, to try your luck at redemption. You are not getting out alive either way.
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Another year (mostly) spent offline
2022 beat my ass. I aged ten years in two weeks, what did you accomplish? Getting offline won’t save you from yourself, that’s lesson one. Nothing will save your from yourself, except maybe death, but then it won’t matter anyway. In the meantime, getting (mostly) offline has made life much better. Compared to what? I can’t say, but it feels better. It is truly the gift that keeps on giving and I’m excited to see where this journey, this little adventure of mine, will take me. There is no going back now.
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Tips, tools, tricks for time spent offline
On a more practical and less preachy note, I wanted to share a list of tips, tools, and tricks I have used in the past and still use to unplug, disconnect, and spend more time offline. It is by no means an exhaustive list, and it might not be for everyone, everywhere, at all times, but it is what has worked for me over the years and I hope you find if some of it useful.
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time spent offline 