We often interrupt moments with a need to capture it. The reasons are plenty. We want to share the moment with others on social media, with family and friends, and sometimes simply for memory sake. Since quitting social media, my desire to capture moments has mostly gone away. It now feels tedious and pointless to take a picture or a video of an experience; I don’t have a platform to share it on so I don’t bother. Usually, I only capture a moment if I want to share it with someone specific that I know would appreciate it. Otherwise, I try and be in the moment and enjoy it. Somehow, I still have 1,522 videos on my phone.
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You don’t need discipline to get offline
As your typical millennial #girlboss, #hustler I have had the pleasure of drinking the discipline Kool-Aid from the fountains of every discipline guru on the internet. It is a good idea to learn from other people. I owe my unplugging journey to everyone that came before me screaming into the digital void that this internet thing is ruining us before we can finish typing http://www.insta… Naturally, amongst other parts of my life, I have tried every trick in the discipline handbook, books, online articles, YouTube videos, you name it, to unplug from the attention economy. It all sounds good in theory but it doesn’t work, or more accurately it works until it doesn’t work.
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“What are you reading?”
(Not about reading)
Kids have a certain kind of straightforwardness, honesty, that often comes off as brutal, unnecessarily truthful; cruel even- “Omg! I didn’t know you were that old,” they say to me. As we grow, we learn politeness; whether real, phony, bogus- “Oh, please. You are so young,” the adults lie all the time. For these reasons, and more, I thoroughly enjoy spending time with kids, always trying to out-play, out-goof, out-kid them. And since they still have to respect me as the adult in the room, we tend to have a good time together: We play, they tell me things without forced politeness and adulthood lies, which I appreciate, and I make sure they don’t get kidnapped. It’s all good. This time, I’m hanging out with a 10-year-old.
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It takes getting used to
As is with most things in life, spending time offline just takes getting used to. And I know a thing or two about getting used to. Getting used to a new country, a new language, a new city, a new life. People get used to war, peace, high gas prices— it’s all kind of the same in a way. It’s just easier to get used to when getting used to is the only option, much harder when you have choices. August 6, I spent a full day offline: No phone, no internet, no TV, nada, it was Global Day of Unplugging. It was much easier this time around: I am getting used to being offline. In a way, it has become my normal. I have removed a lot of the choices I used to have: I’m not on social media, I have tricked myself into finding the internet a boring waste of time— an endless noise, and fewer and fewer things truly grab my attention online these days. The internet is my absolute last resort of escape.
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How to spend 24 hours unplugged
August 6 is #GlobalDayofUnplugging. You can take the pledge to unplug from your devices and plug into life here. If over half a decade of unplugging has taught me anything, it is that unplugging is the easiest part of, well, unplugging: Just walk away from the screen. Through years of trial and terror, err, error, I have learned a few lessons on how to spend a day offline. First thing first: Out of sight, out of mind. I recently unplugged for a day and while it is very nice to unplug as part of a collective effort to disassociate, Oops, I mean disconnect from the digital noise, you can unplug for a 24-hour period, or longer, or shorter, any time of the day, week, month.
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Life gets in the way
I feel time more accurately now.
Its passing, getting away, from me— what has been, what could have been, and what is yet to come, all wrapped up in time and its nonchalant passing. Part growing older, part paying more attention to time. When time finally runs out, I wonder, would I be okay with how it run out? How I let it run out? I can’t save time but I am hoping time can save me. I need to download an app for work so I turn my dumb smartphone smart again. Time spent scrolling creeps up. My phone and I become reacquainted again. My phone is with me constantly. I could just you know… but I won’t. It’s fun to lose time— lose mind, on mindless, endless content. Scroll, scroll, scroll. Dopamine, dopamine, dopamine. Ignore the voice saying— begging, pleading— ‘but it is so much better paying attention to life.’ Yeah, but it’s not as fun. I can’t believe it has been over a decade of trying to unplug, disconnect, get offline, and I am still here. Thank god, I am not where I used to be, but how am I still here? Knowing is half the battle, perfection is the enemy of progress, etc. Whatever.
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In praise of tech-free sleep
I recently bought an analog alarm clock in a desperate attempt to fix my sleep schedule. “Did it wake you up?” I asked innocently; “It woke the neighbors up,” he responded. I was happy it worked. I no longer had an excuse to bring my phone to bed. Life is full of excuses. Full of buts. We can spend a lifetime on “I would… but…” I would totally leave my phone in the other room but I need it for alarm clock. I would totally quit social media but… Never realizing it could be as simple as clicking a button on Amazon, or a commitment to reality.
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When you have nothing to say
It’s okay to say nothing.
I write when I feel I have something to say, something important hopefully. Inspiration comes through living: A quote from a book, a long bike ride, watching a child play. As a thought arises, I try to focus on it, contemplate it, and when the time is right, I write about it. I don’t always have something to say. Sometimes it’s because I am not living enough; not enough input to inspire output. These past couple of weeks however, despite many hours spent offline, biking, playing, soaking up the sun, I simply couldn’t think of something important I wanted say. What I thought I could share, I felt I have already said. What if I didn’t have anything to say?
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Offline play
Once upon a time, I went to high school.
One day, while aimlessly walking the hallway, an older gentleman, a substitute teacher, asked me if I wanted to learn how to play Sudoku. Say what now? But I obliged. I had nothing better to do, and it was the polite response. I haven’t stopped playing Sudoku ever since.Before apps became ubiquitous, I scrounged for Sudoku puzzles in newsletters and magazines, then almost exclusively played it on the Sudoku app on my phone. Recently, I found a physical Sudoku set at the thrift store for $2.97. I prayed it had all the pieces inside as I paid for it and brought it home. My prayer was answered.
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In praise of doing (absolutely) nothing
I’m practicing being still, doing nothing. I sit outside. I let the sky, the sun, clouds, trees, birds, sound from cars, and smiling passerby keep me company. It requires no special equipment, no special skill, to be still, to notice. And it’s free and can be done anywhere, anytime; preferably outside. A bird might shit on you, but that’s life. Getting fresh air and a dose of sunlight is worth the risk. I remain still. Quitting social media is the easy part, so is getting rid of your smartphone, planning weekly digital sabbaticals, and going for a walk instead. The hardest part is the time that remains, infinite, and what will you do with all that time? You can fill it right back up with 100 things to do offline, of course. There is no shortage of things you can do offline, depending on your interests, skills, and resources. Not everyone can or wants to go hiking, build a furniture, or plant a garden, but there is something to do for everyone in the offline world. No matter what we choose to do, however, doing things offline requires more effort than scrolling online.
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time spent offline 