Eight easy ways to spend more time offline

Number 8 is how I made this list... (◕‿◕✿) and why offline is premium time

I keep getting questions about my month offline. Or rather, that month when I left my phone at home whenever I went out. It was a big commitment, but a relatively small sacrifice for the mental peace it brought me. However, I was also in a position of privilege, at a point in my life when it was easy to step away from being reachable for chunks of time. While I love discussing this topic and answering questions, I’ve sometimes felt that my experience might be challenging to apply to most people’s daily lives.

So, let’s find some smaller experiments you can commit to to introduce more offline time to your life. Pick one or pick all, size them down or up, but don’t overcommit. Don’t start with a weight that you can only lift once or twice.

1) Take notes on paper whenever practical

Being offline takes practice. It takes time and effort to rebuild your relationship with devices. Whenever circumstance allows, take notes on paper. Since the action of committing important points to paper involves motion and tactility, you’ll actually remember key points better, too.

2) Create a screen-free bedroom

Ban screens from your bedroom. If you live in a studio, just get rid of screens within arm's reach of your bed. This means you’ll finish and start your day offline. This means better sleep, since you’re not staring into the light right before you go to sleep. It may also reduce anxiety, as you don’t bombard your senses with stimuli the moment you wake up and check messages or socials.

3) Check your phone at the cloak room

Going to a concert or club night? Do you really need your phone? And if yes, are you sure? Test it by leaving your phone in the cloak room. You’ll probably have as good a time, if not better, because you’ll be a lot more present.

4) Doomscrolling? Go for a walk

If you find yourself glued to your phone, put it down and go for a walk. It can just be a 5-minute walk. Maybe you think “eh, I’ll watch two more clips and then I’ll get back to …”, but how often do two clips turn into 20 or 200? Put the phone down, your shoes on, and step out of your front door. Leave your phone at home. Don’t worry about the time you spend on those walks — it’s almost certain that that time spent will be less than what you’d spend doomscrolling. Do your nervous system a favour.

Go for a walk. Wait for your mind to feel ‘offline’. For me, that usually takes about 10-15 minutes, and I recognise it by my mind slowing down and noticing more details. Today I realised I’d ‘gone offline’ when I noticed a berry that had fallen from a bush at the side of the path being eaten by ants. Once your mind is offline, decide what you’re going to do when you return, commit to it and go back. When opening your door, remind yourself of what you’ve committed to.

5) Meet a friend and put your phones in a bag

Going offline doesn’t have to be a solo affair. Get a pouch. Meet a friend. Put your phones on silent. Put the pouch away. You can decide beforehand whether you want to commit to 30 minutes, 60, or whatever feels comfortable for both of you.

6) Extend daily routines with offline moments

In the morning, I get up, turn on my coffee machine, brush my teeth, shower, and prepare breakfast. I basically always follow this routine. If you have routines like this during the day, it’s really powerful (and kind of easy) to attach to them. Perhaps you could establish a rule that you can only look at your phone after completing the entire routine. Or perhaps you stay offline during the routine (i.e., no notifications, no podcasts, or music streaming, etc.). Or, you can add an offline moment to the routine, for example, to journal for 2-5 lines after breakfast.

Spot your routines. One way to identify them is to think about what the first thing you do in certain situations is:

• The first thing you do when you get in your car.

• The first thing you do when you come into the office.

• The first thing you do after a meeting.

Can you add just a brief moment of offline time?

7) Go offline every evening

Pick a timeslot every evening where you’re unreachable. For example, at 8 pm, you go offline for 30 minutes. Airplane mode. Step away from devices. Go for a walk, do the dishes, fix a button on a shirt, polish your shoes, doodle, or talk to a member of your household.

Treat it like time for yourself and the minds around you. Disconnect for a moment from whatever the world is trying to bombard you with.

Over time, you can try extending this time slot until perhaps you go offline early in the evening and don’t come back online until the next day.

8) Go for a phone-free walk and make a list

Stuck? Set yourself a task to make a list. Don’t know what potential hobbies you might fill your offline time with? Grab a pen and paper. Put your phone down and your shoes on. Then, go for a walk and find a place to sit down, where you can start jotting down ideas.

That’s how I came up with the list you’ve just read.

Whichever you pick from here, go easy. Practice. Once you notice the benefits, you can play around with extending one offline habit or creating new ones. Remember why you’re doing it.

Personally, I experience offline time almost as ‘premium time’. Time that is worth double that of online time. I can be in control of my focus. Reset my nervous system. Feel connected to what’s actually around me.

Treat yourself, and others, to some premium time.

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(◕‿◕✿) For your left mouse button

• Musician Benn Jordan converted a PNG image to a waveform and then taught a starling bird to reproduce the sound. What a way to transfer files.

• Elsewhere online, someone is building a messaging app called Roost, which allows you to send your friends messages by virtual pigeon (or snail). The idea being that the time for your message to arrive at your friend is equal to the time it would take this animal to cross the physical distance between you. Follow along on TikTok.

• One way I enjoy discovering music is by following online forums where people share their nightlife experiences or reconnect after a wild weekend. On Monday, I saw a post where Berliners shared their excitement about a performance in Berghain’s Panorama Bar over the weekend. That performance was by Decius, a band from London that creates a unique blend that draws on acid house, disco, and techno. Ready to dance in your desk chair?

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