Will You Turn Off Your Phone for 24 Hours?
This Friday, March 1 marks the Global Day of Unplugging.
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Anne Lamott once wrote, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” I love that quote because it sums up what many of us know deep down but resist acknowledging, that peeling those darn phones out of our hands and giving our minds time and space to wander offline can be profoundly restorative.
If you struggle to do this, here’s some motivation. This Friday, March 1 is Global Day of Unplugging, an opportunity to join thousands of others in powering down their devices for 24 hours. By taking a break from the technology that dominates so much of our lives, say the campaign organizers, “we gain an appreciation for the role that it plays in our lives and we are better equipped to establish healthier tech habits going forward.”
This campaign launched way back in 2009 and was ahead of its time. Many of you may remember that that was a time before the negative effects of digital media were understood or documented and everyone was still in awe of the new iPhone. But even then, some people were suspicious of what might happen. The idea of “never being bored again” was more alarming than assuring, as were the indicators that a phone’s presence might undermine people’s ability or willingness to engage in face-to-face conversations.
What Is Global Day of Unplugging?
The campaign was launched presciently and jointly by the Jewish arts and culture nonprofit Reboot and a project called Sabbath Manifesto, designed to “slow down lives in an increasingly hectic world.” And it’s still going strong fifteen years later, which goes to show how relevant it is.
This year, its goal is to “answer the Surgeon General’s call to action to end loneliness.” This is a reference to the official advisory released in May 2023 that warned against the negative effects of social media on children and cited a “profound risk of harm.” The advisory warned against the rise in loneliness and how being on devices might seem like a social act, but in fact undermines people’s connections with each other. Global Day of Unplugging wants to elevate human connection over digital engagement—a worthy goal I’ll get behind any day.
Related Post: What Is the Surgeon General Saying About Social Media?
The Power of 24 Hours
I am not a fan of quick-fix solutions, in general. I don’t think that turning off your phone for a mere 24 hours once a year is going to break a bad phone habit. It’s sort of like expecting a crash diet to help you lose and keep weight off when a lifestyle overhaul is really what’s needed.
But I also think it doesn’t hurt—and doing so might end up being such a fun and refreshing experience that you’ll want to do it again, maybe even weekly, like the “Tech Shabbat” tradition made famous by Tiffany Shlain’s 2019 book, 24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week. Sometimes we just need something like a Global Day of Unplugging to motivate us to do what we’ve been meaning to do for a while, and then it can set a new habit in motion.
If you have kids, unplugging for 24 hours can be very powerful. Our children are hungry for focused parental attention—not the fragmented bits and pieces that they so often receive now, as they compete with our phones for eye contact and words. And we, as parents, need to model the kinds of behaviours that we want to see from them, like engaging in the real world, playing outside, reading books, daydreaming, and having in-depth conversations. Participating in Global Day of Unplugging could be a wake-up call and a good way to kickstart a much-needed shift in your household.
If you’re wondering how to approach it, plan ahead! You can inform friends and family that your phone will be off and then come up with a list of things to do, especially if kids are involved. The campaign page has more than 200 ideas for offline activities (or check out my thoughts on “filling the void”), but I’m also a fan of doing nothing! Don’t overthink it. Revel in the slowdown that happens when you’re just hanging out at home or spending quality time with a friend or going for a leisurely walk, finally disconnected from the frenzy of an external world and reconnected with yourself.
Maybe, as Lamott suggested, you’ll discover that you end up “working better” when you eventually return to business as usual.
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Oh I love this and had no idea it existed! We are doing a digital fast right now, but not a cold turkey sort of thing. I love the idea of spending this 24 hours completely unplugged -- and then maybe doing that once a week for the rest of our 40 days.
Hmm, I bought a landline a few months ago and decided not to set it up. This makes me reconsider. We're a military family and things change abruptly at times so I couldn't unplug without another form of backup communication. Maybe I'll set it up and start unplugging over time.