Lately, I’ve been feeling the tug to my phone like a siren song. If I had a moment of boredom, out came my phone, rescuing me from the .5 seconds I may have to sit in silence. My thumb swiftly flicks from Twitter to Instagram to the news. I mindlessly repeat the same pattern 4 minutes later, like a tic.
This is not ok.
This will never be ok with me.
This would never be acceptable for my children. And when I view it through what I’d hope for my children, I realize if it’s not best for them it’s also not best for me. The noise, the distraction, the constant contact. None of those things are good for the soul.
There is no room for true, unique, innovative, creative thought. Not an inch of space for creation with all of that consumption. That is not an acceptable or sustainable rhythm of life for me.
So, this past weekend, I went analog. I cut out social media. Cold turkeyed my way through the weekend (Friday evening until Monday morning), hand still reaching for the phone before my brain registered and remembered my commitment. Back away from the phone, Hayley.
It’s a compulsion more than anything, a way I’ve trained my brain to react. Bored? Grab the phone. A quiet moment? Better fill it up with 140 character musings.
I realized that when I had a creative or clever thought, my first instinct was to tweet them or grab a quick picture to illustrate. What a cheap use of that creativity, 140 characters off into the ether.
I want to create lasting works. That takes lasting spans of quiet and peace. Boredom breeds creativity. We know instinctively know that, as bored children we created whole other worlds to entertain ourselves. I need to get back to that place.
Don’t you miss it?
You’re welcome to grab that image as your “away message” for Instagram on the weekends. I use the hashtag #analogweekend to see who else is joining with me.
23 Comments on "analog weekend"
I absolutely adore the analog weekend idea; i have found myself falling into the same pattern of checking my phone or laptop all.the.time.
totally using your away message ;)
This is such a great idea….I find myself falling into the same pattern of skimming all my social media constantly. I need a digital fast! :)
I love this, because I am the EXACT same way. Any free moment is spent looking at my phone. We’re so technology driven that it’s getting the best of us. Love this idea and will for sure be taking part.
Yet again, you’ve convicted me. I realize I am guilty of doing the same thing. Anytime there’s a lull in my day, instead of doing something useful, I run to the computer to check Facebook, Pinterest…. It’s sad, really. Whole days get wasted with those few minutes here and there.
Hi Hayley,
I absolutely can relate to this post. It is hard to convey myself as an example of something positive to my children when I’m too busy engaging in the content on the screen of my phone to look up and notice their sweet faces. They are only small once, and this it the time that they are the little sponges we form. Thanks for posting this, you reminded me I need to step AWAY from the phone and focus on life sometimes!
Blessings,
Debbie
Yep! We have dumb phones for this very reason. Now we giggle with each other when we have dinner with friends and they are checking their phones like crazy. They can’t help it.
love this post! i can certainly relate and appreciate the reminder. will definitely be planning more of these in the near future :)
robin
Yes, yes yes. I have developed this sort of compulsive reaching for the phone habit, too. it’s so gross. blerg. Thanks for starting analog weekend and for sharing the wise advice on this. I needed it!
amen!! I needed to read this. I do the exact same thing (check my silly phone compulsively) and feel the same convictions that this is NOT okay. thanks for sharing this!! i’m with you for analog weekends!!!!
oh I love this! I have been trying to be free on the weekends from the stupid bermuda triangle thing I do between Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I purpose to be free and creative this weekend. Good post!
Bermuda triangle! ha ha that’s so funny, and true. It’s way too easy to get sucked into that little vortex for way more time than you bargained for and then when you come up for air you wonder where you’ve been :)
i love this. you go girl. i think so many of us are stuck in the same routine with the phone thing. i find so much of the time it makes me counterproductive when i actually have a block of time to get something done.
YES!!! I just got done with a Media fast and have continued it for the most part this week. It’s been AWESOME! (I tend to overuse that word, but seriously. It has been.) There’s been more time for quality activities with my kids and my husband, less comparison of myself to others and less clutter in my mind. A very good thing. There are times when more connection via social media is necessary, but this is not one of those times for me. Thanks for writing about this topic, it’s an important one for us all to consider.
So good. I saw your instagram about it almost being the weekend and had to come read this post. I hate the compulsion it has become. I’ve deleted the facebook app and I feel so much lighter. I don’t need that much noise on a regular basis and it is much more deliberate when I access it via the computer.
Thanks for the gentle nudge.
Oh my goodness. Such a beautiful idea. I am going to try and convince my husband to incorporate this into our weekly rhythm.
I’m just getting caught up here — what a wonderful idea!! This is Saturday, so clearly I’m not participating this weekend! haha But I’d like to give it a go… next weekend for sure!! :)
For lent, I did w/o “playing” on my phone in bed, including mornings and nights. It was hard then felt great to go to bed and sleep (oh, and the sleep was good -less dreams of those i saw on FB last). But then the pressure was off to “not do it”, so I have slowly drifted back to the phone in bed. sad day. Thanks for sharing and reminding me to get back to a better balance with less social media at at inappropriate times.
best of luck maintaining! You can do it!
Love the idea. DO IT! I don’t have a smart phone for this reason — I don’t trust myself to disconnect. So I keep getting ‘dumb phones’ and will probably continue to do so until they are not available any more. That way when I am doing something I am THERE, present, with no tempting distractions and I can fully focus on the thing at hand.
Hayley! I know you wrote this awhile ago, but somehow i just came across it now. This is exactly what I’ve been mulling over. This sort of fear of the quiet and boredom that i have, this fear because it must mean i am lonely. I am about to embark on my very long extended version of analog weekend =) It’s just the right time to be quiet and not have to spit out everything that I am created and is being created in me… really I can’t wait to embrace “real” life for awhile… =) You said it so eloquently.
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