Seacoast Digital Fast is happening this weekend. (Read yesterday’s story in the Herald here.) Organizer Jeff Stern had this to say to our PortsmouthLOVE readers: “If you’re considering joining us this weekend on the Seacoast Digital Fast, do it! The more people who do it, the easier it’s going to be. When I’ve done digital fasts in the past, I’ve been amazed how I’d forgotten what it feels like to do one thing at a time, to let go of the need to document everything and to know what everyone else in the world is doing.”
Here are some events that are perfect for you to add to your calendar (like, on paper somewhere so you can see it this weekend), if you’re planning on fasting from your screen:
- the Kickoff Party at Block Six Friday night
- the How To Festival at the Library Saturday afternoon
- the Late-Night Games at Diversions Saturday night
- the Cornhole Tournament at Liars Bench Sunday afternoon
- (insert any other event or adventure here here that you can attend phone-less)
Perks (listed on SeacoastDigitalFast.com):
- Yoga East – Will hold free sessions on Sat/Sun
- Liars Bench – will offer discounted drinks all day on Saturday. They will also be providing a screen-free beer garden with a cornhole tournament.
- Gus & Ruby – will offer 15% off letter and card-writing items
Prep Tips:
- Make your schedule for those 48 hours now, and think through step by step all the times you might “need” your phone.
- Print out driving directions to new places (or dig out maps).
- Write down the phone number of your local library so you can use a landline to call for information.
- Equip yourself with a manual flashlight.
- If you need to wake up at a specific time, make sure you have an alarm clock that is not your phone or laptop.
- Put up “away” messages on your social media accounts (maybe change your profile or cover photos to a pre-made Seacoast Digital Fast image like the one above, or make your own — maybe make one out of analog art supplies and use that as your image?)
- Set an OOO (out of office) message if you’re someone who would normally respond to emails over the weekend.
- And tell people ahead of time that you’re doing it. You’ll be less stressed if you know that you plan ahead and set expectations of your untethered 48 hours!
If you want to sign up to participate, you can sign up at SeacoastDigitalFast.com so you can get emails before and after the challenge — or just do it!
(There will also be a post-fast community discussion about how it went at the library on Monday evening at 7pm!)
