Digital Fast--An Experiment

Digital Fasting

The challenge was intriguing—go 48 hours without digital devices. 

The catch was to avoid anything and everything that has a computer chip. The thought of this was daunting, to say the least. It seems everything these days has a “chip” in it. This made even most forms of travel off limits during the challenge. 

The outcome—success. Not to gloat, but it ending up being so easy for me I felt I had cheated.

The Method

I knew for this plan to succeed, I needed a strong replacement for my devices. Going “cold turkey” is tough enough as it is. The pull to reach for a phone or a tablet is so strong that I knew I needed a strong substitute in place or I’d never last the first 60 minutes. 

So I made a plan. I would spent spring break with family in the Salt Lake City area. I don’t allow myself to read many novels, but I know from years of living with myself that there are a few authors that I can get lost in. And I also know that I’m not the fastest reader. I prefer to take my time and savor the flavor of style of the author. So I figured three average length novels should easily do the trick.

I took full advantage of our digital technology to get set up for this experiment. I ordered three paperback books, written by my favorite novelist, from Amazon. With Prime membership, they were delivered to my doorstep in two days. 

I traveled to Salt Lake City in a 2010 Hyundai, it’s computer-controlled fuel injected engine purring along as I set the cruise control to 80 MPH.

I had already informed everyone of my intent, that I wasn’t going to watch TV, listen to mp3’s, share on Facebook, text or talk to anyone on my iPhone for 48 hours. I let them know I was available for face-to-face interaction, but that was all.

The house where I was staying had a living room with no TV, no “stereo,” no electronic distractions at all. It was the perfect environment. Plus I turned off all my devices and kept them out of sight. No need of increasing the temptation by having them too accessible.

This was probably the only spring break I’ve enjoyed that actually felt like a vacation. The first day the weather was overcast with a storm moving in, making it a perfect day to stay inside and literally curl up with a book. (Yes, that is a cliche, yet it is a cliche for a very good reason.) 

With no distractions from the digital world, I was able to focus on the story I was reading longer than I thought possible, and actually finished the first book early the first evening. As the house quieted down later that night, I jumped into the second book.

I woke the second day to find the ground covered with snow. This was all the motivation I needed to grab the second book and continue reading. Of course, since I enjoy this writer’s style, I was looking forward to discovering where the story would take me. 

Once again, I finished the book before the day was through, and I eagerly grabbed the third book. The second and third books were the first books of a series, which made it even easier to get caught up with the characters and to get lost in the story.

On the third morning, I booted up my laptop and turned on my iPhone. I was amused to see I had only one voice message on my phone, and was even more amused when I played it back and learned it was a wrong number. 

Logging into FaceBook, I was a little disappointed to see that nothing had changed. Oh, there were plenty of new posts from all the same people. You know, those people who are always posting. But there was nothing new. Just the same-ol’-same-ol’.

I had dozens and dozens of new emails, but nothing of any significance. To be completely honest, I felt a little let down. Why did I feel so dependent on my devices when the content was often so boring? 

I checked my Twitter feed, which is where I get much of my news these days, and after scrolling though it I then checked a few online news sources. I was soon up-to-date. Russia was still being the Russia of the eighties, (sorry, I couldn’t resist), and flight 370 was still missing.

In my absence, the world had continued to turn, yet not much had actually changed. Though it was morning, I felt suddenly tired. I closed my laptop, slide my phone back in my pocket, and reached for the third novel. I was ready to find out how the story ended.