How a digital detox day could help people take control of downtime | Health & wellbeing

Haunted by a pile of unread books? Or taunted by climbing equipment lurking in the cupboard? If you are one of the UK adults who spends on average five hours a day looking at screens rather than participating in pastimes, perhaps it’s time to join the offline revolution.

Instead of spending those five hours staring at a screen, you could read about 300 pages of a book, climb Mount Snowdon, or – depending on your pace – run a marathon. Some are even choosing to turn off their devices for the day.

On Sunday, more than 1,000 people have pledged to take back control of their downtime and go on a 24-hour digital detox. The event is run by the Offline Club, which says its mission is to “swap screen time for real time”. Those who have signed up will be invited to a Zoom call on Saturday where they will be given tips and tricks to survive the next day without the internet.

Philip, 33, a branding director from Rotterdam, Netherlands, is among those taking part. Between working behind a desk all day and coming home to watch TV and “doomscroll” on social media, he can spend up to 14 hours a day looking at a screen.

He said: “I’m just fed up with them. I thought it might be nice to just give it a try to feel a bit more relaxed. I want to live in the moment a bit more instead of doomscrolling on social media and seeing what other people are doing in their ‘perfect lives’.”

Philip wants “more face-to-face interaction and more going outside”. A full day without relying on navigation apps to get from A to B or staying in constant touch with friends and family will be challenging, but Philip said he was “excited” to take part.

Fernanda Grace, 38, a community manager from Barcelona, Spain, is also going offline on Sunday. She wants the digital detox to become a widespread and recurring event, in the vein of Earth Hour where people are encouraged to give 60 minutes to the planet by turning off non-essential lights.

Grace said: “Sometimes I just want to be off my phone. When we do things in a collective, it has a bigger impact. It’s like when you go to the gym and you have a buddy waiting for you there, then you have to go.”

Since becoming aware of the Offline Club, she has already begun making small changes. “When I go to dinner with a friend, my phone does not leave my purse.”

Another habit Grace has adopted is using an old-fashioned alarm clock instead of relying on her phone to wake her. “An email or WhatsApp can set the tone for the entire day. If it’s something urgent, it gets you wired for the day. I’m trying not to do that any more.”

She hopes to finally read some books, improve her sleep and a get into the habit of responding to others less frequently. “I want a better relationship with social media in general and to truly not feel guilty about disconnecting.”

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The Offline Club held its first in-person “digital detox hangout” in Amsterdam in February. In the months since, the company has already expanded into Paris, Dubai and London. In these hangouts, phones are locked away for a few hours and those attending are encouraged to read or interact with each other. Sunday marks the club’s first attempt at a mass mobilisation to get people offline.

Ilya Kneppelhout, the co-founder of the Offline Club, said people have been surprised at how just a few hours offline “made them feel so much less stressed and more connected to themselves and to others”.

The firm also hosts a weekend offline getaway in the Dutch countryside where phones are locked away upon arrival. A ticket for the two-day event costs at least €425 (£356). Of the retreat, Kneppelhout said: “People had a lot of mental space. They quit their jobs afterwards because they finally stood still and thought about their lives.”

Kneppelhout said he was inspired to co-found the club after having his own phone-free weekend. “I wasn’t reading enough, I wasn’t writing enough, and I wasn’t getting out in nature enough. Afterwards, I felt super-creative. I came back very energised and inspired.”

He has quit his job since the company’s whirlwind growth. “[The Offline Club] is not yet financially sustainable. That’s one of the reasons why we’re expanding to different cities, but the business is working. We’re thankful enough to [be able to] dig into our savings a little bit and lend some money from our parents for the time being.”

Kneppelhout thinks the digital detox movement is just getting started. “We would like to see phone-free spaces in cities and maybe phone-free holidays.”