How Can We Continue to Live Offline?

By Shefali Tamaskar

In the time of zoom fatigue and dramatically less face-to-face interaction, the importance of mindful technology consumption is greater than ever.

On days where my classes are all online, before I even have coffee, I start my morning with an immediate scroll on my phone. After getting ready and eating breakfast, I sit on Zoom for upwards of 4 to 5 hours, with back-to-back classes and meetings. During breaks, if I’m lucky I’ll go for a walk, but sometimes I just do work on my laptop or iPad, or sit on my phone. After a few more hours of Zoom classes, I get behind a screen once again, either to do work, scroll aimlessly through social media, or Facetime a friend.

When written out, it's clear to see how inundated our lives can become with technology now that it has become a mere necessity for living--whether it's for classes, work, connecting with friends, or attending club meetings--almost everything is virtual. Simply limiting screen time is not enough or even practical anymore. By the end of the day, I feel drained, a byproduct of literally living in technology.

Here are some ways I’ve been grounding myself these past few weeks--

• I go on walks, cook, journal, or hang out with my roommate to unwind offline.

• When I use my phone recreationally (because we all do!), I try to be intentional about it, monitoring the kind of content I consume.

• I sometimes turn off email or text notifications so I don’t feel the need to react to every message instantaneously. We don’t need to be everywhere at all times just because “everywhere” is accessible with a few clicks.

Setting boundaries between time to work and time to unwind has become a new priority for me. By turning off and tuning into what’s around us, we can feel a little more peace, on and offline--something we could all use right now.