The Digital Fast - Day 1

It is Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day and I’ve begun something that I hope I’ll be able to do permanently. That something is an ambitious undertaking for me and that is, doing a digital fast.

Lent is a period of 40 days of prayer, almsgiving and fasting as we approach Easter. It is a time of reflection. It is a time of pulling away from the world to focus on something larger than us. As a Christian, I identify with this period of contemplation.  

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, this fast I’m doing is a form of self-love.

Why a digital fast? There are two reasons. Reason #1: I feel called to do this. I have heard of digital fasting before, but it wasn’t until recently that I began to consider it seriously. I listened to an author on a podcast talk about how he and his church have done digital fasting for a few years. They have reaped many benefits from this practice – more time with family and friends, more appreciation of the world around them, less distractibility and better mental and emotional health, among other positive developments. Something about this conversation intrigued me, so I decided to pray about it, and I believe God is calling me to do this type of fasting.  

Reason #2: I am addicted to my phone. As a therapist, I feel a small amount of shame about this for I know how addiction works but yet, here we are. I must check my email and social media a million times a day, especially at night before bed. Yes, I know, I know – that is poor sleep hygiene and I pay for it the next day. But, that knowledge hasn’t stopped me from reducing my usage. That’s a hallmark sign of addiction – when you know the cons of your behavior yet feel no desire or motivation to quit. There’s also a physical component to this addiction, as there is with all addictions, that leaves users powerless to stop. Powerless, yes, but not completely without recourse. You can overcome addiction. It just takes a lot of intervention, hope and faith. This is what I’m leaning on for the next 40 days.  

What does a digital fast look like? There are many options. You can delete or hide your social media and email apps. You can set up your phone to limit your screen time. You can store your phone in another room so it’s not the first thing you reach for in the morning. You can use your phone only during business hours and then put it away for the rest of the day.  

For me, what this looks like is a compromise as I do need to use social media and email for my business endeavors. First, I’ve hidden all the social media and email apps on my phone. Don’t ask me for instructions on how to do this – go to Google or YouTube for that. And, don’t ask me how I’ll recover those apps if  I decide to do that once Lent is over. My goal here is to check my email and social media only on my laptop during business hours. Once 6 p.m. rolls around, I’m done with it. Not a complete cold turkey pivot, but it’s a start nonetheless. So far today, I’ve checked email a few times and I haven’t looked at social media at all. I suppose it helps that I had client appointments today and so that chewed up some time.

The next thing I’m doing for this digital fast is diving into my TBR book pile (TBR = To Be Read) instead of reaching for my phone. I started doing that last night. I love books and getting books (my family calls it hoarding, lol) and I have about 100 books to read. This is not an exaggeration. Maybe this is another addiction, but I digress…. I hope to have a good chunk of this pile knocked out by Easter.

How am I feeling about this fast so far? It’s been unsettling. I normally reach for my phone first thing in the morning to listen to some meditations and then check email etc. I felt weird not doing that this morning. Like I’m missing out on something. Call it FOMO. But, when I did check email on my laptop later in the morning, I found out my FOMO was pointless. There was nothing but junk email. No dire messages from clients, no appointment changes etc. There’s a lesson here, I know. Junk is apparently what I’m missing out on.  

I plan on blogging about my fast periodically, so expect another post like this in about a week.  

**Update**

I am feeling much better emotionally since my “Let the Low Be” post. I attribute this to the presence of more light in my day and, frankly, the news that spring is coming sooner than expected (thanks, Punxsutawney Phil!). Rationally, I know this folklore has nothing to do with meteorological realities, but nonetheless the news from western PA was nice to hear. We will not mention the snowstorm that followed a few days later….blehhhh. Spring is coming, and I’m here for it! 

Next, I’m doing prep work to market my upcoming book and offer writing classes. More on that soon…. 

Lastly, I haven’t started editing Book 3, no thanks to the mood I’ve been in lately, but that is changing. My goal is to spend each Friday in Lent working on this. Since I’m not wasting so much time on my phone, I can use that extra time to work on this project.   

I’ll wrap up this post by offering you a few writing prompts:  

1.    Do you engage in any Lenten practices like fasting? What does that look like for you this year?

2.    What is something you’ve spent a lot of time doing that you would now like to stop doing? Do you have a plan to accomplish this?  

Feel free to share your responses by emailing me at lori@loriapeterswriter.com .

Write & Rise, my friends.