As technology continues to evolve, your phone can seem like another appendage. Your screen time report might look like a horror movie. If you’re looking how to drastically lower the number of times you reach for your phone for comfort during the day, you’re not alone. You can establish offline habits that can help you go analog just in time for the summer.

Remove social media apps from your home screen.

Although ditching your devices forever sounds blissful, quitting altogether isn’t realistic. Start small. Remove, not delete, them from your home screen. If you can, access these social media platforms on a computer.

Reach for physical media.

Physical media, like CDs, DVDs, books, magazines, journals and cookbooks, offer many benefits including ownership, quality content, control over media consumption, a deeper connection to media, patience, and overall, a pathway to a slower way of living.

Curate screen-free morning and evening routines.

Curate routines free of scrolling social media, checking your grades or assignments that you suddenly remembered you have to do, or answering that one email. Those tasks can wait. Your peace of mind cannot. Fill this time with healthy habits: journaling, Bible study, reading, exercising, and walking outside.

Write things down as much as possible.

On paper. There is a time for emails, texts, and other e-friendly ways to communicate, but if going analog is something you really want to accomplish, put the pen to paper. Express your care and gratitude by writing letters to friends, siblings, grandparents, and other loved ones. 

Don’t be afraid to… do nothing.

Don’t let boredom become the enemy. Boredom doesn’t mean sitting in your room and staring at the wall and watching paint dry. Boredom allows you to sit and let your mind wander.