The Happy Failures of Unplugging
Forging onward with Weekends Without Wifi
Dear Friends,
I’ve written two essays in the past year that focused specifically on my weekend tech policy, a policy which my clever Substack friend
calls my WWW approach — "Weekends Without Wifi.” The gist of the policy is: no internet-capable devices on Saturdays and Sundays. Period.I entered into this commitment in June of 2023 and wrote about it for a July post at the Arena. When I wrote about it again in September, I was still going strong.
Now it’s been seven months (eight?), and I’m in a different place with it these days. The initial rush of energy and reward has worn off, and I have made some adjustments and had some failures. Now I am learning how to honor the WWW without letting my approach feed one of my greatest personal temptations: the idolization of self-control.
What does this mean for tech resistance, whether mine or anyone else’s?
Read more here:
“The Good Failures of Unplugging: Seven Months Later”
How is your relationship with tech going these days? I’d love to hear your current approach.
Would you try a WWW — Weekend Without Wifi?
If you want to try to use this month and next to establish some new habits, I’m sure Ruth and
would still welcome you to join them in their Lenten project.And whether you’re doing a refresh or starting from scratch, do also consider how you might need to add before you subtract. Doing a WWW also gives ample opportunity to add in fun and rest when you might otherwise be scrolling!
Thanks so much for the mention Dixie! Haha, little did I know that the "www" joke would make it into the Current:) Thanks so much for this honest piece which resonated a lot:"It’s good for me to have some public accountability. Even if nobody online sees me lurking, my children and husband know I do it." The same goes for me. It has been challenging to keep all my computer activity early in the morning, but it has been a very helpful aspiration, leaving me much more free (mentally and time-wise) for the rest of the day. Still figuring out how to combine this rule with writing...Thanks again for all your wonderful work!
"Much of my writing is in correction to my nature."
I love that the first two things I came across with your name on them online were 1) your interview with Nadya Williams for Current on what your days look like and 2) your Hearth & Field "Winter Wonder" essay — and after that I was like "Wow this lady is refreshingly fun!" Not that fun and high ideals are incompatible (haha!) but it's been interesting to how the "loosen up" aspects of your writing are a way to perhaps encourage that not only for others, but for yourself.
There are good and right things to aspire to with diligence, but those virtuous middles can be hard! Thanks for navigating some of these ideas in your writing. :)