The digital sabbath

It’s a simple idea.

Set aside one day a week when the computer doesn’t get switched on. A day when email doesn’t get checked, when Facebook doesn’t get updated, and when tweets are not twittered. No firing up the desktop for game playing either.

It doesn’t need to be the same day every week. You may have to trim things according to needs and deadlines. You may only be able to manage one day a fortnight.

The idea is to go off-line and let the brain rest. Or, if not rest, then allow it to change gear. Rather than constantly responding to incoming messages and data just let them pile up. They’ll still be there tomorrow.

You can also de-stress. And before you comment here saying you find it stressful NOT being in constant touch with cyberspace, think again. You know that simply isn’t true.

Remember, the online world will go on turning without you.

Spend the time reading books, chatting to friends, playing sport, enjoying the sunshine or baking muffins instead.

That way, when you get back online, you’ll be refreshed. It’s like a mini holiday. It may sound like a cliché, but I definitely work better when I’ve taken a day-long break from my computer.

Not original

The digital sabbath is not an original idea. In fact, if you are of a religious persuasion, it came at the end of the first recorded week. The Biblical creation story says God rested on the seventh day.

Ancient Jews worked for six days then strictly observed the Shabbat when lots of everyday things simply were not allowed to happen. They knew this was mentally, and physically healthy.

I actually first heard about the idea of a digital sabbath in an online forum many years ago – sadly I don’t recall who or where the original idea comes from.

Some problems

Of course, it’s much harder to take even one day’s rest from the digital world if you are a hard core digiphile with a web browsing smartphone, an ebook reader or if you use the computer as an entertainment hub for music and video. And you may have a job, or some other responsibilities that make going offline difficult.

Nevertheless, I suggest you do what you can to give it a try and reconnect once a week with the analogue world.

I’m not perfect

I’d like to be able to report I manage to take a full day away from my computer every week. The truth is, I don’t always manage it. In fact, although I try to schedule a full day off each week, I generally only get a couple of full-blown digital sabbaths each month.

This is something I intend to work on.