anywhere

playbook

Analog Sunday

GroundLiving

Automatically translated · View original (Dutch)

One Sunday a month: no screens, no internet. Only physical objects and physical people. Rediscover what a day feels like.

€ 0–15

budget

Ground

pace

A Sunday without screens feels slower, as if the hours themselves have more room to breathe. You notice it with the very first cup of coffee: how quiet the kitchen is without the blue light of your phone, how your eyes drift naturally to the window instead of a screen. The restlessness usually hits around eleven, a fidgety feeling in your fingers reaching for a keyboard that isn't there.

Many people find that their hands suddenly feel very deliberate when kneading bread dough or sliding a pencil across paper. Conversations last longer because no one is interrupted by notifications. In the park, you notice how often other people check their phones, a habit you now observe from the outside. It's a day that brings you back to a rhythm you had almost forgotten.

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by PlayTryBe team

Saturday evening: set up your Sunday. Alarm clock charged. Phone in a drawer. Books on the coffee table. A newspaper if you want one, the paper kind.

Wake up without a phone. Make coffee or tea the slow way. Sit at a window and drink it without reading anything. Just the drink, the light, the morning.

Morning activity: choose one thing with your hands. Bake bread, draw, play an instrument, knit, build something, garden. Let the morning belong to making.

5Suggestion: If you don't have a hobby, this is the day to start one. Buy a sketchbook and a pencil. That's enough.

pause

At some point in the morning, you'll feel restless. That's withdrawal. Sit with it for five minutes. It passes. Every time.

Go outside. Walk to a park, a forest, a river. Bring a book or a friend. Sit somewhere and stay for at least an hour.

Suggestion: Bring a blanket if it's cool. The longer you stay, the more you see.

Afternoon: visit someone or invite someone over. Talk, cook, play a game. If no one is available, go to a cafe with a book and read for two hours.

By 4 PM, time feels different. Elastic. A Sunday without screens is twice as long. I couldn't remember the last time a day felt this spacious.

Cook dinner from scratch. Set the table properly: plates, cutlery, a candle. Eat slowly. This is not fuel; this is ceremony.

I didn't miss anything. The internet continued without me. But this day, this long, slow, handmade day, I would have missed this if I'd been scrolling.

Before bed, write in a journal: what did I do today? How did it feel? Do I want to do this again? Mark the first Sunday of next month in a paper calendar.

For anyone copying this

Do as we did

PaceGround

RouteAny order

Budget€ 0–15

Suggestions

Prep Saturday night: charge your alarm clock, print any needed information, leave your phone in a cupboard.
Stock the house with physical entertainment: books, board games, art supplies, musical instruments.
Tell friends in advance. Better yet, invite them to join the analog day. Company makes it richer.
Don't treat this as a detox or deprivation. It's an invitation to a different kind of richness.

Variations

Analog date

Analog date: Do it with your partner. No screens, all day. Cook together, walk together, read side by side.

Note: Analog date: Do it with your partner. No screens, all day. Cook together, walk together, read side by side.

Analog family

Analog family: Get the whole family on board. Board games, outdoor time, art projects. Kids adapt faster than adults.

Note: Analog family: Get the whole family on board. Board games, outdoor time, art projects. Kids adapt faster than adults.

Monthly ritual

Monthly ritual: Commit to the first Sunday of every month. After three months, it becomes something you look forward to.

Note: Monthly ritual: Commit to the first Sunday of every month. After three months, it becomes something you look forward to.