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How to Take a Digital Sabbath
How to take a digital sabbath: choose your timing and rules, prepare so nothing goes wrong, plan offline activities, handle emergencies and make it stick.
Key takeaways
- A digital sabbath is a regular, planned break from screens, often one day or evening a week.
- Decide your rules in advance, prepare maps, tickets and messages, and plan things to do offline.
- Start small, with an evening or half a day, and build up once it feels good.
On this page
A digital sabbath is a regular, planned break from screens: a set time each week, often one full day or one evening, when phones, laptops and feeds are put away. The idea borrows from traditions of a weekly day of rest, and people who try it often describe calmer weekends, better conversations and more time for things they’d been putting off. The key to making it work is preparation: decide your rules, sort out practicalities in advance and plan what you’ll do instead.
Why take one
- Rest from constant input. No notifications, no feeds, no inbox.
- Better time with people. Meals, walks and conversations without interruptions; see our guide to phubbing.
- A reset for habits. A regular break shows how often you reach for your phone on autopilot.
- Time back. Hours that would have gone to scrolling become time for hobbies, reading or sleep.
Research on short digital breaks is still limited, but a small 2022 study from the University of Bath found that people who took a one-week break from social media reported better wellbeing and less anxiety and low mood than those who carried on as usual. A weekly sabbath is a gentler, repeatable version of that break.
Choose your level
| Level | What it looks like | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | One phone-free evening a week, from dinner to bedtime | Beginners and busy households |
| Half day | A morning or afternoon with devices put away | Weekends with family or friends |
| Full sabbath | 24 hours, such as sundown Friday to sundown Saturday | People ready for a proper reset |
| Annual challenge | Joining events such as the National Day of Unplugging | Trying it with others for motivation |
Set your rules
Decide in advance what’s allowed, so you’re not negotiating with yourself on the day.
- Out: social media, email, news, messaging apps, games and browsing.
- Maybe: music, audiobooks, an e-reader, a film with the family, maps for a trip.
- Allowed for safety: phone calls, especially from family, and emergency services.
Write the rules down. A simple family version can sit alongside your family tech agreement.
Prepare the day before
- Tell people. Let friends, family and colleagues know you’ll be offline and how to reach you in an emergency.
- Set an auto-reply on email and a status on messaging apps.
- Sort practicalities: download or print maps, tickets and directions; check the weather; save any phone numbers you might need.
- Charge and put away. Put devices in a drawer, box or basket out of sight.
- Use a focus mode that lets only calls from favourites through; see setting up focus modes.
- Get an alarm clock if your phone usually wakes you; see our guide to a phone-free bedroom.
Plan things to do
The hardest part is often the gap where the phone used to be. Have a list ready:
- Go for a walk, hike or bike ride.
- Cook something slow and share it.
- Read a paper book or magazine.
- Play board games or cards.
- Visit a museum, market or park.
- Call or visit a friend.
- Start a hobby project: drawing, gardening, music, crafts.
- Try doing nothing for a while and notice how that feels.
Handling common obstacles
| Obstacle | Fix |
|---|---|
| Boredom | Expect it early on; it usually fades, and it’s often where good ideas start |
| Fear of missing something | Remember anything urgent will reach you by phone; see FOMO and social media |
| Work expectations | Agree the time off with your team and use auto-replies; see email overload |
| Needing maps or tickets | Print or download them before you start |
| Wanting photos | Bring a separate camera, or allow the camera with everything else in airplane mode |
| Other people’s phones | Make it a household or friend-group activity, not just yours |
Doing it as a family
- Start with an evening, such as a phone-free Friday dinner and games night.
- Include adults. Kids notice when parents keep their phones.
- Make it special: a favourite meal, an outing or a new board game.
- Let kids help plan the activities and the rules.
After the sabbath
Take two minutes to reflect: what did you enjoy, what was hard and what will you change next week? Keep a simple note of how each one went; patterns become obvious after a few weeks. Many people find they carry some habits into the rest of the week, such as phone-free meals or fewer notifications. If you’d like a longer reset, try our 30-day social media detox, explore digital minimalism or read about what a dopamine detox can and can’t do.
Frequently asked questions
What is a digital sabbath?
A regular, planned break from screens and the internet, commonly one day or evening a week, used to rest and reconnect offline.
Do I have to go 24 hours?
No. Start with an evening or half a day. The regular rhythm matters more than the length.
What if there’s an emergency?
Keep phone calls switched on for favourites, tell people how to reach you and keep your phone charged in a drawer where you can hear it ring.
Sources
Every article is edited by a human and checked against our editorial policy. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
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