Time for a Tech Sabbath? Americans are finding that a day of rest is still a good idea

Yes Magazine:

Dan Rollman recently noticed a disturbing trend in his social interactions. “I was starting to get more birthday wishes on my Facebook Wall than phone calls and handwritten cards from family and friends.” This inspired him to create the Sabbath Manifesto, which encourages people to enjoy time with loved ones, silence, the outdoors, and other pleasures they may remember from the time before the Internet took over every free moment.

And it’s not just Rollman. Across the country, Americans are starting to think about how a constant stream of electronic communication affects the quality of their lives—many of whom are consciously unplugging every once in a while, and encouraging others to do the same.

Sal Bednarz made headlines in San Francisco when he asked customers in his café to turn off their laptops for a day. Bednarz first opened the Actual Café in his North Oakland neighborhood to increase social interaction among neighbors, but he found that the Internet got in the way. “When you walk into a cafe where there are 20 people and they are all on laptops and nobody is talking to each other, it creates a certain experience. Unless you experience a café environment where there are no laptops, you don’t know what you are missing.” The Actual Café is now laptop-free every weekend. Bednarz isn’t anti-laptop per se: “I use laptops. Technology is an important tool. But we are human beings and we need actual interaction, not virtual. That’s where name of the cafe came from: actual interaction.”

On June 26, local businesses in San Francisco sponsored a Tech-Free Day, inviting participants to visit an unplugged café or attend a potluck picnic. Aubrey Harmon, a self-described multi-tasking “stay-at-home mom who also writes,” unplugged her TV, computer, and smart phone and went to the picnic—which banned technology but encouraged singing along with a band that played an acoustic set in honor of the occasion. Harmon found that she was “more present at the picnic, not hiding behind a camera or phone,” and decided to make breaks from technology part of her family life: “I realized that it’s good for my son to balance TV and technology with face-to-face and outdoor time…”

The Sabbath Manifesto—
10 Ways to Take a Day Off
1.     Avoid technology
2.    Connect with loved ones
3.    Nurture your health
4.    Get outside
5.    Avoid commerce
6.    Light candles
7.    Drink wine
8.    Eat bread
9.    Find silence
10.  Give back

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