Happy Friday!
I’m Natasha Frost, Quartz’s travel reporter, and I’m an evangelist for putting your screens away and doing almost anything else. With the holidays around the corner, now’s the perfect time to get a head-start on your resolutions: Take a break from digital devices, and enjoy a sojourn in the analog world. You might even like it!
I know, I know. You’re basically exhausted; TV has never been better; you’ve long since run out of the energy to actually converse with your partner. But if you’re anything like many of my friends, colleagues, and family, the hours between dinner and bed may lately have become the exclusive domain of Netflix and chill, hard emphasis on the Netflix.
Maybe you’re binging on Succession à deux, and calling it date night. Or worse, perhaps your routine has dissolved into one of you watching Love Island in the bed, while the other slumps on the sofa, phone in hand, glued to New York City marathon highlights. Either way, those ten or so hours a week frittered away in front of the box almost certainly come after a work day in which your eyes have scarcely left the screen.
No one’s forcing you to take up couples’ salsa. But there are good reasons to find at-home alternatives to spending your evenings slack-jawed and square-eyed on the couch. You’ll sleep better, for one. If you’re in a relationship, it’s worth thinking up different things to do: Sharing new experiences seems to be an important part of how people bond. And too much screen time is proven to make us more anxious, worse at concentrating, and generally overstimulated. You don’t need to go on a dopamine fast, but it might be worth at least attempting to unplug—especially over the holidays.
Get your game face on. Whether you’re drawn to the high stakes of Yahtzee, strategy games such as Scrabble, or the soporific capitalism of an endless game of Monopoly, an after-dinner game can be a nice way to round out the evening. Turn to cards for rummy, double solitaire, or pinochle (among others), or go out on a limb with this list of modern two-player board games.
Lately, even puzzles, that stalwart of rainy-day activities, can have a little razzle-dazzle. The Strategist has this round-up of “non-fusty” puzzles: Sink your teeth into a 70-piece puzzle in the shape of a “cheese puff”, attempt a beach-themed brainteaser, or go highbrow with an art-history classic. (Heironymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights doubles as a kind of Renaissance Where’s Waldo.)
Consider a project. About two years ago, my fiancé and I bought planks from Home Depot and built this very handsome table, following these instructions. It took a week or two, but wasn’t especially difficult, even as total novice DIYers. Now, every time I sit down to eat at it, I’m flushed with pride.
Not every project needs to be quite so ambitious. You might crochet a scarf, teach yourself basic calligraphy, or sit down and write a physical letter to your grandmother (don’t forget to actually mail it, though!). You might even commit to using literal cookbooks over scrolling through endless versions of pan-fried chicken thighs. Every month, the food writer and historian Annie Gray and her partner choose two different books to cook from, more or less at random. “I pick a modern one, he picks a historic one (as I am the food historian),” she says. ‘Then we pick all (mainly) of that month’s recipes from it.”
Just committing to sitting down to dinner without pulling out your phone is a great first step. Light candles! Talk about your day! I’m reminded of former Quartz reporter Deena Shanker’s commitment to honoring the Jewish sabbath and switching off her phone: “A chance to rejuvenate my brain, read something important enough to print on paper, spend time with friends and family and actually listen to what they’re saying.”
Here’s an incredible secret. You don’t need to go on vacation to read. The pile of books you’re planning to work through at the beach could also be tackled in bed. Don’t feel ashamed if you can’t stomach anything too high-brow or obscure—it’s enough to feel engaged and entertained by whatever you’re reading.
If you want to make it a joint activity, and can get past the cringe factor, consider taking turns to read aloud to your partner. It’s a nice way to actually share a book, and the slower pace will mean you actually take in every single word. (Audiobooks or podcasts work well too). Find yourself falling asleep? Consider it your cue for an early night.
[quartzy-recipe]
Homemade potstickers for a quiet Sunday afternoon. Salt about a pound of finely chopped Napa cabbage and leave to drain in a strainer. Squeeze out any additional moisture, then mix with two chopped scallions, a pound of ground pork, a few cloves of minced garlic, and a teaspoon of finely grated ginger. Season with soy sauce and sesame oil. You’ll need about a spoonful of mix for each a store-bought dumpling wrapper, folding the edges like this. (It gets easier with practice!) Finally, place about a dozen dumplings in an oiled pan and pan-fry for a minute or two. Add half a cup of water, cover with a lid, and cook for four or five minutes, until the skins are translucent and the bottoms are golden. Put on the radio or a relaxing podcast for maximum calming potential. This recipe makes about 40—you can freeze any you don’t eat.
Over the holidays, it can be easy to use devices as a way to tap out—to avoid talking to difficult people, even if you love them, or to disengage from a conversation that fails to hold your interest. But, though it might be a little more work, “being present” usually feels better than deliberately setting one’s self aside and getting lost in the internet.
Resist the temptation, put down your phone—and happy holidays!
A shout-out to Sam Smith. In a recent, strikingly honest Instagram post, the British singer issued a reminder to those struggling with body issues to be gentle with themselves amid the holiday excess. “Let’s love our fluctuating bodies. Look in that mirror and shower that reflection with Christmas kindness,” Smith writes. “Be super soft. It’s an everyday struggle for me. You aren’t alone.”