A practical workbook

The Digital Detox Playbook

Have fun!

Build your escape plan, put the digital crazies away and fill your free time with people, places and things you love.

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Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It…

Set up your digital detox, hand over the devices and go enjoy your life. Make the choices below, then let the adventure begin.

The whole point

What Will You Do With Your Freedom?

Swim. Walk. Read. Rest. Make something. See somebody you love. Do something you have been putting off.

A woman enjoying the beach with her arms raised

Friends driving into the sunset with their arms in the air

01Why do you want to break free?

What is too much technology costing you? What would you love more time for?

What technology use do you want to change?

What has being too connected cost you?

12345

What would you like more time or attention for?

12345

02Pick your digital detox

Choose what goes away, what stays and when your adventure begins.

One full day away from optional technologyA planned break with a start and endDaily limits around particular technologyMy own version

Start date and timeEnd date and time

What will you stop or limit?What must remain available?

Write the exact rule for any necessary check-inFor example: one fifteen-minute work check at 4pm from a laptop. Avoid “only when necessary,” because it does not define anything.

03Clear the decks before you go offline

Tell people, finish urgent jobs and make sure nobody gets stranded.

Tell the people who need to reach meSet an email or work-message replyDownload maps, tickets and phone numbersDeal with banking or security accessDownload music, meditations or documentsMake a plan for care or emergencies

People to contactTasks to finish before the break

What counts as a genuine emergency, and how will somebody reach you?

04Put the gadgets out of reach

Give them to a friend, lock them away or block the apps that keep calling you back.

Give a device to someone I trustPut it somewhere locked or inconvenientUse a timed lock box such as kSafeUse Brick to block selected appsLog out or remove selected appsUse a blocker or Screen Time limitsTurn off non-essential notificationsUse one simpler device for essential access

kSafe: lock away a device that fits

Put the device inside a suitable-sized container, set the timer and the container stays locked until the timer reaches zero. Keep a separate route for anything needed for health, care or emergencies.

Read Michael's K-Safe review Official site

Brick: keep the phone, block selected apps

Choose the apps, tap the phone against the physical Brick to block them, then leave the Brick somewhere inconvenient. Tap it again when you deliberately want to restore access.

Read Michael's Brick review Official site

Optional paid tools, not sponsors. Product details checked 11 August 2026; check current compatibility and terms before buying.

Michael's note: I've tried all this stuff—including the idea of burying a device one hundred feet underground. It makes me laugh now. These tricks can help, but they don't always work. The thing that has helped me most is doing this with other people.

Where will each device be?Who can help keep the boundary?

What could make you abandon the plan, and what will you do before that happens?

05Make your high-vibe joy list

Fill the space with things you really want to do. The more fun this list is, the easier the detox will be.

People I would like to spend time withPlaces I would like to goThings I would enjoy making, reading or learningRest, movement or time outdoorsPractical things I would feel relieved to finishSimple things that already make a good day

Need ideas? Download 365 things to do instead of checking your phone or going online. Pick anything that sounds fun. Ignore the rest.

Download the 365 ideas Browse the ideas online →

06Swap screen habits for better ones

When you normally reach for a screen, give yourself something better to do.

When or whereWhat I usually doWhat I can do instead

07Choose your detox buddy

Ask someone to cheer you on, hold the devices or help when the old habits kick in.

Ask someone to be your accountability partner

Choose one person. Tell them the exact plan. Decide when you will check in and what you want them to do if you start bargaining with yourself.

Use the accountability partner guide →

Get structured help from Media Addicts Anonymous

If you keep bingeing or cannot keep your own rules, MAA offers meetings and an intensive Back-to-Basics Step Study. Back to Basics involves daily meetings, sponsorship, Twelve Step work and a fast from unnecessary media, so read the commitments first.

See Back to Basics Visit MAA

Who knows what I am doing?What help have I asked for?When will I check in with somebody?Where will I go if this feels beyond a habit?

If you go outside the plan: pause, note what happened and decide the next useful step. One lapse does not require abandoning the whole break.

My response if I go outside the plan

08Make your freedom plan

Put everything on one page. Then stop planning and start living.

I am taking this break because

It beginsIt ends

During the break I will notI will keep access toI will spend the time onThe person supporting me is

My first action when the break begins

09Enjoy your days of freedom

Notice what feels better, what surprises you and what you had forgotten you love.

What I keep wanting to checkWhen the urge is strongestWhat becomes easierWhat becomes harderWhat I had forgotten I enjoyAnything the plan failed to account for

10Keep the freedom when you return

Bring back the technology you value. Leave out the things that were making life worse.

What helped most?What did not help?What technology am I glad to have?What do I want to remove or limit?What boundary will I keep for the next month?What support or further help do I need?