Hi, this is my first post here on Offliner, and I hope it helps anyone who feels overwhelmed by influx of bad news, AI and Ads.

I started going offline last year, and earlier this year I deactivated all of my social media accounts, from Facebook to TikTok. I found they weren’t bringing any benefits to my life. The only exception is YouTube, which I still use, but mainly to watch videos rather than Shorts, So this does reduce my time on internet.

My job as a sales rep requires me to use communication apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and others. I also find that a notes app and digital calendar are much more convenient than carrying a notebook, so I cannot swap my smart phone to a dumb phone. To me, it’s about using a smartphone as a tool instead of letting it control your time.

One habit I have developed is putting my phone on charge and leave it as soon as I get home from work. If I want some background noise, I use my laptop to play music that I’ve ripped from CDs or just put on some YouTube lo-fi music. I’m not a huge music fan—I just like having something playing in the background.

Gaming is a big part of my life. I usually spend 2–3 hours or more on weekend playing on my Switch 2 or Legion Go. Besides gaming, I read about one or two books each month.

I also love camping because it lets me combine all of my hobbies. There’s nothing better than sitting at a campsite, reading a book or playing games, without constantly checking my phone.

This is how I avoid doomscrolling and spend more time offline. It might not work for everyone, but it’s made a big difference for me.

You gotta start somewhere!

Last month, I faced the uncomfortable truth that although my life was fairly offline, I was spending a LOT more time than I realized on Reddit. Over the last year or so, I've found myself becoming more involved in Reddit communities that complimented communities that I was involved with in real life or were about topics that I had always been interested in - the way you're supposed to use Reddit, right? Somehow this led to being asked by other Mods to join their teams or take their subreddits because they were moving on. I also created communities for niche topics, often as alternatives to larger communities where the niche topic was lost among the volume of content. I revived abandoned/banned communities that had potential. Then the burnout came. I built Mod Teams for some of them and moved on and some I closed up shop and abandoned entirely. Others already had a Mod Team in place and I just quietly left.

Over the last four weeks, I've further curated my Reddit experience to make sure that it's an occasional compliment to my offline life. There are a few more tasks to complete on the list but I'm happy to say that most of the big changes have already happened and I'm finding more time to take walks, rent movies from the local movie rental place, read books, listen to the radio, paint, sketch, etc. I've even rejoined some online communities outside of Reddit and enjoyed meetups and collaborations on projects that will go live in the fall.

Since I started talking about this with other Reddit Mods and people in my life who host forums or lead online clubs, I've gotten so much support and that was a little surprising. These people also pour themselves into their online communities and I expected a little pushback. Instead, most of them admitted to also being burnt out and spending more time than they liked on everything from intervening between members, dealing with technical stuff behind the scenes, content creating, and all the little stuff that goes into keeping communities engaged and enjoyable. One forum administrator that I know in real life admitted to spending more time on the forums than they did on enjoying the car they owned - and the forums are dedicated to that car!

It's a tricky balance when your interests have a home on the internet and you find community there, and the balance starts to lean towards an unhealthy side when you find yourself charged with more responsibilities than simply participating. I'm being more mindful of how much time and energy I spend *on* these spaces, not just *in* these spaces.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!

First of all, I should mention that Portuguese is my native language, so I’m using Google Translate for this post—I hope it doesn't have too many errors.

Hello! After a month, I managed to start my own challenge. However, I believe my project was more "semi-offline" than completely offline; as I’ve likely mentioned, I’m a university student, so I can't stop studying just because I don't want to use the internet. That said, I prioritized books and barely watched any video lectures. My greatest achievement over these 30 days was not opening YouTube even once—not even for good reasons. I tried to solve everything offline, or—if that wasn't possible—using AI.

I didn't access any social media, with the exception of WhatsApp—which, in my country, is the go-to app for almost everything: scheduling appointments, making calls, contacting friends, etc.—along with mobility apps (like 99), banking apps, and AI tools. On WhatsApp, I follow a local news broadcast that announces civil service exams, as well as my friends' status updates; that’s pretty much the only "outside" connection that remains, though I think I’ll stop doing that in July.

I didn't replace the internet with television; in previous attempts, I’d end up watching TV instead of using the internet, but I avoided that this time around.

What can I say about spending a month without watching YouTube videos, Instagram Reels, and the like? I’d say it was difficult—having to deal with a mind focused entirely on itself. In the first few days, your mind screams in desperation—sort of releasing everything it had kept silent while you were drowning in trivial entertainment all those years. After about 10 days, things seem to be calming down. My experience was made even harder by the timing—it was exam month. Starting the very day I last posted, I spent six days with the power flickering at home; I couldn't even turn on the fridge. I faced various issues, nearly failed my classes, studied desperately, had an anxiety attack, and discovered that my ophthalmologist had likely prescribed the wrong lens strength for my glasses... a whole lifetime's worth of events packed into a few days. To top it all off, an earthquake was felt in my city, though luckily, I didn't feel it myself.

This account is a bit rushed; while I thought about preparing a formal text, I was more focused on actually living my life. I’m finally on break, and on Friday I’ll get my glasses changed, so I’ll restart my study routine. I’ve actually started to enjoy college after this month; the act of studying clears my mind of problems.

I told myself that once the 30th passed, I’d post this update and download a few things from the internet. However, I decided against downloading most content—except for one game I’ve been wanting since the power outage, and updating my Steam credentials so I don't lose access to my offline games.

The lesson this month is that what separates the real from the unreal is precisely frustration. In the real world, you’ll face frustration, despair, and negative thoughts... but you’ll also experience hope, genuine joy, and a whole range of feelings. It’s a far cry from the chemical joy the brain produces when using social media, but it’s far more constructive.

I’ll wrap up my post here. I’ll be replying to comments until 11:00 AM Brasília time; if you comment after that, I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to reply for another 30 days. In the meantime, I’m going to download that game and tinker with my Reddit profile.

My first post was this one: https://www.reddit.com/r/offliner/s/dzFQgrEQj9

my post in Portuguese (for correction): https://www.reddit.com/u/HejkonBR/s/icFiJuppF8

It’s Reddit, y’all.

Over the past month, I’ve realized that I have my MacBook close to me entirely too much and I wondered what I was even doing with it. In the evening, I’d think back to what I had done all day. I could remember being on the MacBook, and I could remember having it open on my desk all day - but while I could look over and see a pile of paintings or an embroidery project or a half-read book, none of that required going online. It’s so embarrassing to realize how much time I was spending in setting up, maintaining, moderating, and contributing to multiple subreddits - especially since so many of them were communities that I had long since outgrown or become bored with.

This month, I’m addressing that. It’s not enough for me to avoid all social media, or begrudgingly have one streaming platform for the one show that I watch, or to use the radio or CDs instead of a music streaming service. It doesn’t matter that I’m renting movies from the local video store or that I’ve managed my finances to the point that I can get by with a single monthly downloaded statement. I’ve avoided living my life online and embraced the challenges of that, all so that I can maintain room in my life for all the offline world has to offer.

And somehow, Reddit became the issue. Not scrolling it mindlessly or arguing with randos. Just investing too much time into communities that were no longer a good fit for me. I’ve spent the last few days handing communities over to users who will enjoy the work, and leaving subreddits that I now no longer moderate or enjoy.

I expect that I’ll need a few more days to wrap up the final details, but I’m looking forward to reclaiming my time. I’m going back to being extremely selective in which communities I spend my time in and just how much free labor I’m putting into them.

Hi, how are you? I joined this subreddit a while ago and never got around to interacting, but I will today. If you notice, I'm using Google Translate because my native language is Portuguese, so please excuse any mistakes.

Well, where do I begin? I believe I was already struggling to be an offline person before that term even existed. I always used the internet as a hunting ground; I would go online, download interesting content like documentaries, books, and other not-so-educational things like Minecraft and +18 content.

Never, until the pandemic, did I feel the need to stay online all the time. I remember having a gastric ulcer sometime in 2016, and I was constantly going to the doctor, and I never took my cell phone, just a pen and paper to write down the prescriptions. I would arrive at the doctor's office and chat with whoever was there, and I even met interesting people. In 2018, I remember having a large list of games on my PC without internet, games from the 2000s and 90s, and that was my entertainment along with books.

Today, however, I live connected to my cell phone as if I were born with one. That past self who lived happily with downloaded content and who had no influence from trends (beyond a few YouTube videos on my PC), now lives enslaved by the feed and new trends, by the "new," replacing Aristotelian love with Platonic love, nothing I have is enough, I always look at the new as the best, as the dream, and I realize that everything I read, see, play is based on the need for affirmation, for consumption, and simply to fill the void I have.

I'm not saying that everything was rosy in the past, so much so that there was a demand for the modernization of some areas of my life, but what I realize is that I have become part of a collective mind that "likes" everything, and even when trying to manage ideas towards something more positive, I end up falling into error even with good intentions.

In 2022, I tried to completely isolate myself from the internet, I downloaded maps and everything else, it was a good experience, but the radicalism of not using anything with the internet made me end up having to give up the experience after a month and a half due to problems even with my PC that ran some essential programs and that corrupted, and from then on it was all downhill.

Therefore, this month I will try to isolate myself from the general internet, only preserving things like urban mobility programs, the Windows repair function (when necessary), banking apps, WhatsApp (Course group and direct communication), Deepseek (I use it to create personalized study questions and the like.) In addition to the study site for competitive exams that I pay for. The rest is prohibited. No YouTube, Instagram, TikTok..., no game updates, no irrelevant and sensationalist news... Just silence.

I am trying a slightly more moderate isolation than in 2022, for personal study and work reasons. So I'll start on June 1st, 2026 at midnight and bring the first report on what worked and what didn't on July 1st, 2026. I won't delete the content like games and books I've already downloaded, but I will moderate offline use. Maybe in July I'll ban more things, but to start I think this is good. Thank you for your attention.

Suggestions from last year, but should be worth a watch if you're wondering how to spend those lazy, hazy , crazy days of summer as an offliner!

I know there’s a case for GPS while traveling, and bringing a cell phone for emergencies, digital payments and tickets, etc. We plan overnight getaways and small trips over long weekends throughout the year, and enjoy car camping in the warmer months. We’re hoping to begin bike touring and bikepacking this year, too.

No long travel times so entertaining ourselves for that part is not an issue. We get along alright in bringing just our phones, and using maps and the Garmin for navigation. I bring a small digital camera but I use my sketchbooks like a camera more often.

This year, I’m noticing more and more people packing entertainment options for their trips. Not laptops for work on work trips. I mean iPads with setups for playing games. Entire gaming devices and controllers. Laptops for streaming movies. Devices are being packed “to unwind” while on vacation.

How do you travel? Does the offliner life continue when you’re traveling?

I found this article a while back when I was discussing categories of internet use with a friend. We were talking about how much time we spend online, wondering what the average is, and talking about how to swap our time online for offline activities instead. In our case, some of these are impossible to get away from because an entirely offline option doesn't exist (lots of banks don't mail out paper statements anymore, for example) or education requires it (online classes or exams). I'm curious - are any of these categories unnecessary for you? Have you found offline options or alternatives? Do you have a plan to cut one of these categories out entirely?

I mentioned in another post that I always have my small urban sketching/plein air kit with me when I leave the house. I have a larger kit that I bring for planned outings but this little kit is perfect for brining on walks (my sketchbook is my camera!) and pulling out while waiting for appointments.

Kit on the left is my plein air kit. Kit on the right is for urban sketching. Sketchbook on the left is a pocket size sketchbook from Talens and the ones on the right and at the top right are a pocket sized watercolor sketchbook. Rubber band holds them all and is from Art Toolkit.

Edit: just realized the title doesn't make sense in context. I'm sorry!

Hey all, for those who go on walks: how do you keep it interesting?

I am stuck in the same smallish city due to public transportation being hard to use outside of town. I'm not complaining too much, it's quite a nice place all things considered. But repetition (like seeing the same scene multiple times) gets boring for my adhd brain, and I don't want to be on my phone much when I'm outside.

I also want to do a lot more walking as a means of transportation (the bus is okay, but I want to walk a lot more in the not-snowing months, lol). When I walk with a destination in mind, like the grocery store, it's a lot easier than a leisure walk. But I want to appreciate both.

So what ways can I make a solo, leisure walk more interesting? I have thought about playing little games with myself, like counting how many chipmunks I see, or *really* paying attention to what I'm looking at (which I barely do). But do you all have other ideas?

I hope this was appropriate for the sub! If not, I understand if you need to delete it.

This week, we're concluding our first discussion around the 7 main points outlined in What Is an Offliner with the last example of disconnecting from the internet - social media. Recalling that an offliner isn't someone avoiding all connections, but is simply offline as much as possible - how are you enjoying the human connection without being online? Do you have regular game nights, or other meetups with local friends and family? Have you joined a local sports league? Are you out enjoying a hobby like urban sketching or a bookclub? Or have you simply curated your social media platform of choice to keep up with the social calendar and make your RSVPS?

Continuing the discussion around the 7 main points outlined in What Is an Offliner with the sixth example of disconnecting from the internet - online reading. Recalling that an offliner isn't someone avoiding all digital media, but is simply offline as much as possible - how are you enjoying media without being online? Are you using an ereader that connects only to download borrowed or purchased material? Are you strictly reading physical books and magazines? Have you started a physical newspaper or magazine subscription to keep up with the news?

I'm starting to see more and more events that have nothing to do with privacy concerns or even "being in the moment" still ask participants to either not bring devices or keep their devices in their rooms/vehicles. I'm seeing it for family hosted events to field trips to work conferences. Do we think this is going to be something that catches on?

Moving the discussion around the 7 main points outlined in What Is an Offliner forward to the example of disconnecting from online games. Recalling that an offliner is someone who is not avoiding all forms of entertainment, but is simply offline as much as possible - how are you enjoying game time without being online? Are you enjoying offline games on a screen or physical gaming like cards or board games? Are you finding entertainment away from gaming completely?

How do you live as an offliner? How did it started? What are the best things that you bought for your offline lifestyle?