An upcoming issue of the magazine will feature 200 movie recommendations, and were anyone to watch even a fraction of these films, that’d be an awful lot of screen time. So, in the name of balance, let’s make a plug for taking a screen sabbatical, going without our smartphone, TV, and computer for a day, a week, or even a month. We’re not talking about the time you have to spend on your laptop for work, or when you’re using your phone to talk to your dear old mom. What we’re talking about here is Tik Tok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter time. Could you go without all that, for a week? It’d be difficult, but could you go screen-free?

And If it’d be really difficult, might that be a sign that you should make the attempt? After all, we want to own our phone; we don’t want it to own us.

Of course, going screen-free for a whole week (or a month, or a day) isn’t about simply stopping the scrolling. Stopping will just leave you bored and antsy – you can’t replace something with just doing nothing! No, if you’re going to succeed then you’ll need to find other activities to fill the time. To that end, here’s a list of 25 alternatives to consider:

1. grab a good book
2. organize a ____ tournament (ping pong, horseshoes, croquet, etc.)
3. listen to a podcast, audiobook, or the car radio
4. go for coffee with a friend
5. read through the Bible in month
6. play a card or board game
7. share a favorite book with your children
8. find a hobby (car repair, woodworking, fishing, etc.)
9. go for a walk and talk, chatting up all the neighbors you meet
10. hold a _____ tasting party (wine, cheese, foreign cuisine, etc.)
11. shoot hoops with your kids
12. actually clean the garage
13. phone your mom (it doesn’t count as screen time, even if you Skype her)
14. knock off some of those home repairs
15. have your kids help you with home repairs (even if takes twice as long)
16. hit Costco as a family
17. join a Bible study
18. get an old-fashioned newspaper subscription
19. take a night class
20. hold a games night with neighbors
21. serve a meal at a Rescue Mission
22. go biking or rollerblading or bowling
23. plant a garden
24. hike up the nearest mountain
25. organize a painting party (painting the fence, etc.) for a widow