My Analog Summer: 55 Ways I'm Unplugging This Summer

A summer bucket list of sorts inspired by the 90s summer of my childhood.

Starting up my fashion no-buy challenge mixed with the nostalgic feeling of school ending and summer starting, I’m feeling this urge to make myself a bucket list of sorts, but one that really feels like the analog childhood I had. The primary goal—do more stuff offline.

I rounded up 55 ways I’m planning to unplug this summer with a mix of creative activities, low hanging life admin takes that aren’t sexy, but will make me feel better, house projects I want to tick off the list and just plain spending time with people I enjoy.

1. Read before bed - I’ve been in a reading slump of sorts, but need to push through and get back into the habit of reading before bed.

2. Eat al fresco as a family on the deck - I LOVE when we can eat dinners outside. With three kids under seven, we’re a messy bunch and eating outside saves me having to detail the dining table and floors post dinner. I throw a tablecloth over our dining table, light a candle, grab the cute cloth napkins, maybe even snip some flowers and put in a bud vase, then dine. Simple, but ever so slightly elevated.

3. Knit instead of scrolling - I’ve been working on this transition already and doing a good job! I bring my little knitting project tote around with my most places, especially the playground with my kids. They have fun and I get a little down time on a bench knitting. Win-win.

4. Take film and polaroid photos (and get them developed) - Two summers ago I got the film camera I had in middle and high school. I toted it around all summer taking film photos. Then, I never got them developed. I got hung up on finding a “good photo print shop” and not just using Walgreens photo for some reason. The perfectionist in me got the best of me. I’m going to drop my old film rolls off tomorrow and just enjoy the hit of nostalgia when they’re ready. This summer (and for the rest of the year) I’ll try and snap photos on film and drop them off at Walgreens promptly when each roll is completed.

5. Use my cookbooks (make my kids a summer baking cookbook) - I think I need to put them in a more obvious and accessible location. They’re high above my stove in a cabinet so I don’t see them, therefore, I don’t use them. My oldest daughter and son have been into baking lately so I want to print out a few easy recipes for them and make them a little baking cookbook of their own. It’s another great excuse for me to use my laminator (lol). I get far too much joy from laminating things.

6. Make my phone super boring - Today, I deleted a bunch of apps that had just accumulated on my phone. It felt great. I then decided to make it look really boring when I use it but changing my app icons to grayscale—and, whoa, is it different. I open my phone and am instantly like there’s nothing here for me. Even the notification bubbles are grayscale. So far—all of like four hours—I’m loving it.