Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from Media Fasting (Pauline).

Doing a media fast provides many benefits to our physical, mental and spiritual health.

1. Connecting with God — We fast so we can recognize with greater clarity God’s grace at work in and around us. Fasting frees us to respond more generously to God, who pours his superabundant love upon us, and to grow in our ability to hear his voice. Eliminating some of the digital clutter from our lives makes room for us to spend time nurturing our relationship with the one who loves us. A strengthened relationship with Christ spills over into our daily life choices, including our media use, helping us make better media choices from this point forward.

2. Increased energy — Prolonged screen time can sap energy, especially if it is at night right before going to bed. The light of the screen sends dopamine to the brain, stimulating thought processes that prevent restful sleep. Disrupted sleep resulting from screen time decreases our energy. Fasting from digital media one hour before bedtime can help us sleep better. We may also choose to limit screen time to take time for physical exercise. Physical activities increase the heart rate, supply oxygen to the blood cells, and so improve energy.

3. More focus — Scattered brain functions due to excessive screen use lessen awareness of the task at hand. Notifications and ads distract us and interrupt our focus. The instant gratification and incessant pace of online information decrease our attention spans. Breaking the habit of viewing things online that absorb or scatter our attention can retrain our brains to stay on task and pay attention for longer periods of time. So many drugs on the market offer intensified mental stimulus, but a digital fast is a cheaper and safer way to stimulate the brain and increase focus.

4. Inner peace — We sometimes use digital media as a replacement for boredom or an escape from difficult external situations. But filling our minds with disturbing news, violence, online arguments, other people’s opinions of us, or content that makes us compare our lives with others’ only disturbs our peace. Peace can be restored when we center ourselves in God. Putting aside the phone or other digital devices allows us to notice who and what is around us. We can thank God, the Creator of all, for the beauty we often miss when we’re focused on our screens.

5. Better relationships — Digital fasts improve our relationships by helping us recognize other people as whole persons, not just the aspects of themselves they present online. We get to know people better the more we spend quality time with them. Paying attention only to our screens prevents us from truly seeing and hearing the other in front of us. Listening is an art. It’s a learned practice to hear with our ears what another is saying. To listen with our mind and heart shows interest, concern, care, and love. The more we remove digital distractions while with others, the stronger will be the relationships that add to our quality of life.

How-To

How does a media fast work? Just like fasting from food and drink, there are various ways to fast from media. These fasts can be intermittent, especially if we use screens for work or study. A fast can target specific media or apps, or center on conscious choices about what we post online and how often we create and engage with content. A digital detox, which removes the device or app for a significant period, is the most radical fast.

Here are some suggestions:

• Daily Fasts

Set your phone on “do not disturb” from an hour before going to bed until an hour after you get up in the morning. A substantial amount of time without digital interruptions makes it more possible to have a peaceful evening and a complete night’s rest.

Use a screen time app that will lock you out of your social media or gaming apps at certain times, such as while you are at work or school or before you go to bed. Set your phone alarm or a timer for one hour or less. ... Turn off all music, radio, or podcasts on your daily commute or while exercising.

Give yourself only certain times during the day when you will check your phone notifications, such as at 9 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m.

Silence your notifications so they will not go off at all hours of the day. This way you will avoid interruptions and not feel obliged to check your phone continually.

Watch only one episode of a streaming series instead of binging the entire season. Plan ahead how many episodes you will watch and stick to it or set a time limit for your daily TV usage. Check or post on social media once a day, or only at times when you don’t have other obligations. Limit how often you check for new likes or comments.

When catching up with friends (coffee, lunch, dinner), suggest no phones during your gathering. In a non-aggressive way, challenge the others to go for one hour without checking their phones. See where the conversation goes!

• 24-Hour Fasts

Turn off all your digital devices and store them away for a complete 24-hour period. Notice how many times you had the urge to turn your phone on during that time.

• Week-Long Fasts

Stay off all social media for a week. Remove the apps from your phone. Avoid playing your favorite video game for one week. Turn off the radio when in your car, or fast from listening to music while exercising or doing chores for a week. Read a paper book rather than e-books, web comics, or fan fiction sites. Avoid shopping online for a week. Go to a brick and mortar store if you need something.

• Weekend Fasts

Do a 48-hour complete digital fast. Spend the weekend catching up with friends or family. Don’t lock your phone away completely in case you might want to arrange a meeting with friends, but turn off your notifications and disable all apps except the phone and text messaging. Fast from all entertainment media for the weekend. Plan an outdoor activity or hands-on project instead. Use the time you would normally spend on media for a prayerful activity, such as reading Scripture or going to Eucharistic adoration.

• Monthly Fasts

Go for a month without your social media apps on your phone. Only check them when you are on your computer or tablet. Avoid that game app that sucks your time by removing it for one month. Evaluate what you did instead of that game. Give up watching YouTube videos and do something active instead. Shop in local, independent stores rather than online.

• Seasonal Fasts

The Church’s liturgical season of Lent is six weeks long and Advent is four weeks. Media fasts can be a form of penance during these seasons. Delete problematic apps from your phone. Fast from them for the entire season of Lent or Advent. Use the time you’d spend on screens to add or deepen a spiritual practice (ideas are in the daily meditations). ...

Making a Media Fast Plan

To begin, you want to understand your media habits and identify the goal of your fast. For example, maybe you want to break the habit of impulsively reaching for your phone when you feel bored or unhappy. Or you may wish to have balance in your media use so you can spend more time on your relationships with God and others. Identifying some concrete elements of a digital fast in view of your chosen focus will make the fast more realistic and help you keep to what you’ve committed.

• Understand your habits

1. Do a media audit. Write down what you did yesterday hour by hour. Notice how much of your day was spent using some form of media versus time spent with other people or doing things unrelated to tech use.

2. Identify the apps and devices that are problematic for you. Write them [down] and write why they cause problems. (Addictive? Troubling content? Etc.)

3. What are the triggers to your excessive media use? For example, maybe you turn to media when you are feeling bored, lonely, or anxious. Or you have some media always on while doing other things and so are never “off.” ...

4. Check the screen time function on your phone, computer, or tablet to see how much time you spend on certain apps/devices per day or week.

• State your goal

What do you want to achieve and why?

1. Ideally, how much time would you want to spend on specific apps/devices per day? Per week?

2. Is there anything that you want to stop doing completely?

3. Consider what benefits you hope will come from this change.

• Determine the period of the fast
• What it looks like

What will you do to limit access to that problem app/device?

Consider Alternatives

Consider and list alternatives to time spent on your app/device, such as establishing regular prayer time, picking up a new or old hobby, exercising and/or spending time outdoors, or reading a paper-based book.

Concrete Actions

• Make a list of concrete actions that will help you achieve your purpose. For example, you could invite a friend to do the fast with you or ask someone to hold you accountable during your fast.

Predict obstacles

• Predict obstacles that may arise and ways you will overcome those obstacles. For example, if you know you might drop this fast on the first weekend, plan your weekend activities ahead, or if you think you may turn to your device out of habit, put a note on your device to remind you of your fast.