Guide · Time away from screens
Digital break month: how to switch off without losing your job
A month with your phone in a drawer sounds lovely until you think about your inbox. Here is how to ask for the time, hand over properly, decide what "off" means, and come back without drowning. What the research shows, and what it does not.
Photo is illustrative, not from a past month. Credits.
A digital break month is thirty days with far less screen time: no work email, no endless feeds, and a phone that goes back to being a tool. Most people who want one have the same fear. Not the phone itself, but the job. What if something breaks while I am away? What if they decide they don't need me? This guide is about that fear. It covers what the research says about time offline, how to ask for the month, how to hand over so nobody needs you, how to set up your phone, and how to come back. It makes no promises about how you will feel at the end.
What a digital break month is, and what it is not
Some people use other names for it. We say "digital break", because that is all it is: a planned pause from screens you normally can't put down. It is not a fix for anything, and it is not a punishment. You can still call your family, check a map or pay for coffee. The aim is simply to stop the constant checking for long enough to notice what your days feel like without it.
It is also not a medical step. If you feel low, unwell or unable to cope for weeks, start with your doctor. If anything feels urgent, call your local emergency number, or find a free helpline in your country at findahelpline.com.
What the research says about time offline
We all spend a lot of time online. The Digital 2025 report from DataReportal, using GWI survey data, found that adult internet users spend an average of 6 hours and 38 minutes online each day. That is a big part of every waking day.
Three studies are worth knowing before you plan a month away from it.
- Four weeks off Facebook. In a large experiment published in the American Economic Review in 2020, Hunt Allcott, Matthew Gentzkow and colleagues paid a random group of US Facebook users to deactivate their accounts for four weeks before the 2018 midterm elections. They started with 2,844 people. The deactivated group spent more time offline, including with friends and family, and reported small but significant improvements in well-being. Many kept using Facebook less after the study ended. The trade-off: they also knew a little less about the news.
- Email three times a day. Kostadin Kushlev and Elizabeth Dunn at the University of British Columbia asked 124 adults to check email only three times a day for one week, and as often as they liked in another. Daily stress was lower in the limited week. People also found the limit hard to stick to, which is a fair warning for anyone planning a month.
- Shorter attention on screens. Gloria Mark, a professor emerita of informatics at UC Irvine, has measured how long people stay on one screen before switching. When she started, about twenty years ago, it was around two and a half minutes. Recent measures are around 47 seconds. She has also found that getting back to a task after an interruption can take almost half an hour.
So the honest summary: time away from feeds and constant email tends to help a little, not a lot, and the effect depends on what you do with the time instead. A month won't rewire anyone. But it is long enough to find out which apps you actually miss, and which you only reach for out of habit.
Step 1: Decide what "off" means for you
"I'm switching off" means different things to different people. Pick a level before you talk to anyone at work, because it changes what you ask for.
| Level | What it looks like | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Fully off work | No work email, chat or calls at all; one named person can reach you for a real emergency | People with a clear handover and an understanding employer |
| One window a week | Thirty minutes, same day and time each week, to read a short summary from your cover | Senior roles and business owners |
| Feeds off, work light | Social media and news apps gone; work email once a day, for a fixed time | People who can't take full leave yet |
Whatever you choose, social media and news apps can usually go completely. They are the part most people say they don't miss after the first week.
Step 2: Ask for the month properly
Most jobs don't lose people for taking agreed leave. They lose patience with people who vanish without a plan. So make it a plan, in writing, three to six months ahead if you can. Include the dates, who covers what, how reachable you will be, and whether the time is paid or unpaid. My wellness sabbatical guide has a fuller checklist for this conversation.
It also helps to know that some countries now protect time off screens by law. In France, since 1 January 2017, companies with 50 or more staff must negotiate with employees about a "right to disconnect", or set a policy if there is no agreement. In Australia, a right to disconnect started on 26 August 2024 for most employers and covered small businesses from 26 August 2025: employees can refuse out-of-hours contact unless refusing would be unreasonable. These laws are about evenings and weekends, not a month off, and the details differ. This is not legal advice. Check your own contract and local law, and ask HR to confirm the terms in writing.
Step 3: Hand over so nobody needs you
The fear of losing your job is really a fear of being needed and not being there. The answer to that is not a phone in your pocket. It is a handover good enough that nobody has a reason to call.
- Write a one-page handover for each person covering for you: what is live, who to call, what can wait a month.
- Define "emergency" in writing. For example: a legal deadline, a client about to leave, a safety issue. Everything else waits.
- Name one person who has a way to reach you, and agree that only they use it.
- Hand over or cancel every meeting in your calendar for the month.
- Write an honest out-of-office: the date you are back and who to contact. Not "limited access to email", because then people wait for you.
Step 4: Set up your phone for a quiet month
Willpower runs out. Settings don't. The day before you leave:
- Delete or sign out of work apps: email, chat, shared drives. If you need them back for the weekly window, signing in again takes a minute, and that minute is useful friction.
- Remove social media and news apps from your home screen, or from the phone altogether.
- Turn off every notification except calls and messages from a short list of people.
- Keep the useful tools: maps, banking, translation, a camera, a music app for walks.
- Charge the phone outside the bedroom and use a cheap alarm clock instead.
- Tell friends and family how to reach you, and that you will reply slowly.
Some people go further and use a basic phone for the month. That works well if your banking and travel can cope without a smartphone. Check that before you go, not on day three.
Step 5: Fill the time you get back
If the research shows anything, it is that the gain comes from what replaces the screen. The people who quit Facebook spent more time with others. An empty month just gets filled with a different screen. So give each day a simple shape:
- The same wake-up time most days, and light outside early.
- Movement every day: a long walk, a swim, some strength work. Check with your doctor if you have a health condition.
- Real meals at set times, eaten without a screen.
- Ten quiet minutes of sitting or breathing. My guide to meditation styles for beginners has six to try.
- A paper book and a notebook for the thoughts that used to go into your phone.
- Calmer evenings. A digital break month pairs well with a month off alcohol, since late-night scrolling and a glass of wine often travel together. If you drink heavily or every day, talk to a doctor before you stop, because stopping suddenly can be dangerous. My plan for a month off alcohol covers the practical side, and sleep without alcohol covers the nights.
The first week, honestly
Many people describe the first few days the same way: reaching for a phone that isn't there, a strange restlessness, and a surprising amount of boredom. That is normal, and it usually eases. Remember the email study: people found the limit hard, and still felt less stressed. Hard and helpful can be true at the same time. If you slip and spend an evening scrolling, don't call the month a failure. Just put the phone back in the drawer the next morning.
Coming back without drowning
The return is where many digital breaks fall apart, usually on the first Monday. Plan it as carefully as the departure:
- Take one re-entry day before you are "back": read your cover's summary, not your whole inbox.
- Archive anything older than two weeks unless it is clearly important. If it mattered, it will come back.
- Keep two habits, not ten. Email at set times and no phone in the bedroom is a good pair.
- Add apps back one at a time, and only the ones you actually missed.
A digital break month with The Quiet Month
This is what I offer, so here is the plain version. The Quiet Month is a calm month for up to four guests, lived alongside me. Each guest has a private one-bedroom flat about ten minutes' walk from me. The days are full: early meditation (always optional), exercise together, simple shared low-carb meals, outings, time alone, and long conversations over coffee in the evening. Intermittent fasting is part of the month: I set the daily eating window and adjust it to each guest. Anyone who feels unwell eats, and nobody is pushed.
There is no phone rule. You keep your phone and your passport at all times, and how much you switch off is your choice. The rule for the month is different: no smoking, no alcohol, no drugs. Prescribed medicine is always allowed. The minimum stay is one month, because a routine needs time.
About me: I am not a doctor, a counsellor or a coach. The Quiet Month is not medical, not therapy and not rehab. Every guest needs a doctor's fit-to-join letter, travel insurance with medical and evacuation cover, and to be 21 or over. I don't publish where I am; after a video call, if we both want to go ahead, I tell you the country and city before you sign anything. The full day is on the month page, safety is on the safety and trust page, and the fee is on the price page.
Not ready for a whole month?
Try a week first. My free 7-day plan for a quiet week at home has walks, simple meals, short meditations and calmer evenings, with a printable checklist. Do it with your phone in a drawer after 8pm, and you will soon know whether a month is worth planning. If burnout is the real reason you want to switch off, read an executive burnout retreat: a quiet month vs a long weekend.
The Quiet Month team
Questions people ask
Will taking a digital break month hurt my career?
Agreed leave with a written plan and a good handover rarely does. What worries employers is not knowing who covers what. Ask early, put the plan in writing, define what counts as an emergency, and name one person who can reach you.
Do I have a legal right to switch off from work?
Some countries, such as France and Australia, have a "right to disconnect" for out-of-hours contact. These rules cover evenings and weekends, not a month away, and they differ by country. Check your contract and local law, and get leave terms confirmed in writing.
Can I keep my phone for maps and family?
Yes. Most people keep the useful tools, such as maps, banking, translation and calls from family, and remove work apps, feeds and news. The aim is fewer screens, not no phone at all.
Does The Quiet Month take guests’ phones away?
No. You keep your phone and passport at all times. The days are full of meals, exercise, outings and conversation, so many people find they reach for the phone less, but how much you switch off is up to you.
Sources
- DataReportal: Digital 2025 Global Overview Report (GWI data) (6 hours 38 minutes online a day, adult internet users)
- Allcott, Braghieri, Eichmeyer and Gentzkow (2020), American Economic Review: The Welfare Effects of Social Media (2,844 Facebook users; four weeks deactivated)
- Kushlev and Dunn (2015), Computers in Human Behavior: Checking email less frequently reduces stress (124 adults; three checks a day for a week)
- University of California: Gloria Mark on how to sharpen your attention (2024) (about 47 seconds on one screen)
- Littler: sorting out the truth about the right to disconnect in France (from 1 January 2017; companies with 50+ staff)
- The Sector: right to disconnect laws to apply to small businesses from August 2025 (Australia; 26 August 2024 and 26 August 2025)
- Find A Helpline: free helplines in many countries
Prices and facts were checked on 23 October 2026. Prices change; always check the source before you book anything.