Lenten media fast: Spiritual discipline for a digital age

Like many people, I find myself absorbed by social media reels and algorithm-generated content.

Occasionally I check the "screen time" function on my phone and am shocked by how much time I spend on my device. At that point, I quickly put it away and focus on my duty at the moment. A media fast helps me take charge of my digital media instead of it taking charge of me!

I gave a talk to college students about living authentically in the digital culture. One young woman came to me afterward and told me she tried fasting from Instagram for Lent. I asked her how it went. She told me that she struggled with anxiety to check her account and was worried she would lose followers by being off it for six weeks.

"What happened after the fast?" I asked. She said, "On Easter Sunday I went right back to my same old pattern." That's when the idea for the book "Media Fasting: Six Weeks to Recharge in Christ" developed.

We can fast from food or drink or media. But fasting is a spiritual discipline to tune our hearts to God and to refocus our lives on the One who desires our good.

As a spiritual practice, fasting involves the addition of prayer and consideration for what we fill our lives with when we remove something through a fast. A media fast involves praying over our media use and choosing what we will do instead of engaging in a particular form of media.

We don't have to wait for Lent to fast from our media, but it can be a perfect time to reflect more deeply on our relationship with Christ -- and our media use!

Let's get down to it. What ways can we fast from media?

It's not necessary to fast from all media, because we use media for work, school and connecting with family and friends. Instead, we can consider what is the one thing that is most problematic or time-consuming for us and choose that for a Lenten media fast.

We can remove that app or device for the entire six weeks of Lent or set time limits for ourselves by putting on an alarm or notification to help us limit our use.

Here are eight ideas for media fasting:

1. Limit television news watching to one hour a day.
2. Play a favorite video game for a maximum of two hours a week.
3. Remove a social media app from the phone that is most problematic.
4. Pray a rosary instead of listening to podcasts during a commute.
5. Check emails only three times a day at set hours.
6. Watch only one streaming series episode at a time instead of binging several in a row.
7. Invite friends or family to watch a movie and afterward discuss how it reflects Gospel values or not.
8. Avoid checking the number of likes or follows on social media apps.

It is important to decide what media we will fast from and whether we avoid it altogether or put time limits on our use. The more specific we get in our media fast, the more likely we can hold ourselves to it.

After we discover ways to fast from our media, we can consider what we will do instead with our time when not on that app or device. Perhaps we can call a friend, visit a grandparent or go for a walk. Considering alternatives to absorbing media engagement allows us to reflect on our relationships with God and others. It also opens space in our lives for other hobbies or projects we have been desiring to do but didn't have the time.

As a spiritual discipline, media fasting requires prayer. Praying over our media and inviting Christ into our media experience can show us what our hearts truly yearn for when we engage with our screens. We start to realize how the content we engage with affects our minds, hearts and souls and whether it aligns with our values. Not all media is bad, but we must ask how we are using our media and why. When we do take time to reflect on our media use, we break habitual use and become more intentional about the information and entertainment we consume.

A media fast takes responsibility, discipline and courage. But as St. Paul says, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (Phil 4:13).

Joining others in a media fast can create a community that holds us accountable to the fast. My religious sisters and I are inviting you to join us for a Media Fast Challenge during Lent so we, as a community, can break compulsive screen use to recharge our lives in Christ!