NATIONAL DAY OF UNPLUGGING

On March 4–5, from sundown to sundown, over 112,000 people will turn off their cellphones, hide them, let the battery die, or bed them down in tiny “sleeping bags.” Since 2009 the National Day of Unplugging organization (NDU) has called on people around the globe to set aside the first weekend of March to “elevate human connection over digital engagement.”

For 24 hours, schools, religious institutions, businesses, families and individuals who want to “inspire healthy life/tech balance for their communities” will embrace analog activities from camping out and riding bikes to origami and scavenger hunts.

Last year NDU partnered with the digital wellness company, lilspace and yarn bomber London Kaye to launch the Unplug and Crochet for a Cause Challenge. Celebrities like Kristen Bell and Hilary Duff wielded their crochet hooks and later posted online, all to raise awareness for unplugging and other nonprofits.

Paying for Attention

While the National Day of Unplugging raises awareness for steps we can take as individuals, there’s also a movement to hold big tech accountable for what we lose when our concentration is sucked up by electronic devices and social media. One of the voices speaking out is Johann Hari, whose book “Stolen Focus” was released in January. In an interview on “The Ezra Klein Show,” Hari said that we’re living through a “serious attention crisis.” While we’re told from childhood to pay attention, the urgent question now is who’s paying for our attention?

“Think of that tech as a virus designed to hack and invade our attention,” Hari said. These attention vampires shatter a unique brain state known as “flow” and interrupt “mind wandering” or daydreaming — two special modes of sustained focus where we make unexpected connections, create visions for the future or experience a transcendent sense of immersion in a task.

The pressure to “multitask” is ever present — and a younger generation may not know any other way of working, pecking away at homework with one eye on TikTok, one eye on Snapchat and one eye on text. “We’ve fallen for a mass delusion,” Hari said.

Research shows that, while the average teenager believes they can follow six or seven forms of media simultaneously, what they’re actually doing is rapidly switching back and forth. Our brains can only consciously focus on one or two things at a time.

“If you’re interrupted, it takes you on average 23 minutes to get back to the level of focus you had before you were interrupted,“ Hari said, a phenomenon dubbed “the switch cost effect.”

What Do You Unplug For?

On the NDU website you can download a sign reading “I unplug to ___.” Fill in the blank with your favorite person or IRL activity. You can also draw inspiration for your own day of unplugging from their list of over 200 activities, including things like group crafting, board games, blowing giant bubbles, creating a Zen

garden and playing laser tag. Or check out our sidebar of ICT happenings this month, and reclaim your time and focus while reconnecting with family, friends and community.

Learn more about National Day of Unplugging at their website, nationaldayofunplugging.com, or find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. #nationaldayofunplugging

Unplug for These March ICT Events

First Friday Pop-Up Market Series at Revolutsia

By Haute Handmade Markets and Revolutsia

March 4, 5–8 p.m.

Wichita State Shockers vs. East Carolina

Charles Koch Arena

March 5, 2 p.m.

ICT Film Showcase

With The Tallgrass Film Festival

Crown Uptown Theatre

March 7–10

Little Aviators

Kansas Aviation Museum

Every Friday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Free for child and accompanying adult

Claymation Film Fun

The Enchanted Mermaid

March 27, 4 p.m.

Supplies, instructions, hors d'oeuvres and mermaid photo provided. BYOB your favorite wine.