Just ring the bell
Not knowing whether someone was home, but going over to see if they wanted to play outside.
The story behind OFFLIFE
It started at home.
I am the father of a five-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter. This book grew from something my wife and I try every day: showing our children — and ourselves — how much there is to experience beyond a screen.
Live first.Share later —
or not at all.
Not a purity test
Not against screens. For more life around them.
At home we build with LEGO and DUPLO. We draw, make things, play music and enjoy board and card games. There is football, swimming and boxing — my son boxes — and every day we try to dance together.
Of course we also play Nintendo and PlayStation. Offline living does not mean technology has to disappear. We simply want the balance to lean towards moving, making, playing and truly being together.
LEGO & DUPLO
Drawing
Making music
Crafting
Football
Swimming
Boxing
Dancing together
Games
What we notice
One less screen between us gives space back.
When my wife and I put our screens down more often, we notice more calm. We are more approachable, listen longer and feel more connected.
It sounds small. Yet that small shift changes an evening: no longer sitting side by side somewhere else, but being in the same place again.
A life with screens, where life itself takes up the most space.
Something from before
We do not miss the past. We miss what used to happen naturally.
Ringing the doorbell without messaging first. Eating out without a phone on the table. Talking to someone you do not know while waiting or riding a tram.
Waiting together
A conversation in the street, on the bus or in a waiting room because you happened to share the same place.
Not knowing everything
Calling someone because a feed has not kept you continuously updated on their life.
Why we made this book
Not to go backwards. To be present more often.
On a tram, bus, in a restaurant or hospital waiting room, almost everyone is on a phone. Small encounters disappear too: sharing a view, saying something to a stranger or allowing a moment to stay empty.
We wanted practical tools for a life in which those moments have more room. No detox, challenge or guilt — just 52 things appealing enough to make putting your screen down feel natural.
OFFLIFE grew from that wish.
From the OFFLIFE introduction
“You probably know the moment: there is nothing you actually want to look up, and yet your phone is already in your hand.”
This book gives you something practical in those moments: somewhere to go, something to make, a question to ask or fifteen minutes in which nothing is required of you.
Live first. Share later — or not at all.Ready to do something?