how a social media trend led to a spiritual conviction

An update to my analog experiment for the month of February

Ok, please tell me I’m not alone is feeling like January felt like 10 years but Febrary felt like 10 seconds because what the heck do you mean it’s March??

Well, anyway, here is the analog update for February, but in March lol! I feel like “going analog” in February didn't really turn out the way I planned. But does anything in life ever go according to plan?

I had originally hoped to have a set schedule with my analog experiment updates coming out at the end of each month, but I actually think it works out better to have the first article of the month be my analog experiment update for the prior month. I hope you feel the same!

February was a blur. It was full of so many sweet memories, but I am honestly a little glad it is over.

When the year first started, we did not expect to have everything going on that we did. We had signed my daughter up for basketball practice with a classmate and ended up finding out that other people we knew, and their families, were doing the same league. It was so sweet and fun because she really enjoyed her Thursday night practices.

I was very nervous about having an extracurricular during the week. I had said I was not going to do an extracurricular during the week, and I did that for the first semester of her being in kindergarten. But she was adjusting well, and as much as I am a homebody, my children and my husband like to be out and doing things and being around people.

So it actually ended up being a really sweet bonding moment for all of our family to be able to go to her practices. It was at a wonderful church with amazing facilities and playgrounds for kids, and we got to see some friends more regularly during the eight-week period than we had before.

Then getting to get up and go to her games and have family come to her games on Saturday mornings for the eight-week season was so sweet.

On top of that, we had my husband’s birthday in the first week, my youngest's, who turned two, and I was also checking out a few moms’ groups and Bible studies. My husband’s work schedule unexpectedly became much busier than usual around this time of year, and he has been on and off sick. So we have had a lot of sickness and teething, and I have been managing a lot more at home because my husband has been focusing on work and just recovering.

Needless to say, we have had so many wonderful things going on, but overall, life in February gave me multiple more little balls to juggle. It didn’t seem like too much but you can only juggle so much before things start to drop like deadlines, assignments, and maybe even sanity.

What’s the phrase? “Not my circus, not my monkeys"? Well, it definitely WAS my circus and it felt like my monkeys kept throwing stuff at me while trying to juggle.

Let’s just say, I don’t think I would make a good clown.

Taking a Step Back

I stepped back from content strategy, personal branding, and growth on other platforms around the holidays so I could focus on writing from the heart and building my community here on Substack. I have also been trying to find ways to organize my Substack in a way that is sustainable and life-giving to me while being valuable to you and glorifying to God. I am so grateful I took that step back because it not only gave me space to focus on my family and not feel overwhelmed when things get progressively busier after the holidays, but also led to a deeper introspection of my heart.

This analog experiment has been a very humbling thing. I am honestly surprised that I have even kind of kept up with it this long, but it has been a wonderful way to focus, prioritize, and actually do some hard work.

Because the month of February, I was not really the best about being off my phone. Like…at all.

What the Analog Experiment Is

If you are new to the series, or if this is the first post you are reading, and you are wondering what the heck an “analog experiment” is, don’t worry, I got you.

Around Christmas 2025, I was inspired by the analog trend that started appearing on my social media around that time.

Initially, I thought it was silly. I thought it was going to be another trend of people using slow living and the idea of being offline to their advantage, while essentially posting a bunch online about living offline.

But I really took it to heart because it revealed my own insecurity about how much time I was spending on my phone and online, even though it was for financial and creative hobby purposes.

So I turned my insecurity into inspiration with two goals in mind.

The first goal was to make my phone a tool again, rather than a tyrant that consumed my whole life.

The second goal was to find more ways to enjoy life offline. More offline hobbies, and not just writing online or creating content online and connecting with people online, even though those are good things.

Essentially, I wanted to build a life I loved offline.

What February Revealed

In January, I did a bunch of small changes. Some of them stuck, and some of them were not sustainable shifts.

February ended up being more of an eye-opening journey into how I handle stress that I did not plan for and how I handle overwhelm.

Because there were so many wonderful events and things going on in February, and because I was handling more at home with the kids while my husband focused on work, I noticed something about myself.

When I felt out of control in my day-to-day life, I tried to double down on the things I could control like the cleanliness of my home (hello rage cleaning!). But I also noticed that the temptation to retreat into my phone instead of pressing into God and my family was at an ALL-TIME high. Like" “plate-of-brownies-and-no one-around-while-you’re-on a-diet” high.

Even though it was not doom scrolling, I was retreating into writing, social media, content creation, and building a platform. It turned into this frantic energy that was burning me out, even though I was already the equivalent of a snuffed-out pile of ash. Not a great look.

It is not something I would have noticed before, because this time last year I was putting about the same amount of time and energy into building my personal brand and figuring out content strategy.

Since I was not doomscrolling or wasting time, I thought it was fine. I thought I was fine (disclaimer: I was in fact not fine lol).

But I noticed that I would get overwhelmed by my real life and just want to retreat into my online writing life. I would even get annoyed if someone interrupted that time.

It was not a life-giving hobby so much as my pacifier. I was handing myself the adult version of Cocomelon on an iPad and wondering why I wasn’t feeling any more regulated.

A Heart Issue

I have played around with different limitations for my phone, but overall I realized in the month of February that it was really a heart issue.

And honestly, how fitting is that, because February is the love month. The heart month.

I forced myself to lean into the discomfort of that realization.

At first, I felt really bad and like I was a horrible mom because I was retreating into my phone and my online life. Even though it was not doomscrolling, I tried to justify it.

But I realized I was making that my comfort.

That was the place I was running to instead of retreating into where true comfort comes from, which is God, or even retreating into being more present with my family.

It was a humbling realization, but it was also a beautiful one.

So I just let myself sit in that discomfort, gave myself grace, and started thinking through how I could make a plan for handling times of unexpected or long-term stress.

I am honestly very grateful for this experiment because I would not have been open to noticing it before. I really feel like God has been very gracious through this process and using a social media trend to lead to gentle conviction.

Analog Moments from February

So this month’s update is not really about all the ways I stayed off my phone. Instead, it was more about realizing what I actually turn to when things get stressful or feel out of control.

But I did have some really fun analog moments.

One of them was taking a class called Moms with Poms, which was basically an adult cheer style pom pom workout class. We learned routines and performed them for friends and family at the end.

As someone who played volleyball and basketball growing up but was always interested in cheerleading and dance and gymnastics, it was really fun to finally try something like that!

I also did more watercolor painting, started knitting again, and have been dreaming up lots of spring activities with my kids.

Because the weather has been so nice here in Texas, we have been eating outside more and playing outside more. I have been planning things like making a fairy garden, chaos gardening, growing butterflies, and just enjoying the spring weather together.

February felt like a month of dreaming and planning more than executing and I truly believe this experiment has made it so much easier and fun to dream of intentional activities for my offline life.

A Gentle Encouragement

If any of this resonates with you, let this be your sign to try your own analog experiment!

It does not have to look like mine or the what you see online. Heck, it doesn’t even have to look the same month to month!

Making it an experiment gives so much more freedom. It lets you find sustainable ways to use your phone as a tool while also building a life you love offline.

I would love to hear what that looks like for you.

Thank you for being part of this. ✨

Much love,

Sarah

*If you’ve been encouraged by this and want to support my writing, I have set up a “buy me a coffee” link to make a one-time donation. This honors the time and resources that go into me creating gentle, faith-filled content. While it is greatly appreciated, it is not expected. I am deeply thankful to simply have your presence here!