* How to...
01. Gather participants >>> 02. Get dumbphones >>> 03. Facilitate meetups >>> 04. Host an exhibition >>>Dear organizers,
we're glad you're curious about starting a Month Offline cohort in ur city. a little backstory: MO's founding flipmates first met at a phone-free Shabbat dinner in Temperance Alley -- a community garden and outdoor classroom in Washington, DC. Grant and Danny teamed up with Aaron and Josh to design a challenge that would help neighbors liberate their attention and deepen their sense of place. all of us had been practicing our own forms of attention activism ... building clay ovens, inspiring friends to use flip phones, organizing local field trips.
in April 2025, we came together to post flyers around DC with a simple invitation: CALL 1-844-OFFLINE if u want to ditch ur smartphone for 30 days and experience the beauty of Life beyond the screen with a small group of peers. to our surprise, ppl started leaving us heartfelt voicemails about why they wanted to flip off. we put together a MO field kit with old-school tools that would help us fill the void left behind by our smartphones. and a few weeks later, 15 strangers assembled at a local bar to embark on what turned out to be a transformative trip.
if that was THE END, it would have been enough! but we were so energized by what emerged in newfound offtime that we decided to organize another cohort. and another. and another ... after crushing the July '25 challenge, Lydia came on board as MO's first-ever trained facilitator and not long after, she helped bring the challenge to a whole new city: the Big Apple.
so much has bloomed now: new friendships, photo books, dance videos, plays, short films, a makeshift telegraph, subjective cartographies, kombucha, repaired jeans, a petition to save the local park -- more than we can remember. inspired by all we've witnessed, we created this DIY guide to encourage u to start a MO cohort (and to make it ur own)! inside you'll find helpful hints and printable materials for every stage of ur organizing. u got this! don't hesitate to reach out.
Less is MO,
Aaron, Josh, & Lydia
month@offline.community
Josh helps Nick learn how to ride a bike at the first MO NYC exhibition, Feb 2026
* The basics
weekly meetups are at the heart of MO. the most important 'content' of the curriculum is the stories that participants bring back from the field. it's not a retreat, but a reentry program to the beauty of local Life beyond the screen.
the og challenge is built around 5 themes and a community exhibition, but u r welcome to remix our recipe to better suit the needs of ur neighborhood:
Communication
how do devices shape our patterns of communication? ppl sign the Offline Pledge and ceremonially flip off their smartphones.
Memory
what do we remember when we're not feeling distracted? ppl interview each other about a creative outlet they're exploring.
Navigation
how do we experience urban space when we're off the GPS? ppl use paper maps to share the story of their commute.
Boredom
how do we inhabit the vacancies in our attention? ppl split into 2 teams for a collage competition and plan a midweek outing.
Graduation
what are we going to carry with us from this experience together? ppl give mini-commencement speeches with their takeaways.
Exhibition
how did we make the most of our offtime? ppl share their creative outlets at a public party for the community.
* Ring ring: let's get organized
ready to take the next step? submit an interest form and join the next Q&A session to ask any questions, meet other aspiring organizers, & learn how to get dumbphones.
