Power Down: Quiet Focus on Your Real Life

Power Down Week is April 21-27, 2024

Join along and Power Down with your family!

Two years ago we ran our first “power down” experiment at the Grovestead. After years of pursuing a simpler, more sustainable life, we wondered what it might be like to go without electricity altogether. We also wondered how prepared we actually were should the power ever go off for a prolonged period. So one Sunday afternoon we flipped the breakers, put away the screens, cooked by campfire, read by candlelight, and focused fully on our farm and each other for a full seven days. It was the best vacation we ever had.

We’ve repeated the experiment several times since and each time found it to be profoundly fulfilling, grounding, and family-bonding. Powering down has a way of recentering and refocusing our busy, distracted, lives in a way no other activity can, which is why we keep returning to it year after year.

We’ve heard from several readers who wanted to power down at the same time. So this year we are inviting you to join along. The last full week in April (21st through 27th) we will get rid of the distractions and live deliberately. Whether you can power down for just a few days or the whole week, we encourage everyone to give it a try. Just keep a journal and write your reflections. Then share them with us when we meet again.

Godspeed,
Rory

P.S. I’ve posted some suggestions below. You may also want to read Reflections from our first power down (especially worth reading what our kids had to say).

Tips for a Successful Power Down

by Becca Groves (Reprinted from The Grovestead Newsletter Winter 2023)

What I will say from the start is that a week without power takes effort. But like all things that take some effort, there is a satisfaction and goodness that is hard to put into words. The entirety of our first power down, I kept reflecting on how my mom raised her kids with only a land line, and only much later, a message machine. That means that all of my mom’s child rearing days were without texts, emails, voice messages, social media and scrolling of any kind. So much has changed in just one generation, and I think this practice is just a great opportunity to step back and assess: what have we gained and what have we lost?

But just like you wouldn’t go camping without some preparation and forethought, I thought I would share our most practical how-to’s and lessons learned.

Timeframe

Pick a week of relatively good weather (not too hot, not too cold). This will depend on your climate—for us that means mid-April through early June. The real rewards of disconnecting set in after about 2-3 days. So if possible, take a whole week off. If that isn’t practical, a weekend would be well worth it. When it comes time, budget extra to actually turn the power off. We have been amazed at how much time it takes to prepare ourselves to power down. All sorts of last minute todo’s pop up. Like a final vacuum! Be ready for things to surface and be gracious with your start time.

Like any detox, there is definitely some discomfort at first. If there is any dependance on screens (I personally believe we are all addicted at this point) there is the very real possibility of brushing up against boredom. Our brains have been conditioned for constant entertainment. I think it’s good to have some fun projects waiting and ready, unfinished farm projects, board games, recipes to try, areas you want to organize, resource books you’ve always wanted to thumb through. Just prepare by having fun things ready—this goes for the kids too!

Electricity

Decide as a family what you would like to keep powered. We kept the fridge in the garage powered so we could shut off the circuit in the kitchen. You don’t realize how noisy a refrigerator is until it’s off. During a winter Power Down we kept the oven working, which was great because I baked around the clock. It kept the kitchen warm and we ate great. Speaking of clocks… we also removed all our watches and covered our clocks and let the daylight dictate our plans.

Phones

We told our neighbor what we were up to, and then gave our parents her phone number in case there was a family emergency. (This also helps when the neighbors look over and see you prowling around by flashlight at night. No need to call the cops!) When we powered down our phones I made sure there was still a charge in case we needed to power them up for an emergency. And then we put them away in a high cupboard, totally out of sight. Same with our laptops. Out of sight, good riddance!

Water

We kept our cold water spigot in the kitchen running, but every other faucet was off. No water in the toilets, shower, dishwasher or washing machine. Our ignorance of water consumption quickly became obvious and we all increased our gratitude for so many spigots—and hot water, no less! It turns out you can get along perfectly well washing dishes and taking bucket baths/showers with water heated on gas burner.

Have a Plan

During a Power Down, the most important thing you will do is… nothing in particular. Except focus on your family. But it also helps to plan a few projects that you can all work on together. Last summer we enlarged our garden, which meant we had to collect all the materials we would need beforehand, such as mulch and compost. We spent many hours working on farm projects but the days were long and leisurely, so it didn’t feel burdensome — they are some of our fondest memories.

As soon as the power is off and Power Down begins, we meet as a family to talk through our personal hopes and expectations, projects and new chores that will need to be done. We make a plan of some sort, and it’s helpful to all be on the same page. Similarly, just before we turn the power back on, we will gather again and reflect on what we have learned. This happens each evening as well during family worship, and we encourage our kids to keep a journal too.

“That sounds like a whole lot of work, Becca. Why bother?!!”

Well, because once you experience this sort of quiet focus on your real life, I think you’ll be hooked. To focus solely on your kids, uninterrupted, is a precious joy. To focus solely on your spouse, without others vying for their attention (and yours) is an immediately-felt gift. The conversations have time to linger, the most important things rise to the surface and the time-wasters quickly look ridiculous. You begin to wonder, “what am I exchanging here—quality time in my real life versus quantity time in this life of screens?” The homemaking and farming and manual labor become the most fulfilling work and it really does fill you up, bringing purpose to your people, and vision for your clan.

So give it a shot. And then be sure to let us know if you do and what you learned. You can send us word via courier pigeon!

Joyfully,
Becca