Healthy Screen Habits Podcast
Episode: "How to Live an Analog Life in a Digital World"
Guest: Frank Pasimato
Host: Hillary Wilkinson
Date: February 25, 2026

Episode Overview

In this thoughtful and engaging conversation, host Hillary Wilkinson sits down with writer and teacher Frank Pasimato to explore his workbook How to Live an Analog Life in a Digital World: A Workbook for Living Soulfully in an Age of Overload. The episode dives deep into the challenges and rewards of balancing technology’s pervasive presence with intentional analog practices for a richer, more connected, and mindful daily life—especially in the context of parenting, self-connection, and community.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Frank’s Journey to Analog Living

• Origins of Analog Advocacy
  Frank shares that the desire to step off the "digital hamster wheel" intensified during the pandemic, coinciding with the birth of his daughter and a sudden transition to remote teaching.

  • Quote:

    "I was overwhelmed by...spending more time probably than ever on the screen...under those circumstances, I figured I'd do something about it. And I've always liked to write by hand. That's kind of my antidote to the screen time." (02:11–04:16)

• Analog Roots
  Frank reminisces about childhood creativity with notebooks, emphasizing how analog activities like handwriting foster imagination and grounding.

Digital Benefits and Costs

• Acknowledging Tech’s Value
  Frank doesn’t ignore the positives: he met his wife online and earns his living remotely, both enabled by tech.
  • Quote:

    "We can do things on our device that the richest, most powerful people in the world couldn't do not very long ago...But...it'll take away a lot of my quality of life, a lot of my joy, a lot of my thoughts, a lot of my personality, a lot of my happiness. Those are big things to give up." (04:54–05:55)

Intergenerational Perspectives on Analog Life

• Not Just Nostalgia
  Frank dismantles the idea that analog living is merely retro or a critique of younger generations.

  • Quote:

    "I'm not talking about being retro or old school...Younger people, I think, has been the ones...where my talk, my book resonates with almost the most." (06:04–08:26)
    He notes that many young people express eagerness to try analog practices and feel similarly affected by constant digital presence.

• Remembering 'the Before'
  The hosts discuss how Gen X and older Millennials are the last generations to remember life before ubiquitous screens—a perspective that’s quickly fading.

  • Quote:

    "Our before is a dwindling resource. Eventually there's going to be nobody around that remembers it before. So we've got to create some kind of new version of what screen-free life looks like." (09:32)

The Luxury and Accessibility of Screen-Free Living

• Analog Activities for All
  Frank is intentional about ensuring his workbook’s activities are accessible and affordable, dispelling the notion that screen-free time is a privilege reserved for the wealthy.
  • Notable Moment:

    "One of the challenges I have...is, you know, challenging a person to have a two or three hour face to face conversation...that cost absolutely nothing. And yet it does seem like it's kind of luxurious, almost kind of decadent...But when's the last time you spent two or three hours scrolling? Yesterday." (10:31–11:46)

Less is More—And More is Less

• Decision Overload & Contentment
  Frank reframes the "less is more" adage, proposing that in the digital world, "more is less"—the abundance of choices paralyzes and distracts us from meaningful experience and gratitude.

  • Quote:

    "More is less...all those choices can make us really ungrateful for what we do have." (13:14)

• Analog vs. Digital Time
  Frank and Hillary examine how time feels “linear” and real in the analog world, but “movable” and disorienting in the digital, multi-option environment.

  • Quote:

    "When we think about analog, right, It's a straight line. That's the present, that's today. Right. But digital is movable, right. You can move things around all over the place, but you can't really move next week into today." (15:47–16:01)

Infinite Options and Loneliness

• The Paradox of Online Connection
  Using the example of online dating, Frank acknowledges the positives of expanded options while warning about the risk of perpetual dissatisfaction and FOMO (fear of missing out).

  • Quote:

    "If the whole world out there, how do you know you didn't miss your soulmate somewhere else?" (17:24)

• Valuing Shared History
  The antidote to digital FOMO is recognizing the irreplaceable value of shared experiences and time spent with others.

  • Quote:

    "Don't underestimate that one year or that five years, those roads you've been down together...that's something you have that those, all those other online options don't have together." (18:43)

Trusting Memory and Building Connection

• The Power of Imperfect Memories
  Frank champions relying on human memory and shared storytelling over instant digital retrieval for facts, as this process deepens relationships and personal growth.

  • Quote:

    "There's just a value to that...There's a value to flexing your memory, to asking another person versus just going online and letting AI answer it for you or whatever." (20:19)

• Questions Google Can't Answer
  Practical exercise: brainstorm questions that can’t be answered by Google or AI—typically highly personal or existential queries.

  • Quote:

    "It's probably going to be either a really personal question...or it might be a very big question, the type of which nobody's ever really answered, like, I don't know, what happens after you die?" (23:19–25:18)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Episode Bookends
  Frank opens and closes with a powerful ethos:

  "Digital life isn't going away, but analog life survives in your soul if you make room for it. This isn't about the good old days. This isn't about going back in time. This is about giving your life more attention than your device. This is the earliest it will ever be. There is no time better than now." (00:00 & 26:37)

• On Analog as Universal

  "The struggle between screen time and the benefits and drawbacks of using your phone is something that virtually everybody in our society is dealing with." (08:26)

Practical Analog Activity Highlight

Frank routinely invites readers and listeners to use analog moments to build real connection:

• Exercise:
  Challenge yourself to spend two to three hours in uninterrupted, face-to-face conversation with another person, with both phones off except for emergencies. Recognize that time spent this way, while free, is a “luxury” in today's busy, distracted landscape. (10:31–11:46)

Actionable Takeaways—Frank's Healthy Screen Habit

• Healthy Screen Habit:
  Resist the urge to pull out your phone during idle moments (standing in line, in the elevator, etc.). Instead, use these micro-moments to reflect, pray, recall fond memories, or simply observe your surroundings.
  • Quote:

    "Take that moment to pray or meditate or reflect. Put yourself in a good place in that spare moment...Instead of having just checking your phone because you have nothing else to do, check in with yourself during those moments." (27:25–28:43)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:11] Frank describes his pandemic experience leading to analog reconnection
• [04:54] Frank weighs digital benefit vs. cost
• [06:04] Young people resonate with analog living
• [09:32] The vanishing memory of a screen-free “before”
• [10:31] Analog activities and the luxury of undistracted time
• [13:14] More is less: choice overload
• [15:47] The analog nature of time vs. digital
• [17:24] Online dating, FOMO, and irreplaceable shared history
• [20:19] Why trusting memory and shared debate matters
• [23:19] Brainstorming Google-proof questions
• [26:37] Frank’s concluding call to live with intention
• [27:25] Healthy screen habit: making the most of idle moments

Final Reflections

Frank’s message is clear: The point isn’t to reject technology, but to reclaim space for more attentive, analog ways of being—even within a digital world. The analog life is not nostalgia, nor privilege, but a deliberate, accessible practice open to everyone—starting right now.