Maria Katrina Paras

Article (news)

How To Live Like It's the 90s

<p>I was scrolling through Netflix a few days ago, trying to decompress after a long workday. After several minutes (you know how it is), I landed on a movie poster that instantly took me down memory lane. I pressed play on <strong>BIG</strong>, the <strong>1988 film</strong> starring T<strong>om Hanks</strong> as <strong>Josh Baskin</strong>—a teenager who wanted so badly to grow up. After a spellbinding encounter at a carnival, he wakes up as a 30-year-old man.</p><p>Watching life unfold in that era made me think about my own childhood in the<strong> ’90s</strong>. Saturday mornings meant cartoons and staying in our pajamas a little longer than we should. Weekends were for beach trips, with Polaroids and a boombox in tow. We played “<em>Moro-Moro</em>” during lunch breaks, called our best friends on transparent desk phones to talk about nothing, and collected scented stationery to write sweet, simple notes to people we cared about.</p><div><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17748510791501.png" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-rounded"/></div><div><br/></div><p><strong>Life felt simpler then. </strong>Technology was just beginning to open up the Internet, and access was limited. In hindsight, the ’90s had this balance—enough tech to excite us, but not enough to consume us. Maybe that’s what I’m really longing for: The kind of grounded humanity we had when phones were bigger, and the Internet was slower.</p><p>The pull toward analog living in today’s hyper-digital world is something I understand deeply. And the truth is, it’s not out of reach. Even now, we can choose to live a little more like we did back then—and maybe feel a little better because of it.</p><p>Here are simple practices you can do to relive life like it’s the 90s.</p><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://metro.style/wellness/2026/1/19/analog-hobbies-you-can-take-on-to-detox-from-digital-fatigue-1700" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">READ: Feeling the Digital Stress? Here Are Ways You Can Actually Enjoy the Detox Process</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Leave Your Phone Behind (On Purpose)</strong></div><p>Remember when we weren’t glued to screens for most of the day?</p><p>Try this: Leave your phone in another room for a few hours. Not beside you, not within reach—completely out of sight. At first, it’s uncomfortable. You’ll reach for it without thinking (I still do). But eventually, something shifts. Your mind slows down. You start noticing things again—your surroundings, your thoughts, even just the quiet passing of time.</p><p>There’s a clarity that comes from not being constantly pulled in different directions. It’s subtle, but it feels like relief.</p><div><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17748513018503.png" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-rounded"/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Write Things Down Again</strong></div><p>We don’t talk enough about how satisfying it is to write by hand.</p><p>Not because it’s more efficient—but because it isn’t. It forces you to slow down. Studies have shown that writing by hand activates more neural pathways linked to memory, focus, and creativity than typing. You can’t rush through a sentence. You have to sit with what you’re trying to say.</p><p>Write letters. Keep a notebook. Make lists. Scribble thoughts no one else will read.</p><p>There’s something grounding about it—like your thoughts finally have somewhere to land.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Make Plans Like You Mean Them</strong></div><p>Before, making plans actually meant something. You set a time and place, and you showed up.</p><p>No “on my way” texts while you’re still getting ready. No soft cancellations. Just the simple act of being somewhere because you said you would be.</p><p>Meet a friend and keep your phone in your bag. Let the conversation stretch. Let there be pauses. Let it feel a little unpolished.</p><p>It’s easy to forget how present we can be when nothing else is competing for our attention.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Do Something With Your Hands</strong></div><p>When you’re not defaulting to your phone, you start looking for other things to do—real things.</p><p>Cook from scratch. Water your plants. Try film photography. Pick up a book and actually finish a few chapters. Rearrange your room. Sit on the floor and work on a puzzle.</p><p>They’re not groundbreaking activities, but they matter. They ask you to be fully there. Not half-present, not distracted—just in it. And that, in itself, feels restorative.</p><div><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1774851635897pexels-gary-barnes-6231747.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-rounded"/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Just Listen to the Music</strong></div><p>This feels small, but it might be my favorite.</p><p>Put music on—and don’t do anything else.</p><p>No scrolling in the background. No skipping after ten seconds. Just press play and let it fill the room.</p><p>Think about how it used to be: The radio playing softly, whether in your bedroom or in the car. You didn’t control every song. You just listened. You waited. You discovered.</p><p>Try playing an album from start to finish. Or turn on the radio and let it run. Sit, lie down, stare out the window—whatever feels natural. Just don’t reach for another screen.</p><p>It’s calming in a way that feels almost unfamiliar. Your mind follows the music instead of jumping between tabs. For a few minutes, you’re just… there. And somehow, that’s enough.</p><div><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1774851764096pexels-cottonbro-10598792.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-rounded"/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Go Outside Without a Reason</strong></div><p>You don’t always need a plan.</p><p>Take a walk without tracking your steps. Sit somewhere without taking a photo. Watch the clouds shift without thinking about posting it.</p><p>Even a short time outdoors can reset your mood in a way that feels immediate and uncomplicated.</p><p>And when you’re not trying to capture the moment, you actually get to experience it.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Keep It Simple</strong></div><p>Living like it’s the ’90s isn’t about rules or extremes. It’s about choosing, every now and then, to do things the slower way.</p><p>Call instead of texting. Show up instead of rescheduling. Listen instead of scrolling. Write instead of typing. These are small shifts, but they add up.</p><p>At some point, without really noticing, we got used to being constantly distracted. Maybe this is just a way of reminding ourselves that we don’t have to be.</p><p>That we can still have quiet moments. Undocumented conversations. Music playing in the background while we do absolutely nothing.</p><p>And maybe, somewhere in between all of that, <strong>we find our way back to ourselves.</strong></p>

<p>Even now, we can choose to live a little more like we did back then—and maybe feel a little better because of it.</p>

Even now, we can choose to live a little more like we did back then—and maybe feel a little better because of it.

How to Live Like It's the '90s

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How to Live Like It's the '90s

Danah Gutierrez

Published March 30, 2026 02:00 PM PHT

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Updated March 30, 2026 02:29 PM PHT

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