Cafés, pubs, and clubs
Give Monday a place to happen.
Invite your regulars to try a little less phone.
Mobile Free Mondays is an invitation to spend one day a week with less phone and a little more of whatever you’ve been missing. Your café, pub, or club can give people somewhere to enjoy it, whether they’re meeting friends, bringing a book, or just popping in for a drink.
The wider aim is a whole phone-free Monday, but guests don’t need to commit to the full day to join you for part of it. Start by asking staff and regulars whether they’d fancy giving it a go.
Introduce it before you launch it.
Talk the idea through with your team. Explain what you’d like to try, ask what would make it work, and choose a Monday to begin. Staff need to know how to introduce the invitation without becoming phone police.
Tell customers ahead of time through your usual channels, then use a poster or table card to explain the idea in the venue. Say what you’re trying, when it’s happening, and what guests can expect.
Keep it friendly: everyone is welcome, whether they put their phone away or not. That includes people working remotely or using their phone for medical, caring, or accessibility needs. Guests can keep their devices with them, and nobody needs to justify essential use or a decision not to take part.
Make taking part visible through posters, table cards, and what’s happening in the venue. Explore Resources for materials to introduce the day, and you can check out How to do It and share the page with anyone looking for more information or tips. If they’re keen, invite them to make their own personal pledge too.
Help people put the phone away.
But how do you actually enforce it? Offer a way for guests to tuck their phones away at the table such as a designated food cover or dinner cloche. You could even booby trap it so a bell rings if they sneak a look. It’s best if guests keep their phones with them and retain control and ownership; taking their phones away entirely introduces a level of liability and strictness that isn’t necessary.
Give staff a simple invitation: “We’re trying Mobile Free Mondays. If you fancy joining in, you can pop your phones in here while you enjoy your visit.” After that, leave them to it.
If guests want to make it a shared challenge, let them agree that among themselves.
Here are some ideas to help your guests with Mobile Free Mondays
- Offer guests a choice of seating: a phone-free area where they agree to keep phones put away, and an area where phone use is welcome; similar to how we used to have smoking or non-smoking sections.
- Provide a small box with a lid at the centre of the table. Ask guests to place their phones inside. It keeps the screens out of sight and out of mind, but keeps the devices in the owners' hands.
- Provide a simple paper bag or sticker to seal the phone. If the seal is broken when the bill arrives, they miss out on the night's perks.
- Offer cards, games, or a paper quiz to give them something enjoyable to do.
- Help them split the bill without using their phones, provide calculators or offer to do calculations for them before they reach for their phone.
Something to come out for.
Ask your regulars what they’d enjoy, and start with what suits your venue.
- Cafés: put out newspapers, magazines, cards, or a chess set. A reading morning could give people a reason to come along, with conversation optional.
- Pubs: try a quiz with answers on paper, a darts evening, pool, or board games guests can borrow.
- Clubs: make the music, dancing, or an existing live performance part of the invitation. Explain any separate photography rules clearly rather than assuming Mobile Free Mondays means a camera ban.
A regular Monday get-together gives people something they can invite a friend along to. If you’d like to add an offer, make sure it is fair and non-discriminatory. Avoid alcohol rewards or challenges where someone has to buy a round for checking theirs.
Compare notes.
Ask staff and guests what worked and what got in the way. Adjust the practical bits and make it a repeatable Monday invitation people can come back to.
Found a good way to get your venue involved? We’d love to hear what you tried. Ask guests’ permission before sharing photographs or stories that identify them.
The bit everybody asks about
Won’t it put people off coming?
Some guests may not fancy it, so explain the invitation before they arrive and make clear that they’re still welcome. Start with a Monday trial or a few optional phone-free tables, rather than changing the whole venue at once. Ask regulars what they think and listen to feedback before deciding what to keep.
What about somebody working on a laptop?
They’re welcome too. Mobile Free Mondays is about putting the phone aside, not banning every screen. Keep your usual arrangements for people working in the venue, and explain any phone-free seating options before they sit down. Someone can work on a laptop and still choose to leave their phone in their bag.
Do we have to take people’s phones?
No. Guests can keep their phones in a pocket or bag, or use an optional box or pouch at their table. They should be able to reach them whenever needed, without asking staff to unlock anything. Explain the idea, offer a place to put the phone, and leave the decision with them.
What if someone needs to take a call?
Let them. You can point out somewhere suitable for a private conversation, but don’t ask people to explain why they need their phone. Medical, caring, and accessibility needs should remain covered, including at phone-free tables. If someone wants to stop taking part, that’s fine too.
Can we offer a Monday discount or freebie?
Yes, but keep the offer simple and explain its terms clearly. Don’t make essential phone use a reason to lose a perk, and avoid alcohol rewards or penalties where someone has to buy a round.
Do we need to organise an event?
No. A poster, a friendly invitation, and a few newspapers or packs of cards can be enough to start. If your regulars would enjoy a quiz, reading evening, or live music, build on what already works at your venue. There’s no need to spend money on entertainment before you’ve tried the idea.
Print, paste, share
Posters for window and the tables, add the recurring calendar event to the diary, QRs codes for the menu or sandwich board, and find more ways to make it stick…
Every Monday · #MobileFreeMondays
Give the room one Monday.
Put the sticker in the window, tell people a fortnight before, and put your own name to it while you are at it.
A campaign by The Dead Good Club
Mobile Free Mondays · A Dead Good Club campaign
Every Monday · #MobileFreeMondays