I have enjoyed this exercise in restraint and awareness, and it reminds me of this in-your-face video I recently watched about how cell phones are poised to usurp actual quality time with other human beings. In fact, I think this video was the first jolting warning I noticed about being careful to not let my iPhone run my life.
As I said, the video doesn't even attempt subtlety, but it's point stands.
So what am I taking away from these three days?
1. Check my urges. Why am I reaching for my phone? Because I want something to do or because I need to get in touch with someone? Because it's easier than pulling out my book or because I want to practice French? If there isn't a solid, helpful reason behind the urge, then perhaps just leave the phone in the purse.
2. I'm going to have to untrain myself, to an extent. I reached for the phone or computer so many times when I didn't need to, without even realizing what I was doing. Because I've made it into habit. So to cut down - which I'd like to do - I'm going to have to make some new, overwriting habits.
3. My entire JOB is interacting with technology (via online teaching), so when I come home, disconnecting is even more important. Not for the whole evening, perhaps (a girl's gotta blog, rite?), but for an intentional amount of time. I like what Mary at !blog did: she turned off the tv, and read until she fell asleep instead. (Her minimalism update here: http://thundernoodle.net/notblog/2013/09/22/minimalism-week-3-breaking-habits/)
4. If I find myself at work clicking on my email or social media sites, even when there's nothing new, I'm going to just close the tabs. Simple as that! I can open them later when I have something productive to do there, but having them constantly open in my browser window is just inviting brainless procrastination & glazed eyes.
And that's it for today. I liked this disconnect challenge enough to try and work aspects of it into my daily life. I'll keep you posted on how that goes!
Goodnight lovely friends, and hello cough syrup.
Carpe November!
P.s. Squats, CHECK. Rest day! Yippee!
Abs, CHECK. Groan. I did the workout I skipped yesterday: 120 crunches, 85 sit-ups, 75 seconds of planking & 50 leg lifts. I'm ready to see some results, body!
Minimalism, CHECK.
Oh man, I've been working on some *serious* re-training myself. I whole-heartedly commend you on taking this challenge seriously, especially since for us, who live so fully in technology, it's so very easy to let your time and productivity slip away! I'm embarrassed to say that I've slipped in my no-technology-in-bed pledge, but I'm willing to partially blame that on the stress of quitting a job and moving apartments. Even so, I've been doing a lot of the same things you have! Considering why I'm pulling out my phone, trying not to flip ADD-style back and forth between computer tabs...it's taken some training, but I'm doing better.
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest triumphs so far has been to actually reduce the amount of multitasking I do on my technology. I have a bad habit of have a zillion browser tabs open at once, all with something interesting on them, none fully read. This week, as my work winds down, I've been taking time to actually read the item in my tab, enjoy it, and close it. I've read a lot of interesting articles this week. :)
Good luck, and go you!