Monday, September 29, 2014

Digital Detox

I have been thinking a lot about distractions.  I realized that at work, even when I don't have  a distraction in front of me, I feel the urge to check something else, do something else, multitask with something else.  I used to be proud of my ability to multitask, but now I fear that it is ruining my productivity and messing with my brain.  After a sermon on keeping a "margin" of free time in our schedules, I decided I had to do something about it.  I've been reading about mobile or digital cleanses and decided to use the idea to scale back a bit.  This was my starting step, but then I had to add my own schedule as well.  Instead of a full on cleanse, I decided to make it a step-by-step detox, where each step builds on the last.  Here's what I have planned and what I have accomplished so far:

Week 1: This is what the article suggested
Monday: Unfollow people who aren't your real friends, unsubscribe from unwanted email lists, and delete apps you don't use.
Tuesday: Turn off push notifications.
Wednesday: Resist the urge to look at your phone first thing in the morning.
Thursday: Set up a charging station outside of your bedroom, and don't look at your phone an hour before bed.
Friday: Go out to dinner, and leave your phone at home.
Saturday: Spend the day not looking at or posting to social media.
Sunday: Turn off your smartphone for the entire day.

This is not a plan that is meant to be followed each week, so I had to fix it a little bit in order to make it into building blocks. I unfollowed people on twitter and facebook that either annoy me or that I do not know and do not care to keep in touch with.  I turned off the push notifications for almost everything on my phone, except the things that keep me in line like my "errands" app.  On that note, I am using my new Kate Spade notebook as a master to do list, including the things I should not forget in the morning and at night.

I bought a watch so I do not have to check the time on my phone all the time and am using it as an alarm clock so I do not check my phone in the morning.  I charge my phone away from my bed at night and I try to not look at it for an hour before bed.  I do not look at my phone when I go out to dinner, and may have a day every so often when I do not look at my social media all day or cut it off if possible.  It has been tough so far, which makes me realize how addicted I am.

I used week two as a transition period, where I tried to do better at these steps than I did in week one.  Then I had to come up with my own steps to keep increasing on the toughness.

Week Three:
Monday: Do not look at my phone while I'm walking to/from work
Tuesday: Do not look at my phone until lunch
Wednesday: After lunch, do not check my phone until after work
Thursday:   Limit online time wasters to ten minutes
Friday: Relax (Fridays are the hardest to focus!)

I am still not good at remembering all of these things.  When I want to do something, it takes a ton of willpower to not pull out my phone again, or go to the time waster websites.  I am currently on week four, which, like week two, is another transition time.  Then, I plan on cutting my TV watching time down quite a bit.  I definitely binge-watch, especially if I am doing stuff on my computer.  It takes me twice as long to do anything though, so I need to cut back significantly.  This, of course, will not apply to sports.

Week Five: On weekdays, watch only two TV shows a night (not counting Jeopardy if I make it home in time)

Week Six: On weekdays, watch only ONE TV show a night (again, not counting Jeopardy), unless S is watching with you, then the limit is two.

Week Seven: Keep Week Six's weekday goals and on weekends, only two TV shows a day.

After this, I will reassess and rededicate myself to the areas in which I'm struggling the most.

Have you done a digital detox/scale back? What is your hardest thing to give up?

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