So I’m thinking of doing something drastic you guys. I’m thinking about… I can’t even say it without my brain exploding…
Unplugging for a week.
Not entirely because I have to work, but no gmail*, no twitter, no *gasp* APW, no blogging, no facebook, no trolling etsy. OH and no brickbreaker.
Do you think I can even handle it? A whole week? Kind of sad but I’m really not sure I can do it. It’s not that hard when I go away, on vacation or something, but to be in my natural environment and not glued to this stuff.. it’s like quitting heroin. I imagine.
I’ve just been feeling sort of frazzled and frantic lately. I don’t write in my journal anymore. I haven’t been able to focus on books – either for fun or for my class, I glaze over and switch to brickbreaker and/or constantly refreshing all my internet tabs for new comments/emails.
To be clear I don’t think being heavily hooked in to social media is a bad thing. I just think I haven’t quite figured out how to balance it for my own sanity. I don’t have a smartphone (blackberry doesn’t count, it’s for work and it’s ancient), partly because I can’t afford a data plan and partly because I’m honestly a bit intimidated by the technology (and we all know I would use it primarily to play Angry Birds). I am not wired to be a tech junky, I get overwhelmed.
I just think it might be time for an experiment. Maybe it’s not my internet addiction that’s making me completely unproductive at work and kind of a zombie at home. Maybe. But I might not be around on here or my other favorite haunts next week. Think of me. Think of me fondly. I’ll be back. Hopefully with some blog posts about my new-found zen.
Well then, we’re just going to have to switch to texting you about the Happy Hour, aren’t we?
Seriously though, good luck with this. I do not have the courage.
yes! a text reminder about the happy hour would probably be good. :) and thanks!
First things first: Angry Birds YESSSSSS.
I admire your introspection. And your ambition. Like you said, it’s easy when you’re on vacation (on my honeymoon it was easy to be away) but it’s far more difficult when it’s the nitty-gritty day-to-day. Good luck, and I hope it finds you some zen!
Good luck! I’ve been thinking about it off and on for months now, just haven’t been brave enough. Although I’ll admit, I could probably start with not using my smartphone in bed…
I haven’t been even considering doing something so drastic, but I definitely admit that I should not be using my BlackBerry while in bed! I use it to help me fall asleep (“just one more game of solitaire and I’ll turn it off”), and to help me wake up (gotta see what the day’s Groupon is!), and obviously neither of those is necessary… although looking at the emails that arrived during the night is a pretty good way to get me to pry open both eyes at once and get slowly used to paying attention to awake-things in the morning, so maybe I could keep that one.
It’s scary to think how productive (or possibly lost?) I could be if I didn’t spend all my time on the internet or sitting in front of the TV. GOOD LUCK.
more power to you! …while unplugged :)
maybe you can forge a path for the rest of us?
Maybe we can all unplug at the same time. Wait, that would be kind of cheating, huh?
yeah, that’s probably cheating :)
I think the internet takes away from my productivity too. I can definitely stay away when I’m occupied with other activities though. So I think when I finally move away from GB, I’ll definitely be trying to cut back.
I hope you’re able to stick with it, and that you get everything out of this experiment that you hope to… and then I hope you come back & hang out with us again (but maybe less time than before?)! :)
I love this idea!! I’m rooting you on. I have incredibly guilt when I try to do this, even for a weekend. And I think most of it stems from my cell phone. But def for my honeymoon… well… mostly… I don’t think I could NOT post a picture now and again… oh god I’m hopeless.
thanks everyone! last week was tough. I’m gonna blog and tweet and facebook about it just as soon as I finish catching up on the bajillion posts I missed. :)
happy valentines weekend everyone!