soooo . . . I checked my email at least 5x today. It was just one of those days.
Even Upholders feel the need to rebel sometimes, I suppose. You know, by doing things like sleeping in until 5:30 am and checking email an extra time (or 3!) during my Unplugged30. BUT, thanks largely to The Strategy of Convenience, I didn’t do anything else illicit. I have no desire (yes still!) to reactive Facebook, wouldn’t have wanted to reinstall any apps, and random internet surfing seems to have largely lost its luster, probably because the sites that usually start this pattern (certain blogs & FB) are no longer on my radar.
Honestly . . . it’s so weird!
Changes I have noticed, a Day 9 Report:
1) I am legitimately more engaged with A&C in the evenings. And I am enjoying the time with them more. And sometimes they are even better behaved! OMG.
2) When I only have 20 minutes to browse the internet, I am much much much more choosy about where my clicks go. I leave posts unread in my reader if they don’t sound good. I realize this sounds far from revolutionary, but I definitely used to scroll through everything just because it was there. Fear of missing something, I think!? Somewhat ironic considering that online FOMO leads to real life MO.
3) I have been reading more! Finished The Power of Full Engagement (finally) and started A Fine Balance (fiction, finally!) last night. It is long but I can already tell it will go quickly because I am itching to read more right now. I have missed that feeling!
4) I am noticing my desire to distract more. Like today — with the extra email checks — I realized it was because I really wanted a break at work, not because I actually had something legit to check on email. Normally I would have just done it automatically, hitting refresh just . . . because. Hopefully realizing that I am just looking for a break/distraction will enable me to go about this in a better way tomorrow.
5) I am starting to get used to NOT looking at my phone in the car, NOT looking at my phone while walking around, NOT looking at the phone in the elevator. I realize this statement is pathetic but hey – better than NOT making these changes at all! And now I know from looking around more — it’s NOT just me.
6) I am actually contemplating staying off of FB forever. I am not sure I really “need” it for anything . . . and I sort of like the idea of just consciously opting out. We will see.
7) I am getting more used to just sitting and waiting and am glad to be “able” to do this again without “needing” to start swiping a small screen.
Yes, this sort of sounds like rehab. Well, okay — clearly I needed it!
3 Comments
It’s okay! I checked my email a few times too mostly because I had a couple of important emails to send to Dan, my stepmom, and then a friend, and didn’t remember to do them together. I find that I go to check email when I’m bored at work or need a break. In that case, I’ve been going to NPR where I can just scan and read one story and then be done with it.
In addition to the digital detox I’m also using Pomodoro technique (ive been doing lots of reading and writing, so lots of desk time lately). 25 min hard work, 5 min rest. repeat that 3-4 times then you get a longer rest. It works really really well!
"Somewhat ironic considering that online FOMO leads to real life MO." – So. True.
why it is still unplugged and when we work we get busy and our minds are kept away from evil thoughts. Therefore people should be happy as they work as well as embracing the fact that they are working.