This past week was my last week of digital detox. I did well at the beginning of the week but towards the end of the week I found myself on my phone more and stalking FB to see what my friends are up to.
This week I am officially done with digital detox and I have found myself with my phone in my hand a lot. I wonder if that is because I truly missed my device or if it is simply because it is the way I communicate with the people in my life. Either way I have become more aware of how much I use my phone.
I am still conscious of how much I use my phone when I am at home. I try to leave it in my purse or on my desk when I get home from school. I take it upstairs to bed with me. Although my husband started school this week and I found myself playing WordFeud with my friends. It does help pass the time.
Going through digital detox I have learned some great things about myself, my surroundings, and that I will not pass out or have an anxiety attack if I leave my phone at home or can't find it for a minute.
If you have a chance I urge you to look at the things you spend most of your time on. Is it something that is worth your time or is it a time sucker? Since doing digital detox I have been able to evaluate some other areas of my life that I might need to detox.
Showing posts with label digital detox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital detox. Show all posts
Monday, January 28, 2013
Digital Detox Week 2 Recap
Tomorrow I will enter week three of digital detox. This past week I have used my phone more than the first week of detox but still not like I have in the past.
I find that I can leave the house without my phone and not feel like I am going to have a panic attack. The other day when I was leaving to pick up our youngest son from school I realized I had left my phone in the house. In the past I would have turned around and went back for my phone. On this particular day I kept driving and didn't think twice about it.
Earlier this week my husband made the comment to me that maybe our children need to participate in digital detox. With three teenagers and one tween it seems that they are all plugged into one device or another. He might be onto something. We may have to journey through a few weeks of family digital detox.
Today as I sat in church I couldn't help but notice the amount of people who had cell phones or ipads in service. I would like to think the majority of people were using it to reference the bible passages that the pastor was talking about. However, I couldn't help but wonder how many were lost in the motions of church and simply texting a friend, surfing the web, or looking at FB/Twitter. I did notice a mom handing over her ipad to her child so he could play games. I'm not one to judge because there was a time when I was in that same spot. I just needed my kids to sit still for an hour in church and would go to any lengths possible, but again I wonder how dependent we have become on these digital devices.
A commercial today summed up my thoughts on hand held devices. (at least my opinion as of lately) It is a commercial for some cable/satellite company where the customer is walking and looking down at his cell phone. The other man in the commercial makes a comment that is something like "Hey, the world is happening up here not on the ground." So, I am trying to look up when I walk and make eye contact with the rest of the world. It's harder than it sounds. I challenge you to try it next time you are out and about. You'd be surprised at how many people you see looking at their phone and not paying attention to the world.
I find that I can leave the house without my phone and not feel like I am going to have a panic attack. The other day when I was leaving to pick up our youngest son from school I realized I had left my phone in the house. In the past I would have turned around and went back for my phone. On this particular day I kept driving and didn't think twice about it.
Earlier this week my husband made the comment to me that maybe our children need to participate in digital detox. With three teenagers and one tween it seems that they are all plugged into one device or another. He might be onto something. We may have to journey through a few weeks of family digital detox.
Today as I sat in church I couldn't help but notice the amount of people who had cell phones or ipads in service. I would like to think the majority of people were using it to reference the bible passages that the pastor was talking about. However, I couldn't help but wonder how many were lost in the motions of church and simply texting a friend, surfing the web, or looking at FB/Twitter. I did notice a mom handing over her ipad to her child so he could play games. I'm not one to judge because there was a time when I was in that same spot. I just needed my kids to sit still for an hour in church and would go to any lengths possible, but again I wonder how dependent we have become on these digital devices.
A commercial today summed up my thoughts on hand held devices. (at least my opinion as of lately) It is a commercial for some cable/satellite company where the customer is walking and looking down at his cell phone. The other man in the commercial makes a comment that is something like "Hey, the world is happening up here not on the ground." So, I am trying to look up when I walk and make eye contact with the rest of the world. It's harder than it sounds. I challenge you to try it next time you are out and about. You'd be surprised at how many people you see looking at their phone and not paying attention to the world.
Monday, January 14, 2013
DD Day 7
Today marks a full week since I started my quest to become less attached to my smartphone. The week has had it's challenges and it's triumphs. Only a few more weeks of detox and I will hopefully have the ability to leave my phone alone and not think twice about it.
Today I did use my phone when I was at school to check grades that were recently updated. Guess who got a 105 and a 101 on her anatomy quizzes? YEP! This girl. There was a momentary happy dance when I looked at the scores on my phone. My days are so jam packed with class on Mondays and Wednesdays that I really don't have time to look at my phone. I do check it in between classes just to make sure I didn't miss a call from one of the kids or one of their schools. Oh, and a few text messages. Still not the amount I had been sending or receiving last week.
Tomorrow is a new day in the land of digital detox.
Today I did use my phone when I was at school to check grades that were recently updated. Guess who got a 105 and a 101 on her anatomy quizzes? YEP! This girl. There was a momentary happy dance when I looked at the scores on my phone. My days are so jam packed with class on Mondays and Wednesdays that I really don't have time to look at my phone. I do check it in between classes just to make sure I didn't miss a call from one of the kids or one of their schools. Oh, and a few text messages. Still not the amount I had been sending or receiving last week.
Tomorrow is a new day in the land of digital detox.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
DD Day 6
Let's just say yesterday was an epic fail day. I managed to spend the day loading CDs on my computer so we can donate them to the library. Since I was right by my computer I was on FB more than I should have been. My phone was once again attached to my arm. If I'm using it for school does that time count as more of a computer time or still phone time? This is something I have been asking myself. I also found myself on ebay. I'm not sure why I am loving ebay right now but I have managed to find some good deals on things I have been looking for. Ebay is nothing more than a time sucker. Before you know it an hour or more has gone by.
Today hasn't been as bad. I have used my phone for studying. My computer is still being occupied with CD downloads. I'm hoping it will only be a few more days of CD downloads before the task is complete. Next time I come up with a bright idea like this remind me that I tend to vastly underestimate the amount of time these types of things take.
As I look back on this week of detox I think I am moving in the right direction. It is not an easy process. Especially in a world that seems to be smartphone driven, or at least smart device driven. My goal for this experiment has always been to spend less time on my phone and be less dependent on it. I am moving in that direction. Onward to see how tomorrow goes.
Today hasn't been as bad. I have used my phone for studying. My computer is still being occupied with CD downloads. I'm hoping it will only be a few more days of CD downloads before the task is complete. Next time I come up with a bright idea like this remind me that I tend to vastly underestimate the amount of time these types of things take.
As I look back on this week of detox I think I am moving in the right direction. It is not an easy process. Especially in a world that seems to be smartphone driven, or at least smart device driven. My goal for this experiment has always been to spend less time on my phone and be less dependent on it. I am moving in that direction. Onward to see how tomorrow goes.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
DD Day 5
Yesterday had it's fair share of setbacks.
We found out yesterday that we have the opportunity to go on a ski trip with my husband's unit. It is a family trip but set up like a marriage retreat. For those of you not familiar with a marriage retreat it is an event put on by the unit chaplains. Usually the cost of the hotel is covered along with a couple of meals. The chaplains put on brief workshops to help strengthen different areas of your marriage. It is a great opportunity to go and spend quality time together as a couple. Marriage retreats usually happen just before or just after a deployment. Most often the marriage retreat is offered after a deployment as a way to help the couple reconnect. The ski trip is set up the same way but invites families to come along. But wouldn't you know, the ski weekend is the same weekend that we planned to have my neighbors baby shower. We are still in the early stages of planning the shower. Because of this I sent a bunch of text messages to my friends to try to fit both things into our calendars.
Since I already had my phone in my hand it was very easy to check the items I'm watching on ebay, check FB and email. Needless to say I had my phone in my hand more than I wanted to.
Last night was movie night at our house. In the middle of the movie I found myself reaching for my phone to check email from school, assignments that posted and once again found myself on FB. At this point I got up and put my phone in the kitchen. It was away from my immediate reach. That seemed to do the trick. If I didn't have my phone within reach it didn't bother me.
Fast forward to this morning. I have had my phone right next to me as I look up definitions for anatomy. I even downloaded a medical dictionary. I will admit some times it is easier to simply log on to the Internet from my phone than to get on the computer. I'm hoping that once my homework is done I can set my phone out of reach and forget about it for the rest of the day. Here's to hoping!
We found out yesterday that we have the opportunity to go on a ski trip with my husband's unit. It is a family trip but set up like a marriage retreat. For those of you not familiar with a marriage retreat it is an event put on by the unit chaplains. Usually the cost of the hotel is covered along with a couple of meals. The chaplains put on brief workshops to help strengthen different areas of your marriage. It is a great opportunity to go and spend quality time together as a couple. Marriage retreats usually happen just before or just after a deployment. Most often the marriage retreat is offered after a deployment as a way to help the couple reconnect. The ski trip is set up the same way but invites families to come along. But wouldn't you know, the ski weekend is the same weekend that we planned to have my neighbors baby shower. We are still in the early stages of planning the shower. Because of this I sent a bunch of text messages to my friends to try to fit both things into our calendars.
Since I already had my phone in my hand it was very easy to check the items I'm watching on ebay, check FB and email. Needless to say I had my phone in my hand more than I wanted to.
Last night was movie night at our house. In the middle of the movie I found myself reaching for my phone to check email from school, assignments that posted and once again found myself on FB. At this point I got up and put my phone in the kitchen. It was away from my immediate reach. That seemed to do the trick. If I didn't have my phone within reach it didn't bother me.
Fast forward to this morning. I have had my phone right next to me as I look up definitions for anatomy. I even downloaded a medical dictionary. I will admit some times it is easier to simply log on to the Internet from my phone than to get on the computer. I'm hoping that once my homework is done I can set my phone out of reach and forget about it for the rest of the day. Here's to hoping!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
DD Day 4
It's another day in detox land. I needed to remind myself today that the end goal of this detox process is to spend less time on social media, less time on my phone, and more time with my family and doing things that I enjoy.
I did log on to FB last night to brag about our youngest daughter. She is a sophomore in high school. She took her PSAT's a few weeks ago and had gotten her score back. She scored in the top 20%. I am so proud of her. If only I could harness some of our girls work ethic (when it comes to school) and funnel it to our boys.
Today I sent a text message to my neighbor to complain about my school work. Last semester I whined and carried on about how horrible my lab instructor was. She was bad. Death by power point is not something you should find in an anatomy lab. Back to the point at hand, this semester I have a lab teacher that I think will rock. We have tons of hands on time with the models and slides. But along with that comes a ton more work. I welcome the challenge but felt the need to whine about my work load today. I knew my friend would understand my message since she is a college student as well. We shared some misery moments together last semester.
Wordfeud is sending me messages that I need to play a word or I will lose the game. While I really want to finish the games I started, I find myself resisting the urge so I can truly get used functioning without my phone. I don't want my phone to continue to be an extension of my arm.
I recently bought myself a new Canon Rebel T4i camera. Since I literally had NO idea what I what to do with it, I found an awesome tutorial on how to use it. I spent some of my off time on Tuesday playing with the settings and watching the video. So this weekend after I have spent some more time on my homework I think I will take a trip outside and see what kind of pictures I can take. I might even leave my phone in the car when I venture out. :)
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
DD Day 3
Let me start by saying yesterday was a learning process. During the day things went smoothly. It was a different story last night.
Last night was a scout night for our oldest son. We haven't let him attend meetings for a few weeks because he needed to focus on school work and getting things turned in on time. Last night we agreed to let him go to the meeting because we needed to sign a bunch of paperwork. One of the items that was questioned last night was if we wanted our son to go to summer camp. My husband wasn't sure because the dates conflict with a trip we have planned, so he tried to call home. He received the standard busy signal because I was on the phone with my mom. My husband then attempted to call my cell phone. Although he knew I probably wouldn't answer my phone he tried to call it a couple of times. I would have answered my cell phone if I knew it was ringing. Since school is in full swing for me I always leave my ringer off or on vibrate. Normally this isn't much of a problem because I would constantly be checking my phone. However, I am trying to be less reliant on my cell phone. So the ringer stayed off and I left my phone in my backpack. It wasn't until I went to log my food for the next day that I saw my husband tried to call me several times.
Once my husband was home he made this comment to me "If you are not going to use your cell phone while you are at home can we please get call waiting put back on the house phone?" That made me think about how I might need to modify our communication systems for when I am home. I'm not sure exactly what that looks like just yet but I do know that adding call waiting to the house phone is on tomorrow's to do list.
Let's fast forward to today. I felt the need several times to update my status on Twitter or FB. I resisted the urge but it was still there. Mostly because I was frustrated today. I'm not sure why but I was. I discovered my sociology teacher might not be as bad as I originally thought, my a&p lecture teacher is awesome, and I like my other two classes. For some reason I felt the urge to let the world know just how frustrated I was with little things. Like forgetting my pencil case in my car after marching all the way across campus. This desire to vent to friends and followers got me thinking. Scary some days I know. I wonder what the statistic is of posts that are negative in nature. I mean think about it. There is always someone posting good things but is that the norm or the exception?
I'm happy to report that I have resisted the urge to vent my frustrations and instead had a conversation with God. Part of my conversation was asking Him to reveal to me why I was so unsettled. I'd love to tell you that I had a great break through on this but I didn't. I did have some great conversations with my classmates though. I ended up talking about stuff in my personal life that must have been bothering me because I normally wouldn't sit and share what's going on in my life like I did today. Maybe this is what being a grown up looks like!
Last night was a scout night for our oldest son. We haven't let him attend meetings for a few weeks because he needed to focus on school work and getting things turned in on time. Last night we agreed to let him go to the meeting because we needed to sign a bunch of paperwork. One of the items that was questioned last night was if we wanted our son to go to summer camp. My husband wasn't sure because the dates conflict with a trip we have planned, so he tried to call home. He received the standard busy signal because I was on the phone with my mom. My husband then attempted to call my cell phone. Although he knew I probably wouldn't answer my phone he tried to call it a couple of times. I would have answered my cell phone if I knew it was ringing. Since school is in full swing for me I always leave my ringer off or on vibrate. Normally this isn't much of a problem because I would constantly be checking my phone. However, I am trying to be less reliant on my cell phone. So the ringer stayed off and I left my phone in my backpack. It wasn't until I went to log my food for the next day that I saw my husband tried to call me several times.
Once my husband was home he made this comment to me "If you are not going to use your cell phone while you are at home can we please get call waiting put back on the house phone?" That made me think about how I might need to modify our communication systems for when I am home. I'm not sure exactly what that looks like just yet but I do know that adding call waiting to the house phone is on tomorrow's to do list.
Let's fast forward to today. I felt the need several times to update my status on Twitter or FB. I resisted the urge but it was still there. Mostly because I was frustrated today. I'm not sure why but I was. I discovered my sociology teacher might not be as bad as I originally thought, my a&p lecture teacher is awesome, and I like my other two classes. For some reason I felt the urge to let the world know just how frustrated I was with little things. Like forgetting my pencil case in my car after marching all the way across campus. This desire to vent to friends and followers got me thinking. Scary some days I know. I wonder what the statistic is of posts that are negative in nature. I mean think about it. There is always someone posting good things but is that the norm or the exception?
I'm happy to report that I have resisted the urge to vent my frustrations and instead had a conversation with God. Part of my conversation was asking Him to reveal to me why I was so unsettled. I'd love to tell you that I had a great break through on this but I didn't. I did have some great conversations with my classmates though. I ended up talking about stuff in my personal life that must have been bothering me because I normally wouldn't sit and share what's going on in my life like I did today. Maybe this is what being a grown up looks like!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
DD Day 2
I have to say leaving my phone alone has been easier than I expected it to be. Granted I have been busy with school work and working on how to take awesome pictures with my new camera. I will admit that I did send a text message today to ask my neighbor if we could get together on Thursday instead of today. I'm feeling a little under the weather today. I'm sure that is helping my ability to not look at my phone or worry about where it is.
I will also admit that I sent my dad a message on FB last night. While I am trying not to send text messages I am reading any that I get. Just in case. You never know when you will get a text that has information that you need. In that respect I like text messaging. I like being able to send a text and ask my girlfriend what Mary Kay products she needs or send a note to a friend telling them I am thinking about them. I might not have time for a phone conversation but I can get the info or send the info immediately and not forget. Anyway, I received a message last night that one of my dad's good friends had gone to be with the Lord. I knew my parents were sleeping and a text message might wake them up but wanted my dad to know that I heard what happened so I sent a message on FB late last night.
As I continue to progress through this journey I can see how our society has become very dependent on social media. Since I have removed all social networking apps from my phone including news apps, I have felt a little disconnected from the world. I have no idea what everyone is up to. However, I have been able to give my undivided attention to the things that matter most. My family, friends, and school work.
Since I am not feeling the greatest today I have spent a lot of time on the couch with the TV remote and my computer. (computer for school work, blogging, and camera tutorials) After spending most of the day lounging trying to kick this icky bug I'm not sure what I miss more, cable TV or my apps on my phone.
So, overall day 2 of digital detox has gone fairly well. I'm not itching to find my phone or check to see who has sent messages, or sent a bunch of text messages. Successful progress is baby steps forward to the desired goal. I think I'm doing just that.
I will also admit that I sent my dad a message on FB last night. While I am trying not to send text messages I am reading any that I get. Just in case. You never know when you will get a text that has information that you need. In that respect I like text messaging. I like being able to send a text and ask my girlfriend what Mary Kay products she needs or send a note to a friend telling them I am thinking about them. I might not have time for a phone conversation but I can get the info or send the info immediately and not forget. Anyway, I received a message last night that one of my dad's good friends had gone to be with the Lord. I knew my parents were sleeping and a text message might wake them up but wanted my dad to know that I heard what happened so I sent a message on FB late last night.
As I continue to progress through this journey I can see how our society has become very dependent on social media. Since I have removed all social networking apps from my phone including news apps, I have felt a little disconnected from the world. I have no idea what everyone is up to. However, I have been able to give my undivided attention to the things that matter most. My family, friends, and school work.
Since I am not feeling the greatest today I have spent a lot of time on the couch with the TV remote and my computer. (computer for school work, blogging, and camera tutorials) After spending most of the day lounging trying to kick this icky bug I'm not sure what I miss more, cable TV or my apps on my phone.
So, overall day 2 of digital detox has gone fairly well. I'm not itching to find my phone or check to see who has sent messages, or sent a bunch of text messages. Successful progress is baby steps forward to the desired goal. I think I'm doing just that.
Monday, January 7, 2013
DD Day 1
Well, I would love to tell you that I have sailed through the day without the use of my phone and I had no problems. While I have done okay, I have also experienced some issues.
The first problem presented itself last night. I realized that I wouldn't be able to take the battery out of my phone and leave it till morning because I use my phone as my alarm clock. Not wanting to trek out last night to purchase a traditional alarm clock I decided that I would turn my phone on but leave it in airplane mode.
My morning routine is usually to get up, get the kids up, check email and social media and then proceed about the day. Today I got up, got the kids up, checked email and left social media alone. I did have to physically remove myself from the computer to avoid the temptation of checking to see what was happening on FB or Twitter.
As I was driving to school I quickly realized that without being able to send a text I needed to make several phone calls today. I have two people in my life who are having a birthday today, my husband needed to know about before care drop off at the youngest child's school, my oldest needed instructions for what to do with the dogs, and the list goes on. At one point I almost caved in and text my neighbor to see if she could let my dogs out for me. I resisted the urge and guess what? The dogs were just fine. Even our brand new puppy survived the day in her kennel. She was super excited to see me this afternoon.
The first problem presented itself last night. I realized that I wouldn't be able to take the battery out of my phone and leave it till morning because I use my phone as my alarm clock. Not wanting to trek out last night to purchase a traditional alarm clock I decided that I would turn my phone on but leave it in airplane mode.
My morning routine is usually to get up, get the kids up, check email and social media and then proceed about the day. Today I got up, got the kids up, checked email and left social media alone. I did have to physically remove myself from the computer to avoid the temptation of checking to see what was happening on FB or Twitter.
As I was driving to school I quickly realized that without being able to send a text I needed to make several phone calls today. I have two people in my life who are having a birthday today, my husband needed to know about before care drop off at the youngest child's school, my oldest needed instructions for what to do with the dogs, and the list goes on. At one point I almost caved in and text my neighbor to see if she could let my dogs out for me. I resisted the urge and guess what? The dogs were just fine. Even our brand new puppy survived the day in her kennel. She was super excited to see me this afternoon.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Digital Detox
In the past I have admitted that I have an ongoing affair with my smart phone. It never leaves my sight. Okay, maybe it does leave my sight because there are multiple times I can't find it, but I definitely never leave home without it. I think my husband's multiple deployments have fueled the addiction to my phone. Thinking that I could miss his call would drive me crazy. So I often will sleep with the house phone and my cell phone. But, he's home now. Do I really need to be on my cell phone as much as I am?
Tonight as I sat watching TV a dateline story came on about four twenty something girls that went through two weeks of digital detox. They had to give up their cell phones, internet, and gps for two weeks. They could only use the internet to check email and for work. It sounds easy. I've tried to do this more than once. I usually fail miserably.
Tonight as I sat watching TV a dateline story came on about four twenty something girls that went through two weeks of digital detox. They had to give up their cell phones, internet, and gps for two weeks. They could only use the internet to check email and for work. It sounds easy. I've tried to do this more than once. I usually fail miserably.
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