we had a house party over the weekend....old friends, plenty of champagne, a cooking extravaganza, music, conversation.
there was no time for the internet and i have just realised that not one person's phone rang all weekend.
a good time was had by all.
Overall Rating: 2 votes
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Posted 6 months ago #
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Balance, it's the way to go.
Posted 6 months ago # -
been doing the opposite of media fasting today, and will continue doing so this week.
downloading OSX Lion 10.7.2 right now, having read some reviews, may install today or tomorrow or maybe not at all, depending on which reviews I read. lol. i have a slow internet so it's taking houurrrssss.
deleting some itunes music, have to get dd to delete some old ones she no longer listens to.
need to do a little iphoto decluttering also,
may move either iphoto/itunes to external HD to clear and speed up macbook pro.
general culling of old/un-needed files.i can go in spurts- spend days on the computer, then several more days not even thinking about it!
Posted 6 months ago # -
I spent the past 4 days ill and too weak to leave the house. Saturday is mainly a sleepy blur. Sunday I was a little more awake, did a bit of cleaning and a bit of uncluttering, within my limits. Boyfriend took care of me both days. Monday and Tuesday, boyfriend was at work all day and I was still stuck at home; walking down the stairs of my apartment building (I had to go get some bloodwork done, only reason I braved the outside world) got me winded, and walking 6 blocks was an immense chore.
Problem is, my mind was clear and active. By Monday, I wasn't feeling ill, but I was too weak to do much of anything, and I was stuck at home, alone except for 2 cats, who provided great comfort but very little in the way of mental stimulation. Technology was the one thing that made those 2 days bearable, and probably the main reason I haven't gone raving mad with cabin fever. I'm not good at being confined. I need my alone time on occasion, mainly for meditation and introspection, but most of the time I like interacting with people, being open to the world, and especially having something to do. I can tell you, having people to chat with over IM or Skype, access to world news, games to play, new books to read (when you're incapable of going to the library and you've read every book in your house), all these were invaluable to my sanity over the past 4 days.
Now I'll be without my laptop for about 2 weeks - its battery and motherboard need replacing, so I've shipped it back to the manufacturer. Thank goodness I'm well now and capable of more than being a cat couch, or the next 2 weeks would be a challenge.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Sorry to hear you were so ill, Anita, and glad you're feeling better. People sure are different, aren't they? I'm such an introvert I almost- almost- like to be ill just to get away from it all for a time. :) I guess that's what make life so interesting.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Verrrry interesting that Erin Doland's resolution for the month of November is to take a day off. There are some great comments with her post:
http://unclutterer.com/2011/11/03/october-resolution-wrap-up-and-introduction-of-novembers-goal/
I was stunned to learn that she hasn't unplugged from work for three years!! I hope she can take her day and make it a good one, refreshing and memorable.
I was quite fidgety on my first unplugged Sunday (withdrawal DTs?), and then the second Sunday I ended up overloading the day with activities, albeit fun things. But still it was too much. The third unplugged Sunday seemed very lazy, unstructured, and yet productively unproductive, as I got a lot done while just puttering around.
I'm looking forward to my fourth unplugged Sunday, comin' up. :)
The other six days of the week, my work is my passion - music research - and it would be next to impossible without the Internet and all my electronic tools. My colleagues are international, at universities and archives all around the globe, and thus there's always someone live online at all hours and something new and exciting constantly popping up. It's very hard to unplug when my finger is lured into clicking a seemingly simple little link that suddenly drops me down a rabbit hole and into music wonderland for hours on end.
But I'm glad to find that it's so rewarding to take Sundays completely OFF...
to unplug, go out and play (or go inward and reflect), and come back refreshed.
It's all still there when I plug in again Monday.Posted 6 months ago # -
Ella, did you get the impression that Erin was taking "a day off" or "a day a week off"? The way she wrote it wasn't clear. I hope it's a day a week. :)
Posted 6 months ago # -
i hope it's a day a week too!
just one day isn't much in the scheme of things.i'm the same with my work....it's my passion.
so it's no sweat to me to stay online researching, reading, chatting about my topic for hours on end.
there is always something to do: blog, upload photos, fiddle around with webshops....
i love it. but i recognise the need to step away from it and do other things regularly.
balance.Posted 6 months ago # -
pkilmain ~ Erin wrote: "For November my goal is to take one complete day off from work. I have not taken a day off from work since August 2008....I’m not sure I can actually “log off” from my career for an entire day."
It sounds to me like she's aiming for just one day, to see if it works and how it feels, before even considering a bigger goal. Baby steps.
I admit I wasn't confident that I could fully unplug on my first Sunday. But it was fine, it felt good. The Internet didn't utterly collapse without me, the world still went 'round, and I didn't perish from one day's lack of phone or Facebook or this friendly forum. Balance. :)
Posted 6 months ago # -
Even a half day does me good when I can't take the whole 24 hours. Saturday is bowling league with my boys (ages 4 and 10) and I only take my cell in case my daughter (12) or partner need me. This morning it rang for the first time at bowling ever - just my partner reminding me we needed a 14 gauge extension cord for the heater since I was right next to the Home Depot. She tried to time the call for the very end of bowling practice too (which varies depending on how many kids show up and which coach we have), and we were on the last frame so that worked out great.
Now I'm home and ready to knock out 10K words for a book I'm ghostwriting tonight and tomorrow - of course, tomorrow I'll have a break when I take my daughter to her oboe lesson and my son to his BS den meeting
Posted 6 months ago # -
I had another very nice unplugged Sunday. That's four weeks in a row, and I want to keep it as a regular thing. I spent a leisurely paced day, puttered, did a bit of cleaning and decluttering, enjoyed cooking some yummy meals, walked to the museum, and read my book till bedtime. I think unplugging once a week is good for me even if I'm not feeling particularly stressed by Saturday. Why wait for stress to build up before taking a break. As it happened, while browsing in the museum bookstore I found a charming little children's book titled "Many Days, One Shabbat" about slowing down and enjoying that quiet day each week.
http://www.amazon.com/Many-Days-Shabbat-Fran-Manushkin/dp/0761459650
Posted 6 months ago # -
@Ella - "Why wait for stress to build up before taking a break." I think these are very wise words. Prevention and balanced living are always so much more effective and beneficial than waiting to reach breaking point and then looking for a cure. And if your unplugged Sundays are helping you find and keep that balance, then I think you found your ideal solution. Congrats and keep it up!
As for Erin, I can totally see how she wouldn't have taken a day off from her business in over 3 years. I have no problem leaving my work at work as far as my day job is concerned, but in the business I'm building, it's a different story. When it becomes my only source of income, I can only imagine how much more important it will be to me to always stay on top of everything. Among other things, I manage a photography studio. Last week, I overestimated my new smartphone's battery life, and I was without a phone or email access for half a day. I got home to find out that 2 of the current studio members and one former member got into a huge spat over something trivial, that I could have diffused in one message if I'd caught the discussion earlier on. Instead, I spent the better part of my evening mediating and trying to smooth ruffled feathers after the whole thing had been blown out of proportion. Now, this was a fairly minor incident, and these things don't happen every day, and it was just an unfortunate coincidence that this one happened when I was off the grid, but it does make me feel like unplugging is a risk. And if my livelihood and that of my family depended on that business and on how well I managed it, that's a risk I couldn't afford.
Not saying that entrepreneurs can't have time off, just that they generally have to know their business is in very good hands and nothing is likely to blow up in their absence before they can take off for a day. Otherwise being unplugged becomes stressful rather than relaxing.
Posted 6 months ago # -
So true, Anita. I'm a single mom and full time freelancer and there are times I take off and spend the whole time off fretting. Today was a forced example -
I spent most of today unplugged sitting in my broke down car crying, then the other half overplugged trying to find a transmission shop that would work with me and that didn't have fifty reviews on ripoff report. (The amount of dickwadishness among mechanics is enough to destroy one's faith in humanity.)
Now the entire day is shot, I didn't get any work done, and am stressed to the max because I am so far behind and the car problem is still not solved. I am unplugging for a good night's sleep and will try to cope tomorrow - I'm frazzled and panicky and out of ideas!
Posted 6 months ago # -
I like the fact that Erin delegated this week's Unitasker write-up to the contributors in the comments section. I hope it's part of her strategy to clear the path toward getting her well-deserved first day of freedom from work.
Posted 6 months ago # -
I spent 6 consecutive days at a monastery in silence and without access to the Internet. (Monday evening to Sunday morning). I had an iPhone so could check email in case I heard from my publisher, and could receive phone messages and texts. It was perfect. I wrote 41 fresh pages. That is a lot. That is good. That is possible without the internet.
I am SO grateful for this monastery. I realize that after visiting it regularly for 6 or 7 years, I have become very comfortable with silence.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Irony Italian Style...
http://www.italiannotebook.com/events/celebrating-web-alla-romana/
Posted 6 months ago # -
Currently living at my sister's with only iPhone and her wifi. Have all bookmarks synced but don't feel any pull to surf. Have checked only a few pages out when normally the amount would have been ten times larger. I feel cleansed.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Looks like I'll have to stay online and keep an eye on my email this Sunday (tomorrow). In case there's any news about my wayward umbrella, I want to jump at it without delay.
Posted 6 months ago # -
@Ella - Any word on that wonderful umbrella? I keep hoping it will return to you.
Posted 5 months ago # -
LGTR: Thank you for asking but alas no word. Several people responded to the group email to say they hadn't seen it and were sorry. I have mixed feelings about buying another, and I can't really afford it anyway. I'm still dismayed to think that someone I regularly volunteer with has taken it. I'm afraid I'll feel uneasy at our holiday volunteers' party next week. :(
Posted 5 months ago #
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