Day 25 and day 26: getting excited

Day 25 and 26 - mostly read my new book. It's good and I devour it every little minute I have. Good thing the holidays are over. I love when I find a book that keeps me so interested! The downside - too much time on the device. I tried to neutralize it by giving a break to one eye while reading with the other and switching back and forth between eyes. I could be sad for the reason of being so attached to the device and seeing this phenomena happening with so many people from toddlers to older generation, but I won't be. Sad doesn't change anything. Getting excited for the things that I want to happen seems a better strategy right now. Get excited for finding ways to be off my device and doing things I love. They need to be one way or another related to my body and nature. I'll leave it at that. But to be continued.

Day 24: interesting observation

Day 24 - last night I had this feeling that I'm approaching my experiment all wrong. It shouldn't be about banning certain sites from my use and not even about how much I can accomplish during this experiment. Even my daily descriptions of what happened are not that helpful. I know it's just an experiment and I told myself I'm not going to sweat it, I'll just roll with it, but as I was looking through a website that was not part of my experiment, I felt a bit of a guilt. I'm not being productive, I'm simply meandering through a whole bunch of articles and why can't I stop? That was my train of thoughts. This kind of thinking leads to nowhere. I'm not going to quit my experiment, but I need to refocus the lens on something else. I obviously want to be less on the iPad and be very mindful about what kind of information I'm consuming. Since I'm approaching the 30 day mark, I might take this experiment further and do another 30 days but with different means to achieve my goal. I'm not going to restrict the use of any websites, but I will try and document what exactly is grabbing my attention. What I'm curious about. Why at certain times I'm attracted to a certain kind of information. What void am I trying to fill? What can I do about it? Maybe that could be useful. No harm in trying. P.S. Later on, I felt the urge to visit a blog that I loved reading a lot, but haven't followed in a while. I had the desire to visit the blog for a couple of days and kept putting it off on account that it's not on my allowed list of websites. Finally, after reflecting this morning, I followed my urge and I'm glad that I did. I found new updates, but most importantly the sequel to a book that is simply magic in my opinion. I can't wait to get into it and enjoy every single word written! I've been waiting for this book for more than 7 years! The conclusion is this though: consuming less info works because it clears the path for the inner voice to give guidance. That alone is worth the whole experiment.

Day 23: good company= less device time

Day 23 - today was easy in terms of using the device. I had guests coming so I cleaned and cooked and entertained and most of my day was spent in reality. Given that I have only 7 days left to my experiment, it's safe to say that I won't be able to accomplish all that I put to mind. But that's o.k. I know better now what to expect for next time.

Day 22: another beautiful day

Day 22 - I started my day by deliberately ignoring the IPad and going out for a walk. We had an amazing, beautiful, warm, pleasant ( I could go on) day! I loved it so much, I convinced my family to join me and we all had a lovely time. We ended up spending 4 hours breathing fresh air and enjoying the sun and the nature. One corner had this beautiful yellow tree next to an orange tree, next to the forever green pines. The sun was hitting at such an angle that it highlighted the succession of the colors advantageously. I only wished I had the camera on me. We also cooked a meal that I've been meaning to try for a while and it was side by side with my husband and I really like moments like these where I'm not alone in the kitchen. I was tired, but happy. Of course, I simply couldn't keep my hands off the IPad. I checked my emails and helped myself with the recipes and tinkered with my post on blogger. This one isn't bringing me any joy whatsoever. Partly because I've been surrounded by people this long weekend and have not had any quiet time to think straight. The fact that I'm posting and not giving up is already a miracle. But you can tell that the posts are short and not very informative. Plus, I really don't feel like figuring out what's wrong with the blog. Yet, it bothers me that I can't have it in a layout that I like. Even on a busy day like today I managed to go over the 2 hour limit. And I'm not done yet. I want to listen to one of my allowed books for 30 min. Later on, I have a new show to look forward to thanks to my family who likes to watch TV. I think I figured out why I wanted to do this experiment to begin with. Too much information. Overload. And it doesn't matter how I do it. Email. TV. People. Screen time even if it's for a good cause. The brain needs a break to function properly. How many hours of screen time a day is o.k.? I used to work in an office when screen time was on for almost the entire 8 hour work day. But that was work. Still, I wonder.

Day 21: a good cause to break the rules

Day 21 - almost 3 hours usage. Today was all about my favorite authors. I had an impulse to write them about a few ideas how to spike up sales for their books. They are awesome, but struggling with sustaining the financial part. Then, again I had an impulse to go on Facebook to check something about the same writers only to find out they opened an YouTube channel with the possibility to donate and support. And I did. I broke my rule, but I followed my impulse and I'm glad because everything happens for a reason. There are always people with a greater need and I'm thankful that I can help even with the little that got someone who I consider valuable to society.

Day 20: where does the time go?

Day 20 - almost 4 hours usage. I have no clue on what. I listened to one of my materials for 30 min. Checked my email. Blogged. Didn't do anything extra of my usual allowed activities. Yet, here I am.

Day 19: the bad and the good

Day 19 - almost 6 hours of usage. Most of it for reading my book and taking advantage of some sales before Black Friday. It was a really cold day outside and after freezing for a good hour, it was nice to come home and thaw while curled on the couch with a device in my hands. Hence 6 hours of use. I'm definitely abusing the device, even if I'm doing what I set in mind to do. And then I broke my rules. I went on YouTube for about 15 min. How do you go about breaking your own rules? First you get a Rolling Stone in the mail and peruse through it. You come across the review of Taylor Swift's new album. You read it and get curious about listening to some samples. You listen to a couple of songs and YouTube already has some other videos of your favorite youtubers catching your eye. Before you know it, you're hooked! After the 15 min, I realized, that was an itch I really didn't need to scratch. Yes, I miss YouTube, but I was so good for the past 18 days of not checking the trigger websites. But hey, I got sense into myself after 15 min and not more.