Unplugging

Do you ever think about how much time you spend in front of a screen of one type or other. It can be a little scary when you start to think about it. I’ve noticed my life has become a process of moving from one screen to the next.

I wake up in the morning and check my email, read my RSS feed and check Twitter if I have time, all from bed. I get up, running late and head to work where I sit in front of another screen for eight solid hours. I get home and open my laptop and start to work on the nights projects. I end up setting my laptop on the floor next to my bed before sleep, where I will pick it up again first thing in the morning.

Weekends tend to be the same. Except watching football, with my laptop on my lap and my 2nd one sitting next to me or on the coffee table in front of me. When there are breaks from the big screens it can be filled with my fiddling with the smartphone.

Oddly enough, I didn’t even notice how much time I was really spending in front of a screen until my Macbook harddrive decided to die this weekend. From which I learned two lessons. Backup more frequently… and get away from technology once in a while.

I do go to the gym five days a week and lift pretty seriously along with 30 minutes of cardio but I haven’t really been doing anything for my eyes or my mind.

So I’ve decided to unplug completely, one day a week. Either Saturday or Sunday because I cannot do it during the week.

The Unplug Challenge

One day a week:

• No Email
• No Social Media
• No Internet of any kind
• No Television
• No Computer
• No Smartphone *only allowed to accept and make calls/text that are necessary to completing that days unplugged activities

Doing a quick search I noticed there is already a National Day of Unplugging from sundown March 23 to sundown March 24, a whole 24 hours. So if you want to give it a shot but don’t think you can handle one day a week, March is coming up around the corner.

The 49ers and Saints play Saturday, so my first Unplugged day will be this Sunday. So far I’ve planned a round of golf, some serious cleaning and I got a book to read. Wish me luck.