The Key Metric in Making Change
The best advice I heard and verified in my own life is the following for quitting something.
Keep quitting until you have quit.
Step 1:
Decide that you are going to make a change. You know without a shred of doubt that it is bad for you.
Step 2:
Never doubt the decision.
Step 3: (if needed)
If you fail, repeat steps 1 and 2.
How To Track Your Way to Success!
The only metric I would suggest you track is the amount of time (mins, hours, days, weeks) that passes until your restart.
If you can shorten this time you are on the path to success.
If you ignore the fact you are off course then you are heading in the wrong direction.
The hardest part is to not ignore the truth that you have committed too.
Ignoring a problem can feel good in the moment but it delays the pain. We all know this.
When I wanted to stop drinking alcohol, and I would drink again, I stopped worrying about how many failures happened and I focused on starting again.
I would restart my journey.
It took me about 3 years.
The last time I opened a beer I took one sip and I threw the rest away. That was my last drink.
Your Friend.
Terry
My Health Journey Continues
Boston Butt on the Big Green Egg!
I am thinking about fixing this and using it.
Living Phone Free
Last night was my wifes birthday. We had a lovely time.
In my exploration of phone/no phone/flip phone/apple watch - BS that I have been wasting too much time thinking about - I went out with out any device.
I had a lovely time.
The person I care the the most about in the world was with me. I was with her.
If someone else needed my attention they would have to wait until tomorrow.
Screen Time Report Back: 2021 Week 24
22 min per day. I am mostly happy about not using email or web or youtube as much, if any on my phone.
Change for Next Week
I turned on screen time on my ipad. I am not sure how I feel about this if it will mess up my metrics. But I have decided that I am not going to be an ipad user that much.
I have a very fast desktop (windows 10 Cough) with a 32in monitor that I use for work. I can do everything I need on this machine. When I am done with work and digital life - I am closing down and moving my focus to IRL.
Real Books Home Projects Real Conversations
More updates coming.
I am loving living in a Post Social Media World.
Dear MB Community and Internet Hive Mind:
Imagine you gave up your smartphone. For good.
You still wanted to take pictures.
What would be your everyday carry camera?
The Smart Phone Dilemma
Today I had a Zoom call with a performing artist L. Warner and preforms under the name Cerulean. He lives and creates in London.
I found him on my blogging platform micro.blog.
First, can we just agree that people can be amazing and with technology - which I am about to rip on a little - we can click a few things and spend 30 min together having a nice conversation and learn from each other. Powerful.
I found him on micro.blog and his blog because he champions something called Flipph.one This is a personal project where on the first Monday of the month he challenges people to join him with using a flip phone. While you are on that site - play his song “Burner” - I keep it on repeat.
Here you can watch his vlog at the conclusion of one of the weeks.
Techology has always changed people and culture. Neil Postman and others have elegantly described this processes. From the clock to the printing press to the internet.
With each new invention there are winners and losers. (Postman)
It is clear to me that in the case of social media - the users are the losers in the equation.
Since smart phones are the primary device that most people access social media from the smart phone has received and will continue to receive a blacklash. Go to YouTube and search flip phone and tell me what you see?
Is deleting your social media accounts and still using the smart phone enough?
Is this “problem” limited to just a small % of the population that “cannot handle it”?
I think it is complicated and requires a nuanced approach.
I would recommend saving L. Warner’s website and engage with his art as he wrestles with these questions.
I am on that journey an well.
What is it that modern people do not want to interact with files? Even with an app like drafts or Apple notes there are folders and documents to fiddle with.
I find myself not wanting to open a simple word processor because I would have to decide where to save the file. Odd.
😊🙌👀🎁🥓🍳💛💙💜💥 - Testing my emoji on Windows 10. The MS Keyboard I have as a key for emoji.
Tropical Hibiscus. Common name- Double bloomers!
New hibiscus for the yard. A gift from a dear friend.
My Digital Divide
I cannot be trusted when I use a digital device.
I sit at my computer with a thought of looking up some detail or sending a short email and while I am there my mind decides that I can do 2 other things really quick on Amazon or YouTube. And before long I have forgotten what I sat down to do.
Today I instituted a personal rule.
I will write down all of the things I need to do with a screen. I will then decide which screen is best to use. I will sit and do those tasks.
I will keep my bullet journal open and any new thoughts of potential actions that need a screen I will capture in my daily log to be processed later applying the same rule above.
Technology is an improved means to an unimproved ends. Thoreau
imessage (Texts)
As I have thought more and more about not using a smart phone, I have gone through the various things I use a smartphone for and thought about how I would adapt.
Music, Photos, Podcasts I can find workarounds for.
imessage is one I cannot.
Messages has become how people have conversations. How my wife tells me she is done in the store while I sit in my truck waiting for her.
It is how I get included in events via a group text.
I think I could train people that I do not use text messages as much anymore. But then it might impact my social engagement with friends.
If I ever did go flip phone - I would not spend the time to learn to hunt and pek out a text. I would be call me or nothing.
Love to hear your thoughts.
iphone Screen Time Report Back: Digital Detox Week 32 in 2021
My iphone screen time report 52min of Daily Use Down 45% over last week.
Top Apps
- MLB - 1hr 22m - I listen to Baseball games while I do chores. - Does this count as screen time?
- Sarafi - 47 min - Reading Blogs
- Youtube - 33 min I have a love hate with ol Youtube
- imessage 27 min
Twitter Detox
Since deleting my Twitter account. I find myself wanting to post on my blog (micro.blog) more and more and then coming here to check the comments. Which are not that many :) It is the same reflex of distraction seeking that I did with Twitter. Just part of the detox? I hope so.
Sans Device Diary
I am exploring using less technology.
I left my phone and Apple Watch behind. I sported on my Timex watch.
Today I helped my wife move some things back into her office. She is preparing to go back to work in the post COVID world. She works at the University of Texas and parking is always a struggle.
I dropped her off by the front of her building and I was going find parking and walk back. She was mentioned that she was going to stop by someone office and see if they were there and then she would text me when she was heading up to her office so we could meet up etc.
I explained I did not have my phone or watch.
It was odd to listen to the thought process of how we would figure this out.
I recommended that if I got there first there are 2 chairs in the common area and I would just sit and review my bullet journal until she got there.
It worked.
I find it interesting how much I “worry” about not being reachable when I do not have a device with me.
I thought I would share as I continue this experiment.
I took last week off from my workouts. Today I started back and I lost some gains.
It felt good to be back.