Digital Detox

Though it hasn’t been long since I’ve started blogging at this WordPress address, I’ve decided to do something a bit drastic with my online presence for the next 30 days – unplug, deactivate, detox, walk away. 

This is something I’ve been wanting to do for several weeks now, and as we’re in the peak of a beautiful summer here in Portland, I think this is a perfect time to do it. In the weeks I’ve been plotting to do this, I’ve been inspired by a few reads, namely: this article on leaving the internet for 25 days, this series on unplugging, and Zenhabits’ Year of Living Without.

I’m the type of person (as I suspect many of us are) that goes to bed with her iPhone on the night stand. I am also the type of person that can easily waste 30-40 minutes before I even get out of bed in the morning scrolling through my numerous social media sites. I check my phone far too frequently during the day, and find myself bombarded with notifications for every spam email and facebook comment I receive throughout the day. Recently, I’ve started to notice how often my partner and I come home from an evening out with friends and go straight to our laptops or smartphones, instead of taking time to connect with one another. 

Is my choice in walking away from social media over the next 30 days extreme? Maybe. I know that at the end of this time, I’ll be back online. However, what I’m hoping this allows me to do is focus on more important things while I’m away, and take a better inventory of what pieces of the internet are actually important to me and something I want to keep in my life. 

Here’s my plan for the next month:

1. Deactivate my facebook and twitter accounts.
2. Use the Stayfocusd plug-in to block all of the other social media sites I frequent (instagram, pinterest, tumblr – and yes, even wordpress). I’ll also be blocking all of the blogs I read on a regular basis (and avoiding any others altogether). 
3. Delete all of the social media apps I currently have on my phone.
4. Shut off the phone notifications for my email.  

I will still be using my email, and I suspect I’ll still be on the internet on a nearly daily basis, as my work often requires me to be online and available. What it doesn’t require is my near-constant connection.

I know that this will be hard at first, and I’ll probably go through my own little weird withdrawals. However, here are some things I’m planning on doing with my extra time:

1. Writing. I want to start using my journal more often, and I’d like to start drafting future content for this blog. Blogging is something I’ve been wanting to do on a regular basis and have always had difficulty keeping up with, so I’m hoping to use some of my time to make a plan of action for how I can do that.

2. Exercising. For the most part, this is something I’m already doing. I’m going into week 7 of training for my first marathon, and as my training runs get longer, I’ll have even less time to be wasting online. I also would like to work on recommitting myself to my yoga practice. 

3. Reconnecting. As I mentioned above, this was partly inspired by the things I’ve noticed recently in my own relationships, and I want to take this time to connect on a deeper level with those around me. If I’m bored, or feeling isolated because I can’t post a picture of my dinner on instagram, I can always meet up with a friend for coffee or a walk. 

4. Biking. Different from #2, exercising. I just bought myself a new bike over the weekend, and I’m in love. I plan on breaking it in over the next month!

5. Exploring/adventuring. I live in an amazing city with a number of unique, fun, and happening neighborhoods. I’d love to go explore a new area of the city while I’m unplugging. 

6. Taking pictures. I want to take pictures of my surroundings as a way to reconnect with what’s around me – and not as a means to share them with everyone I know. I’m hoping to take at least one picture every day this coming month.

 

Over the next month, I’ll be taking notes to document my experiences during this “digital detox.” I’ll be sure to report back on it when I return on Tuesday, August 13th! For now, though, I’ll be signing off – wish me luck! 

The Road to Recovery

Unfortunately, there were no runs in store for me this past weekend. 11-miles or otherwise. I even had to bow out of a hike with friends yesterday afternoon because all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed. Thankfully, a good weekend full of rest (and lots of medicine and Vitamin C) has me feeling quite a bit better. I’m still not at 100%, but I’m hoping by Tuesday morning, I’ll be feeling a million times better than I was at the same time last week. 

As much as it killed me, I recognized that my body was asking me (not so kindly) to give it a break and just rest. And I think it will be all the better for my mental state as I go into a pretty huge week (more on that later). In addition, I don’t think the week off of running is going to be the worst thing in the world for my training schedule. I’m going to do the most I can to run this week while I’m traveling, and I know that I still have it in me to crush this half marathon. (Crush by my standards = finish without dying.) 

In other news, I actually bought Gu on Friday, and borrowed a Camelbak from a friend yesterday. I’m well on my way to being a crazy hardcore runner.

Radio Silence.

Hello all,

I realize it’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted anything here. The end of this quarter was consuming pretty much any and all spare time I had, so I just decided to forgo posting until it was over. That being said, I’m on spring break now, and am able to breathe! I’m so happy to be done with this quarter. Three classes and working on a thesis proposal equals not a very fun time. 

Now that this quarter is over, I am officially two-thirds of the way through my first year of grad school. And that blows my mind. It’s hard to put into words how happy I am to have finished this quarter, and how proud I am of all the work I accomplished in these past ten weeks. I had four exams and two papers due (both around 15 pages each) within the last couple of weeks of the quarter, and managed to not lose my mind doing all of this. Add to that the fact that I managed to write the literature review and methods section of my thesis proposal (another 45 pages of writing), which I just turned into my advisor yesterday. Granted, I’ve still got a ways to go on it, but I’m operating under the assumption that I’ll be proposing next quarter. Two out of three of my committee members are confirmed, and I’m just waiting for an answer from a third faculty member. 

I am so happy to have such an amazing support group here in the form of my cohort as well as several of the older students. Even on the worst of days, when nothing was going right and I still had a paper to work on, I always knew that I had people to talk me through it, who were going through the same things I was dealing with. I know I’ve gushed about these people before, but I really can’t say enough good things about them. 

Now that I’m on spring break, I really have no idea what to do with myself. I was told by my advisor that I’m not allowed to work over spring break. What?! She actually told us that she didn’t even want to see so much as an email from one of us over break…because then she’d know we were working. Oh, the perks of working for a recovery researcher. 

I promise to get back to more regular postings. I’ll seriously be relaxing over the next week, and since I’m staying here in Portland for break, maybe I’ll actually get back out and do some exploring. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get a picture or two up here!

Now time to put on my pajamas…at 8:30 in the evening. Sounds like a good Saturday night to me!

No School Tomorrow!

Brought to you by Veteran’s Day. Thank you!

I should be catching up on the schoolwork I’ve neglected in the past week.

But what I’ll really be catching up on tomorrow is running, shopping, and blogging. (And then I’ll get to homework.)