augmented reality

3 D’s: Decluttering via Digitizing and Donating

A friend of ours sent out an email asking for help to get her out of jail (mental note: review friendship requirements). Yes, we hang with some shady characters. Actually it was for a good cause  - raising money for MD and who could refuse her awesome jail video? Videos from jail are always fun. Anyways, we were working on decluttering the living room and doing away with dust magnet knick-knacks made in China and figuring out what to do with decades worth of collecting CDs. We decided to donate it all to our jailbird friend who was having an unrelated garage sale and told her that anything she makes from our treasures we wanted to give towards her bail money. All week long I have been uploading CDs into iTunes to preserve our music and packing away the Chinese products to share with others. What more could we ask for - we were able to declutter, digitize our music, and donate it all to a good cause.

Digital Detox Week - Day 3

Day 3! Yesterday at work was a little rough - we were shorthanded and before I knew it, it was 2:45pm before I came up for air when I could no longer ignore my stomach growling at which time I threw a burrito in the microwave and wolfed it down sitting at my desk while I continued working. I broke so many of my own rules yesterday which left me super irritated and frustrated and for what? - stress. I probably could have accomplished just as much if I would’ve taken breaks away from the screens. By the end of the work day I was so over technology that I just held down the power button on my PC and didn’t care about anything I might not have saved at that point. The good part is that it made my after work digital detox super easy! We had a great 20 mile road bike ride on a scenic bike path which made the world right again. It’s amazing how nature can do that - it is true therapy. After the ride, we had a couple veggie burgers and met with some friends to celebrate a late birthday. Finished the night with a couple episodes of Weeds (love that show) and then off to bed to read. 

I noticed yesterday at work that I was multi-tasking and also being distracted by email, Twitter, and Feedly. I read that it takes 15 minutes to get your mind back on task after stopping to answer an email or IM or to do a quick tweet. My goal today after finishing this post is to close my browser except to open windows that are directly connected to the task I am trying to accomplish. I also found a Firefox extension called StayFocusd (a productivity extension for Google Chrome that helps you stay focused on work by restricting the amount of time you can spend browsing time-wasting websites. Once your allotted time for the day has been used up, the sites you have blocked will be inaccessible for the rest of the day.) I will also be trying that out since I apparently lack self discipline in this area!

Hey - lunch time! I am going outside now to get some fresh air, sun, and food.

Digital Detox Week - Day 2

Well, contrary to popular belief, I did not die from being offline yesterday afternoon and evening. In fact, quite the opposite - I felt more alive and connected in ways that really matter. My partner and I communicated more via phone and in person about our day instead of through email updates.

I left work and went grocery shopping and left my Droid in the car. I felt more relaxed when normally grocery shopping makes me feel anxious and irritated. I moved slower and was mindful of what I was doing. I observed other shoppers who were multi-tasking: pushing their cart while reaching for an item on the shelf (similar to a drive-by) and talking on their cell phone while yelling at their kids. They did not look relaxed.

After I met my partner at home we grabbed the dog and headed out for a barefoot hike. We didn’t carry along any technology except for the disposable camera I purchased earlier in the day to capture moments from the detox week. Hiking barefoot forces you to be mindful and go slowly otherwise it hurts like hell so pain is a great motivator!

I played some guitar when we got home and then we made a simple dinner together. No Droid, Internet,Twitter,email,texting or video games.

We did turn on the Xbox to use Netflix streaming and decided to watch a program in honor of Digital Detox week called Digital Nation which premiered on PBS in February of this year. I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.You can watch it on Netflix or HERE on PBS online. It is very informative and asks the question, “Is our 24/7 wired world causing us to lose as much as we’ve gained?”

A good question indeed.

new rule

Only use the laptop without the power cord AND stop using it when the battery runs out as this means it is now time for you to get off the computer as you have been on it too long

Digital Detox Week ~ April 19-25, 2010

Below is a great email I received from AdBusters regarding Digital Detox Week that is coming up this next week. I plan on doing some digital detoxing myself and wanted to share the email with all who may be interested.

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Hey Jammers and Creatives,

We are all living through the digital revolution, an amazing, exciting time where knowledge is free and the world is at our fingertips. But there is a dark side to our digital emancipation. Jumping brain syndrome, decreased creativity, isolation and depression all stem from an overload of instantly accessible media.

Next week during Digital Detox Week we urge you to take some time to pull back from the wired world and assess the damage. Rethink your love affair with technology, stop obsessing over your virtual life, get outside and reignite your relationships with each other. You don’t have to go cold turkey on the screens in your life – we won’t. Simply take a few small steps away from them every day.

To help prepare you for this challenge here are links to some of the most inspiring mental environmental stories we’ve run recently:

The End of Childhood
Children who spend more time inside than in the wilderness experience poorer health in adulthood. We must let them roam free.

Virtual Morality
As videogames create better, more immersive models of reality, are we free to do anything we want in a virtual world, or are some things still inherently wrong?

Quit Facebook
The decision to destroy my carefully built-up virtual image came as a result of wanting to enhance my profile.

The Era of Simulation
Consequences of a digital revolution.

Happy Detoxing, 
The Adbusters Team