What I learned Being Pseudo-Unplugged

Recently I decided to take a week off from that parts of the internet which become huge, time-sucking vortices. Vortexes. Vor Texas. For Texas....

As much as I think I'd like to unplug entirely, I know that it's just not that feasible. Too much of my life is connected - banking, paying bills, proofing, setting up a website, and so on. But I posited that I could gain a lot of valuable and, hopefully, productive time if my only internet time were spent upon specific tasks. I wrote about it here.

Monday was fantastic! Of course. It was the first day and I was highly motivated. I even started making journal entries to keep track of how my week went. I also decided to implement a Three Things system for each day. Every morning I wrote down three things that I felt really needed to be accomplished that day. It's much more palatable than a five-page To Do List. I completed one and a half things (one of them involved looking through 5-6 years of photos and scanning some which were specifically requested - a hefty project). One and a half items? Okay, not too bad. I suppose. However, I accomplished a whole bunch of other things, in addition to playing games with my kids, spending time outside, and dealing with all the dreaded hand-wash dishes. I felt great at the end of the day.

On Tuesday, I pulled off two and a half items. I also got out for a walk with Caleb, remembered to pick up Mother's Day cards, got a super deal on my B Complex, and had some fun time downtown with my mom. I walked a lot more than normal, which felt wonderful.

Wednesday rolled around and we had a drizzly, cooler day. I completed one item from my list of three. Ran some errands. Enjoyed Starbucks' Frappuccino Happy Hour with my boys and a sweet time of fellowship with friends.

By Thursday, I didn't write down anything. Not three or any other number. I don't know why. Things had just begun to fizzle, I guess. Plus I still had some leftovers from the first three days. I took Zach to bowling. I sat in my chair and finished reading a book. I ordered pizza for dinner.

But I also had a light bulb moment. From my little journal:

This week is a perfect example of how I roll.

That's exactly it. Over the years, I've had a number of times when I've "taken the week off" to accomplish something or another. Every time I do, the first day is amazing. The second day is just a notch or two lower. The third day's not bad. But by the fourth day, I'm pretty much done. Maybe this means that in the future, I shouldn't take an entire week off, because days four and five are usually somewhat guilt filled. Even if I need more time, just take three days sometime soon again.

As for the internet, I did quite well at staying away from Facebook and Twitter. I also was relatively focused when I was online. All in all, this was a good experiment.

I learned that three days holds my Maximum Accomplishment Potential.

I accomplished numerous things.

I had some fun hanging out with my kids.