spend one day a week on a media diet

I will re-add this later when I plan on doing it immediately. Sadly, it’s just not high enough on my priority list at the moment, even though several people have dared me to do this recently.

I spent Saturday without the internet, music, movies, books, or anything that typically served as a time-passer or default activity for downtime. Instead, I cleaned the bathroom and kitchen, went on an 8-mile run, and worked on my secret project, making great progress. It was one of my most productive days in a long time, and it felt great to have my brain quiet down a bit and let down some of its constant filters.

Like Bob, I typically think abstinence of any kind is for suckers, but the goal here isn’t to refrain from behaviors that I thought were inherently unhealthy (as abstinence usually implies). Using the internet and reading and listening to music are some of my greatest pleasures. It’s more to open up some brain space for other projects and ideas and pleasures. The quieter, bigger, ideas that I only come up with while running, or walking, or meditating are some of my favorite ideas and I want to create opportunities for those ideas to get articulated and built. This, so far, seems like a great way to encourage some of those guys.

This was Maggie’s idea, but she might have taken it from The Artist’s Way. But it’s slightly different here… I’m combining it with some of the silent retreat rules. One day a week (either Friday or Saturday or Sunday, depending on if I work on Friday and other things) will be spent on a media diet, which I’m going to take to mean:

• No internet
• No books, magazines, newspapers
• No music
• No movies or television

The idea is to instead spend the day without media distrations and as sort of a Sabbath for lost souls. Tomorrow will be the first such day.