Thoughts on Weekend Away

In my weekend away from both news programs/feeds (no NPR, no CNN, no newsfeeds, no e-mail, etc) and my refraining from sneaking looks at my wife's Facebook.... I found a number of things:

1.  I did feel lower stress.

2.  I felt a sense of more time.

3.  I felt a decrease in anger/aggitation.

4.  I *wanted* to look at news feeds/Facebook mostly when I had an idle moment, like when I was out letting the dog do her "business" and other similar idle times.  After the first half of Saturday, I started to instead have a paperback novel with me, and I would read in these 10-15 minute periods of time.  It was quite successful and enjoyable. 

* * * * *

So... now that it is Monday, and I have concluded this small "experiment"... what is my plan? 

Well, with the many benefits of my refraining from electronics, I realize that even though access to these things has grown ever more convenient... via tablets and smart phones (previously, I only accessed these things via an actual desktop computer)... the convenience is also accompanied by some costs. 

So, since it is not feasible for me to completely ignore e-mail, and it is important for me to know what is happening in the news, and it is valuable to be on Facebook to know what is happening with friends and relatives we currently do not see much.... I need to figure out a "happy medium" that will accrue as many benefits of both the world of "electronica" and the benefits of being "sans-electronica."  My plan thus far is to:

1.  Check and respond to e-mail only twice a day.  I am thinking one morning examination and one mid-afternoon examination.  And from Friday at 5pm through at least Sunday at 5pm, I will be in e-mail "lockdown" where I will not look, read, or respond. 

2.  I am going to plan one 15-20 minute period each day for Facebook examination, and one 15-30 minute period of time for primary news (probably either NPR or CNN or some mix) each day. 

I am going to try this out and see if this feels a comfortable "medium" level.  After a few days, I may want to tweak things a bit.... but perhaps I will have hit the right sweet spot with this initial foray.  Who knows? 

PipeTobacco