Operation Unplug

Confession time: I am a time-waster. Not just a procrastinator, but a serious time-waster. The devils on the shoulders of this vice are the Internet and television. It is just sad how many times I sit down for a mere hour of blog-surfing or to check out an episode of CSI (just one, I tell myself) and the next thing I know, it’s 4:00 in the afternoon and I’m still in my pajamas and haven’t accomplished anything.

I have been thinking about this problem of mine and also about what people did before there were 9079858796 channels of satellite TV and 3028439025329840 million pages of Internet info to consume every minute and brain cell of the day. I can only imagine how much more productive life was. And how much reading got done! I miss reading for fun.

So this week I am conducting an experiment on myself. Introducing Operation Unplug: For the next five days, Monday through Friday, I am disengaging from my devices. No TV and no Internet (almost). No mindless smartphone use.

Obviously, anything academic is still okay. I literally have to use the Internet or I will fail my classes. Likewise, I feel like watching the news in the morning is something fairly necessary to stay on top of national and world goings-on.

I am also allowing myself a few indulgences, since quitting cold turkey is never advised. Under the rules of Operation Unplug (rules which I just wrote), I can have one indulgence per medium:

• Computer - I can access my blog, but for no more than 30-45 minutes per day. 
• Phone - I can use twitter, but again, only once a day. 
• TV - I can watch Jeopardy with Brian from 7:30-8 (yes, we really do watch it almost every day) and Glee on Tuesday.

But that's it! No CSI or random TLC shows. No Food Network. No online shopping for shoes I can't afford. No wedding blogs and random etsy surfing. No checking my facebook on my phone every other hour.

In order to prepare for this experiment, I have taken several precautions. I have created an extensive blacklist on the Self Control app on my computer. I seriously wish I had known about/had access to this in college – you set up a list of sites, set a timer and for that amount of time the app will not allow you to access the sites. There’s no way to break it, as far as I know, unless you just uninstalled the whole thing I guess. You just have to wait for the clock to run out. Every morning I plan to activate the app for the next 24 hours.

I have also moved the distracting apps on my phone (facebook, RSS feed, etc) to a page wayyyyy in the back so I do not just automatically open them when I look at my phone and put a big note on the TV that says DO NOT USE ME, KATHLEEN. GO READ A BOOK.

But this is still going to take a considerable amount of self-discipline – an amount I’m not positive I have.  We shall see.