Last night when I went to bed I had a very good idea for a blog post for today. It was clear in my mind what I was going to write about, and it was going to be life-related, not crypto, because I think I have a long enough streak of writing about crypto and needed something else for today.
Knowing it had happened to me before to think about something when I go to sleep and forget it by the next day, I repeated it a few times... But... it's still gone. I should have written it down, but, I didn't have the right tools by my bedside: pen and paper. Just pause for a second from reading... 😀 OK, things are rectified! I now have a pen and paper by my bedside in the bedroom.
I also don't have my phone next to me. In fact, my family knows I rarely carry it around when I am home. I only take it with me when I leave.
I've read a few posts about screen detox recently on Hive. Useful reminders, important ones, in the kind of environment we usually live in, surrounded by electronic devices.
Maybe I should abruptly switch from my inability to remember what I wanted to write about last night to the importance of screen (and electronics, in general) detox in our lives.
Like most of you, I imagine, I spend way too much time around electronic devices, mostly on, but "off" too, which is not as good as not being around them.
I am aware of the situation and have taken some steps, but still not enough in my opinion.
I have the luxury of having separate rooms for "the office", sleeping, relaxing and talking with family, etc. Space to spare too. It's a big house.
Before clearing and furnishing what is now my bedroom it was mostly a big storage room with old furniture from previous owners and other stuff we brought too. And I slept in "the office" on a small bed for a good number of years. I still have it if I need to relax during the day.
You can imagine in the office I had/have enough electronics. Even if they were turned off (but not unplugged), they still kind of worked during the night too.
That's why when I had the bedroom done, I wanted no electronic device in it. No TV, no laptop, no phone. Not even an alarm clock for a good while. Now I have a very small one that works on batteries, but I never use it as an alarm clock and rarely check the time. No red, blue, or whatever visible light either. It only lights up if I want it to.
Then, during the day. I already said I don't carry my phone with me unless I leave home. It's a way to avoid using it all the time, among other things.
I don't spend enough time away from the laptop, however. But I'm working on that, in various ways.
For example, most people check their notifications on their phone right after they wake up. I have a different routine. I only get to my phone when I'm ready to go to work. Before that, for example, I spend at least a couple of minutes outside, especially if it's sunny in the morning.
I also purchased a basketball hoop and a ball at a high discount (the last one, had to wait until it was dismantled from being displayed in the shop) and started shooting every once in a while (about twice a week so far). That's an activity I enjoyed doing as a kid and I still do, and it's a way to move around while doing something you enjoy, not necessarily a chore.
I also try to spend some time talking with the family or others directly, not on the phone. Sometimes I delve into these conversations too long, however, so I prefer doing them when my most important tasks are rather finished.
Shopping in real stores or from real people works too. I never thought I'd like that, but it is a way to break away from technology, even if shopping tires me (perhaps the environment in these big shopping centers with background noise or the fact that I stand checking out products more than I move around, that's the most tiring part - we are lucky to be in a relatively small town, and traffic is generally not terrible, and even when it is, you get to your destination quickly enough). But it is a way to break away from screens.
Of course, nothing beats nature, in my opinion. We've been in a pretty big park on one of the recent weekends, and the fresh air, the coolness compared to the outside heat (already!), and the chirping of the birds (one in particular) were something we remembered for days afterward. And we enjoyed it even if we have important pockets of trees around our home, and a few in our small yard too.
What I want and still need to fix is my sleep routine, mostly connected to these "screens". I need to go to bed earlier every day. It's still one of the few ways I abuse my body and mind consciously. And I'm not in my 20ies anymore.
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It's a good way to pick what interests you.