I won’t be looking at Facebook for a month. It’s part of my program to not spend waste so much time on the Internet. I’ve always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Facebook. Or rather, a “I don’t exist if I don’t get lots of Likes” – “Facebook gives me a false sense of friendships” relationship with Facebook. So I decided to do a 30 day experiment and live without Facebook for the month of April. My blog posts will still get on Facebook because WordPress takes care of the posting, but I won’t see any Facebook comments. However, I will still see comments made to the blog post. I appreciate the suggestions and insights written in response to my previous post.

I’m also creating some rules (1) around my iPhone/computer/Internet use.

1. I can check my email in the morning and respond to critical emails. All other email will be dealt with in the evening.
2. I can use the computer or phone at any time for weather forecasts, directions, timetables, looking for hotels, etc. I.e., things I need to do for general living.
3. I can schedule projects on the computer/Internet – things like writing a blog post, creating web pages about hikes and bike rides, learning a language. I have to remain within the time I’ve scheduled; that way I can spend predictable time with Tanya. I also have to write down the schedule – if I don’t write it down I can’t track whether I’m following the rule (2).
4. I get 1.5 hours in the evening after dinner to reply to emails and read news and articles on the Internet – except no Facebook.

All these rules are subject to change as experience dictates 🙂

(1) I like rules. I find it easier to be black and white about things I want to do than to have shades of gray. This is a good subject for a future post.

(2) You’ll notice that I’ve written down the rules so I can easily see if I’m following them. The subject of measuring and tracking is a good subject for a future post.

Links and Other Clicks

In my previous post I mentioned an article by someone who had tried to give up his smartphone but realized that the phone is not just a conduit to the Internet, but is also a single replacement for a whole set of other devices that he would otherwise be carrying. Here’s the link again to the article. This note pertains to rule 2 above.