My goal is to report if I successfully complete my goals and describe any issues I ran into each day. Now some days I am very short on time. On those days I will post a 1 for me completely doing all goals the prior day and a 0 if I derailed on any.
All posts will have the day number.
I’ve enjoyed your social media detox thread in the past, so I am looking forward to this one and good luck!
Day 1:
Went good did not derail on any goals. Actually did a lot more reading since I could not use phone.
Day 2:
**Day 2:**Did well with no derails yesterday. One thing I notice every time I do a digital detox is how much clearer my thinking is. I also feel a lot less stressed. Constantly using my phone really messes with me a lot. Also, while not a Beeminder goal, I have started eating better, including more fruits and vegetables. I read around 30 pages yesterday since TV or my phone was not an option.
Honestly, the biggest challenge is still keeping control of my usage after the challenge is over. Maybe the key is to do the challenge for longer? Or maybe I just need to make the change more permanent. Also, I find it odd I seem to always go back to my old ways after a challenge even though I know it makes me less happy.
Day 3:
Yesterday went good got all goals done no real issues. Was feeling a little under the weather yesterday. Today has been a lot harder as I was feeling even worse. Went to doctor and I have a bad skin infection and a double ear infection. However thus far I have stayed on track. The hardest Beeminder goal to stay on track today is screen time. As when I am sick I get bored but also dont feel like moving around. Fingers crossed I don’t derail any today.
It’s really helped me to have a text-only launcher on my phone. I use Olauncher (on Android). Just that simple act of hiding the shiny icons away seems to add enough effort to make me use it less, while still giving access to everything with a little more effort. (I had thought about a less-smart phone, but these seem to end up being impractical as more and more things move to needing a phone app as a second method of authentication)
I have tried that but on iphone it is a bit harder to change the homescreen. They have some apps but they have all been a bit glitchy. I have switched it grayscale though so everything is black and white. Also I have a dumbphone too so I can be away from my smartphone and people can still contact me. I have been doing a lot better but still slip every now and then.
Day 4:
I made it through yesterday!!! One of the first times I did not break my screen rules while not feeling good. Doing much better today. So far so good on following rules today. All Beeminder goals completed or set to be completed by the end of the day. Also, I wanted to thank you @hnsn for bringing up FocusMate. I had looked at it a couple of times but was really nervous to try it as I have social anxiety issues (though this had improved a lot over the last year).
But after reading what you said, I decided to give it a try. It is awesome. Today has been my most productive day I have had in a really long time. I don’t remember the last time I was this productive. I am actually using it right now as I type this. I think this is going to be a game changer. As I have tried various apps that try to get you to focus. However, they were all easy to cheat out of. Having someone focus with you makes me actually want to stay on track. So THANK YOU SO MUCH for bringing it up and making me actually give it a try.
I’m so glad to hear you’ve tried it and that it’s proving useful! Here’s to many more productive days to come!
Day 4:
Thus far I have been doing good today. No derails yesterday. Also I have now done a total 11 focusmate sessions and still Loving it!
Day 5:
Yesterday was a good day. Very busy but was good. Was still feeling rough yesterday but much better today. Also I am currently set to complete all goals today.
Day 6:
Yesterday went good got all goals done. Today has also gone good already have all goals done.
Day 7:
Yesterday went good no derails. Also I notice the longer I pull away from digital things the clearer my mind is.
Day 8:
All went well yesterday completed all my goals. Also I have been enjoying Focusmate thus far. I have used it to get me to do some stuff I had been procrastinating on for months. I am actually trying to start using it for my morning routine now. As I feel like it gives me extra motivation to get up on time.
Day 9:
Yesterday went well got all goals done. Today also went well got home late but still managed to get all goals done. Though did use YouTube but was work related and only about 20 minutes.
I have actually decided to let my scr goal derail. As when I told my boss as a service about the goal I made no exceptions for work so want to keep true to the goal.
Day 10:
Early in the morning so not sure how the rest of the day will go yet. Also I have been thinking about doing a goal for doing some Spark Delivery on the side. As currently doing Spark Delivery to try and pay off my car loan early. Though issue would be is that some days I just dont have enough time and I would want to make sure the goal made me money over the longterm.
Day 11:
Yesterday went good, completed all goals. But I will say I was heavily tempted to use Reddit. I am not sure why since I know long term it does not make me happy.
Day 12:
Yesterday went good over all. Though closer to the end of the day I ended up using reddit. So I have derailed on my scr beeminder goal. Also testing adding intend. do into my workflow.
Day 13:
Yesterday went good no derails. I also started using intend.do. So far I am really liking it. I like that it is not a specific goals that must be done the same everyday. But instead I have primary goals and think of small ways I can actually move towards that goal. If a day is super busy its no problem as I can just make my goals a lot smaller and manageable. I have it connected to Beeminder based on percentage of completed intentions.
Focusmate has been awesome and has got me actually doing a daily morning routine. I purposely leave my smartphone on the other end of the house before I go to bed. That way if I really want to cancel the morning Focusmate meeting I have to get up and walk all the way to the other end of the house. I have found that by time I walk all the way to the other end of the house I have decided to do the meeting every time.