Dataless Day 9

In preparation for this month of no data, I did more than just schedule a bunch of MikeDiDonato.com posts. Jen and I scoured through event listings to try and find weekend and evening activities. In this month of excitement, this weekend was mostly tame. Friday we were scheduled to try our Cafe Routier in Westbrook after highly positive reviews from our neighbors. And if all went according to plan, we hosted a game night on Saturday night with Sander and Brian. Missions Risk was on the Menu.

Some basement organizers were also due to arrive this past week. So hopefully our basement is looking pretty orderly. I went with a ULINE shelving bin system.

The other casual goal that I had for this month was to use the weekend time to prep meals for the rest of the week. In January we were deeply successful with advance prep of ravioli, dumplings, and casseroles. I presume with less screen time there will be much more weekend prep.

Dataless Day 4

My greatest curiosity surrounding this time experiment of no data for February is to see how much time Jen and I earn by not using our devices. How will our routines change? Every day I start by reading news on my iPhone. Now, my news will come from a newspaper. Will I get up earlier? Will I exercise more? Will we be bored?

Is it going to be the most exciting food month of all time with extra time for chefery?

Or perhaps we will hardly notice. It’s a curious thing to think about.

Also: Happy Birthday Theresa! Woo!

Dataless

Recently, I was brain-stem deep in a game of Candy Crush. My eyes itched from staring at an iphone screen. My dreams for the previous two nights had included switching jelly beans with werther’s originals in order to blow up frosting to free gummy bears from some other-worldy chocolate centipede thing. I needed to stop.

Back when I was working in Ohio for weeks and weeks at a time, I became friends with a guy who practiced a “no electronics February” with his family. No TV, no video games, no laptops, no cell phones. Nothing.

This February, Jen and I are going to try.

That said, our goal is not based in a post-modern belief that there is truth to living in simplicity. No, most electronics are totally awesome it’s just some that are completely life-draining (I’m looking at you Candy Crush). So we’re setting up some ground rules so that we take advantage of the benefits but limit our exposure to time wasters.

Cell phones:
Cell phones can be used as communication tools: phone calls, FaceTimes, texts, or emails.
Apps can be used only if the supplement some other activity. For example: logging our exercise or looking up a recipe

Television:
Our TV will be unplugged for all of February

Laptops:
All the same rules as cell phones
Laptops can be used for work
Laptops can further be used for errands like paying bills or ordering a water filter off Amazon

Lastly: all of my personal usage will be logged. I will report back in March with the details

Since I won’t be going online to update my website, I’ll be prepping a bunch of posts in advance. These posts will show up a couple times a week for the next four weeks. Also, I will be keeping a legit diary which I will share come March.

The countdown is on: 5 days until

Recognition

I am back in Ohio at my usual Holiday Inn. I was cheered this morning by the buffet breakfast lady who recognized me and welcomed me back – not from my most recent trip – but from my stint here about 4 years ago! I must have made an impression with the buffet people. It was nice to be recognized. It’s like having a little bit of home out here in Ohio.

In other news, there is a blizzard approaching and the building where we are working has no heat and is missing some walls.