No Computer Week-long Self Experiment
I secretly embarked on my April self experiment last week and have not written about it. Until now.
People who know me know that I enjoy my computer: watching videos, playing games, reading articles, etc. However, is too much of something a bad thing?
Well, yes, of course it can be. Duh. But, more accurately: combined with my computer dependency at work, is using my computer at home, every day, too much?
The basic working of this experiment is that I did not watch TV nor use my computer for a whole week (Sunday to Monday). This cut down on my use time by about 30 hours over the course of the week (no number to scoff at).
What happened? Well, to be honest, it was actually liberating. I focused more on other tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, and shopping. I felt better with less pressure (no having to wake up early enough to watch an episode of Star Trek before work).
The biggest benefit was that I read more. A lot more. I mean, a lot. And the reading was pretty absorbing. I didn’t miss playing a video game when I immersed myself in the written word, and this really opened my eyes.
The eye-opening revelation was that reading is still magical. I believed that reading is something I do to fill the time, but I realized it still has the power to grip me and excite me. It still opens me to the wonders of other ideas. And sure, you might feel this way or get a brush of this reading news online or research-based articles on different subjects (I know I do), but there was something moving about sitting down with a book and not just filling time but truly grokking the words.
This makes me happy. It almost made me want to leave my computer off permanently. It almost made me cancel my internet at home, by a nice lounge, and expand my library.
Yet, I hold my hand. Balance, I believe, is more of the moderate solution. I think what I learned from this experiment is that sometimes we should step back from a habit or custom and try something new or different–see what inspiration it might breathe into your life.
Sam Croarkin 