Screen-free week

The annual screen-free week arranged by Familie & Medier starts tomorrow. I know it's good for me, but also that it will be challenging. Here is how it goes: apart from work and studies there will be no screen time for the next week. I can use my phone to call/text people, but not for all the apps and internet. And no TV either.

The past couple of months I have had an app on my phone that tracks how  much time I spend on it. On average it is about 2 hours a day! Isn't that crazy? I am almost too embarressed to admit it... Since I got a new phone last fall I use it to read news, blogs and articles, plus all the social media, but it still seems like a lot of time.

To prepare for this coming week I  have decided to do the following:
- Write down all upcoming birthdays so I can text, call or send a card instead of a facebook message
- Charge my ipod so I have music to listen to
- Turn off the wifi and 4G on my phone
- Use cookbooks instead of online recipes if I need anything
- Put my phone in a designated spot where it is out of sight, but still within earshot
- Check my email once a day on weekdays, and only read important ones
- Hide all apps from the front page on my phone

That should help me a on the way, dont you think?

I think I will read quite a lot the coming days, but hopefully there will be a few fun adventures as well. Maybe it is time to plant some bulbs for spring? Have a great week, screen-free or not!

January Cure #12 Media fast

I knew I needed this. Every year during the January Cure there has been one night to enjoy your home without electronics, and for some reason I don't look forward to it, even though I know it will be both fine and fun. I might be addicted to my phone a little bit, so when I try to limit my screen time I usually fail (except from organized events like this one and Skjermfri uke).

When I came home from work yesterday I was very strict, put my phone away and reminded Mike that there could not be any TV-watching that night. And then I did so much! I read for probably 2 hours (not the books above though), I made granola and a DIY bathroom spray, prepped smoothies and worked on a knitting project. It was a lot of fun, but the impulses to check my phone were quite strong at times. I only looked at the screen once to check for messages, but without unlocking it. Even before going to bed, I just checked my alarm! Today on the other hand... lets not talk about it.

Any suggestions for how to implement more screen-free time in your daily life?

PS. These old bound newspapers were observed in the Skien library archives. I love looking at all the old books in there!

Learning generosity

In March I had a screen free week, arranged by Familie og Medier. It was a week of of cooking, parties for good friends and a lot of reading. As one of the participants of the project, I was drawn to be the lucky winner of a gift card to the online store Stormberg.no. There was only one issue, and if you have read my blog this year, you know I am not shopping new clothes this year. If I was though, this would be a good company, since they have high ethical standards for their production and are also a climate neutral company.

I could have saved the gift card for 2013 and used it then, but decided it would be even better to give it someone that needed it more. This could technically pass in the "gifts" section, and I could have spent it on myself, but I looked through what they had and compared with what I already own, and decided I don´t need anything right now.

I think my "live simply" goal is helping me to be more generous. It has been easier to give things away, because I think stuff matters a little less to me. If that is a lasting effect, I will be very happy!


PS. Here is an article written by a man who left the internet for a year, and what he learned about himself and the internet from that. Pretty interesting.

Screen free week

I haven´t been too active on the blog lately, so I don´t think anyone would notice another week of absence. Nevertheless, I thought I would notify you I will be having a screen free week, starting today. I did the same last year, and had lots of fun.

Here´s to walks in the sun, gardening, painting, crafting, reading, cooking, talking and any other non-screen related activity! Perhaps I will be inspired to blog more, since I seem to be lacking that lately.

I hope you will have a great week, whether or not you are off- or online.