David Herrold
The ‘Net is a waste of time, and that’s exactly what’s right about it. – William Gibson
Hi, my name is David Herrold and I work at Kaango.com. I'm interested in: mobile technology, social media, networking, web design, usability, publishing, software, hardware, search engine optimization and management tips. Feel free to drop me a note and let me know what you think.
5th
MAR
No Media Night ™
Posted by Dave | Filed under Personal, Productivity
Justine and I have been doing our best to have at least one night a week that is totally media-free.
No TV. No internet. No movies. No radio. No phone. Just us.
We’ve been doing it on and off for a several months now and it’s been great so far. The first few times were a bit twitchy, but we made it through no worse for the wear.
We are both far too connected; living inside our email, web browsers, AIM, Blackberries, etc far too many hours every day. At some point our brains need to cool down and stare at something that emits zero pixels-per-square-inch.
Like a banana. Or a book. Perhaps meatloaf. Or matching socks.
Merlin Mann, of 43 Folders fame, posted a great article on this topic a few days ago. It reminded me of what Justine and I try to do each week with No Media Night ™.
You can read the article here.
If you haven’t already tried it, you should consider a no-media-night just to see what it feels like to unplug. After the initial twitching and digital withdrawls are over (this takes about an hour or so) it’s actually pretty relaxing.
You should try it sometime.
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This would be a dream night for Dale. I should do it for him, but I love me my Blackberry so much, I do not think it will make it a night without me.
Do you get that panicky feeling in the pit of your stomach when you are running errands on the weekend and you realize you forgot your Blackberry?
I do.
That’s a sign that Mister Blackberry has his evil plastic tentacles wrapped around my soul a little too tightly.
One day Dale will mix you a whiskey sour with a few Zanex and you’ll wake up in Tahiti without a computer or phone. And you’ll love it.
I’m a tech lover. But I have no cell phone. And I have great contempt for those who use them while driving.
My theory is that if you wanted to spend an evening with me, you could have let me know. . . before the evening occurred. Once I’m out in the world, experiencing it, if you want input . . . show up.
(sorry – your blog stumbled upon me late at night – that’s what it gets
Bill, I have that same contempt for people who use their cellphones while driving. Unfortunately, some days it is self-loathing, since I find myself checking email or taking a call while driving.
The crazy thing is, I know it’s not safe, yet I still do it.
Clearly I need help.
Very cool post, and I wish more people would do this. We need to remember that the electronic stuff is supposed to serve us, and not the other way around. I don’t usually set a special night aside to be unplugged (though I’m going to have to consider it), but sometimes I’ll just check my e-mail when I first get home from work, then unplug (no TV, either) for the rest of the night.