I went media free starting on Sunday at 7:00 P.M. and it started out fairly easy and even enjoyable. I spent Sunday evening watching a couple movies with friends, and found it relaxing not having to worry about checking my phone, facebook, or email constantly.
I also let my friends know that I wouldn’t be able to take their phone calls or emails the following day, thus avoiding general confusion. Later on in the evening is when I encountered my first frustration. Refraining myself from facebook was easy enough, but I constantly kept reaching for my iPod, thinking twice, and moving my hand away. I didn’t realize how utterly reliant I was on my iPod to listen to music.
The next morning I woke up bright and early and still couldn’t access my MP3’s or the internet. Thus, I turned on the radio and proceeded to give my apartment a thorough cleaning, wash two loads of laundry, and do the dishes, all before my first class. After class I met up with my roommates for dinner, and we spent over 2 and a half hours enjoying each other’s company. Afterwards we went home and played basketball for the first time since moving in.
I was surprised that despite my lack of internet and phone I had probably my most productive day of the last month. At first I was looking for distractions from my media-heavy routine and by the end I noticed that maybe my media-heavy routine itself was the distraction. Easily the hardest part was not being able to browse iTunes or access my iPod. Also, I forgot my Sunday call home and I forgot to pick up my friend from his last class. Both incidents were well documented on my voicemail when I finally checked my phone.