"Off-Tober" Rules - Part 2

SIX days until I start the "Off-Tober" Challenge!  You can read the initial post about the challenge HERE and Part 1 of my rules HERE.

Part 2 of the rules will touch on television. 

If I have an addiction to Facebook, then TV is a close tie.  I suppose I should have chosen to do TV as it's own separate challenge......because, let's face it.  This one is going to be tough.

We have 3 TVs in the house.  Nani has one in her room, but she can only watch DVDs on it.  Nudgie has a portable DVD player that also serves as a CD player as well.  We have Netflix, Hulu, On Demand, and Direct TV.  And I'm sure at one point, all of our TVs have been on simultaneously at one time or another.

TV is my background noise.  TV is my escape when I don't want to do housework.  TV is my babysitter and my buffer.  And I'll tell you an even bigger confession......I can't sleep without the TV on.  I suppose that goes back to my early married days when My Marine was gone for weeks/months at a time.  I lived alone in an apartment in a not-so-nice area.....the TV kept me company.  I liked hearing those voices......it made me feel like I wasn't so alone.  But it's a habit that stuck.....and one I'm having a hard time breaking.  I can't stand a silent room......period.

I'm not going completely cold turkey for this challenge.  I can't.  For the safety of my family and the dog.....I just can't.  Plus, let's be honest --- it's Fall Premiere season and I need my "How To Get Away With Murder" and "Once Upon a Time" fix.  So for this month, here is what I'm going to try to accomplish:

1)  The TV can stay on the morning.  I usually check the news/weather and allow the girls to watch Looney Tunes while they have breakfast.  Once the girls leave for school, all TVs gets turned off.  I'll be playing music through my laptop.  I could use the music channels on the TV, but it's too easy to just flip the channel to catch a show......get sucked in......and then the laundry doesn't get folded because I just need to know if Horatio Caine catches that criminal on the 400th rerun of CSI:  Miami.

3)  During lunch -- if I remember to have lunch -- I will be allowed to watch one show from my DVR list, Netflix or Hulu.

4)  When the girls come home, they will be allowed to watch one show while having an after-school snack.  Even kids need some downtime before tackling chores and homework!  But then the TV gets turned off again.

5)  We've been guilty of eating dinner in front of the TV......either downstairs in the family room on TV tables or even at the kitchen table.  Dinners will be moved back to the kitchen table and the TV will be off......even on nights when My Marine has to fly.  The only exception to this will be Friday or Saturday nights when we usually have Family TV Night where we either watch a movie or family-friendly show while having pizza or nachos.

6)  Utilize the sleep timer function and auto tune function on my bedroom TV.  With auto tune, I can fall asleep watching a movie or show and when it's over, the TV will auto tune into a music channel that I can preset.  The TV is still on for me, but it will just be music instead of 2am infomericals.  I will also try to set the sleep time so that it will automatically shut off after a certain amount of time.  Baby steps people.......baby steps.......give me some credit because this one is probably going to kill me.

I am curious to see, however, how much more I get done around the house when I don't have the distraction of Facebook and TV sucking my day away.  Or how much more focused I will be on my kids and family.

Have you ever done a TV challenge?  How did it work for you? 

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"Off-Tober" Rules - Part 1

Nine days until I start the "Off-Tober" challenge.  You can read my initial post about the challenge HERE.  The post also lists specifically what I will be working on during the month.  But in this post, I will start to share some of the "rules" for the challenge.

Facebook:
This is going to be a tough one for me.....I already know this.  I love Facebook.  I love keeping up with friends, I love reading funny stuff and sharing funny stuff.  We keep in touch with long-distance family through Facebook.  But there are days when I check every few minutes....refresh the screen, scroll....scroll.....scroll......and then BAM!  The day is gone and I got nothing done.  Or I'm checking it on my phone.....at stoplights, while waiting in line, etc. etc. So here are the Facebook rules:

*  Delete Facebook and Facebook Messenger from my phone completely.
*  Allow 30 minutes of Facebook in the morning before the kids are up for school and 20 minutes at night AFTER the kids are in bed.
*  Cut way back on pages "liked"......delete groups that I don't check in on or participate in regularly......cut back friend list


Cell Phone, In General:
*  In addition to FB, all games will be deleted as well.
*  GPS is allowed.
*  Before even starting the car, my phone will be put into "driving" mode
*  The phone stays in my purse and all phone calls/voice mails/texts will be checked at my destination only.  No stoplight checking.
*  When I am at activities with my girls, the phone stays in the car
*  Use an actual watch!  Use a real alarm clock!  I can't remember the last time I wore I watch.  In fact, I'll probably need to go buy a battery, it's been that long.
*  During dinnertime, the phone is put in silent mode.


Cell Phone Camera:
This kind of gets lumped into the "general cell phone" rule, but I feel it requires a little more space to explain.  I (and society, in general) use my phone now more than I use the little "battlecam".  It's quick, it's convenient and oh, will you look at that....I can immediately share to Facebook or via text.  But then I think back to the "olden days" where we actually had to use FILM in the cameras and wait 2-3 days before getting the pictures back and discovering that you were photobombed by that drunk guy at the bar.....completely ruining your group picture. 

But wait!  Now.....with digital....you can take picture after picture after picture until you get just the perfect one....approved by all involved!  When I got my new phone I discovered that I had over 400+ pictures and videos on my old phone.  Multiples of the same thing at the same event.

So, unless it's a special event.......no photos.  No selfies......no pictures of the dog curled up on the couch again.......no "after-the-workout" pictures.......no Starbucks pictures.....

I do have two exceptions.......as I blog about this month's challenge, if I feel that a photo would enhance my blog for that day, I will allow it.  And this month marks our 20th wedding anniversary....so you can bet that I'm going to be taking pictures of our anniversary activities.

Overall, the goal of this rule is to ENJOY BEING IN THE MOMENT and not try to CREATE A PERFECT MOMENT.


So there you have the first couple rules for "Off-Tober".  Next post, I'll touch on a couple more!

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Spending Less, Loving More - The "Off-Tober" Challenge

During September, I started a challege where I'm focusing on spending less, saving more, and decluttering.  While the month isn't over yet and the challenge will still be ongoing even when the month is over, one thing that stuck with me the most was this -- what good is all the decluttering and discovering a more authentic, simple life if I can't enjoy it with my family because we all have our noses buried deep into technology.

I'm guilty of it -- big time.  Missing moments with my kids in the car because I'm checking my phone at stoplights.  Sending my kids to bed with movies on their DVD players because I have to watch one more episode on Netflix, or I have to check Facebook one last time.  Or I look at the books all around my house.....unread because I'm too busy checking my DVR list.  Or I'm missing the truly authentic moment because I'm too busy trying to get the perfect picture to post on Facebook.  Or I missed my daughters perfect their pirouette or backbend because I was too busy texting or scrolling through Facebook.

I recently got a new phone.  The first thing I installed?  Facebook.  My priorities are truly fucked up (pardon the language).......and I'm going to tackle that during October's challenge.....which I have called "Off-Tober"

During this challenge I will cut back, if not cut out altogether, Facebook, email, phone use (including texting, games, using apps, etc.) and TV.  Please understand that the rules that I list for the challenge are MY rules - rules that will work for ME and MY FAMILY.  They may not work for you.....you may run a business and need constant access to technology......and THAT'S OK!  Do what you need to do for YOU and YOUR FAMILY.  This isn't a cookie cutter challenge......do what works for YOU!

Over the next few weeks, before the challenge starts, I will go into more specific details for each thing -- what's allowed, what's not allowed, etc.   But to give you an idea, here's the list of the things I will be giving up/cutting back on:

1)  Facebook
2)  Cell Phone in general
3)  Email
4)  Texting
5)  Television (including Netflix, Hulu, DVR, On Demand)
6)  Kindle
7)  Computer time in general (blogging, volunteer responsibilities, etc)

I'm really looking forward to seeing where this challenge will take me and how it will test me.

How about you?  Have you done a No Technology Challenge or Media Fast?  How did it work for you?  Are you interested in joining me during "Off-Tober"?

 

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