[Not a] New Year's Resolution - The "Weekend Luddite" Variation.

Pic via

Since, obviously, it's a good week and a half after the New Year it can't be a New Year's Resolution, and it's something that's just been percolating in my brain pan the last day or so...  though honestly it's been looming in the background for some time.

So, how this came about...  I picked up a sledgehammer over the holidays to add some old school conditioning into our group PT workouts, since we've a tire we steal from the Marines on some days.  And swinging a hammer is some kick ass, old school training that I last did at one of the dojos I hit up on on occasion in Japan.  Besides hitting things, I did some Google'ing about to see what else I could use it for, exercise wise.  I already knew that sledges lent themselves to other old school training ideas like macebells, Indian clubs and strongman lever work, but I always like to research something to death [analysis paralysis, anyone?]  Anyways, had remembered reading about the shovelglove a few years ago.  Guy wrapped up a sledge and worked a variety of functional movements into an exercise protocol.  Clever and pretty smart.

Clicking around on his site he's come up with a number of cool behavioral hacks he's consolidated under the umbrella of "Everyday Systems."  [His "No S Diet" is pretty damn smart as well.  He even got that one published out in the "real world."]

But the one that caught my eye was 'Weekend Luddite' - which addresses the problem of "fritter[ing] away endless hours in front of the computer."  Hello kettle, I'm the pot.  We're both very, very black.  Nice to meet you.

Ever since, well, the invention of the internets, my capacity to settle in front of the computer screen and click endlessly from link to link to link, constantly trying to find and learn about that one last thing that will get me to the end of the internet...  it's remarkably easy for me.  And in some cases - like weekends when I was living as a geo-bachelor in Japan my 18 months, when I could settle in front of a high speed connection with a couple bottles of Asahi Super Dry and a double order of karaage from the local conbini... - in those cases that ability to get into a time denying laser like focused coma on the minutia of the internet was a much needed coping mechanism.  But one kept in check by having things like a job and things to do in the real world.

In Liberia, those keeping in check tools are only those I've implemented on my own.  And whereas PT, both individual and group, cooking, and things to do around the house keep the edges off, I still find myself dicking around online to the point where it's impacting my ability to get other things done that I'd like to do.  The stacks of unread books and unwatched videos alone are the most obvious testament to a current lack of balance in the Force.  Almost unfailingly, the 'let me check my email right quick' turns into an internet spiral that drags on longer than it should...

So.  Weekend Luddite is the Everyday Systems response to this kind of problem.  His solution, simply put, is no computer use Saturday and Sunday between breakfast and dinner.  He lays out the rationale and psychology at his site, but I have to say, I like it and it resonates with me.  It's basically a variation on Parkinson's Law - the idea that any activity expands to fill the time allotted for it.  By limiting the time allotted, you become more focused, efficient and productive.

So I'm going to implement a variation of it.  My problem is not the "computer" but the internet.  Hell, there's easily a couple dozen e-books on my hard drive I've been "meaning to read" forever, so my protocol is not "computer" but internet use, as I actually want to use my computer, just in a more specific and focused manner.  And since my life is almost, well, let's be honest - All Free Time All the Time - I need something for 7 days a week, not just the weekend.

So here's the plan, effective 1/10/12...

Rob's 'Weekend Luddite' Variation - Monday through Sunday - Internet Only After 1300

Let's start with that and see how it plays/where tweaks may be required.  Onwards...