Technology is life, no questions asked.

Thursday, March 19th, 2015

[COPIED FROM MY NOTEBOOK]
At eight o'clock this morning I sent out a text to a handful of people letting them know I would be off the grid until Saturday morning. I then checked my social media, and finished up the conversations I was having with those I had texted. By 8:45 this morning my phone was not off (too scary), but it was put away along with all of my other devices.

I started doing homework at nine o'clock because what else was I supposed to do? I sat in the living room while I did homework so, my whole family was on a technology fast for at least a couple of hours until I went to work. I don't think they necessary enjoyed that, but they haven't kicked me out of the house yet so, that's a good sign.

Work was kind of tricky because music is constantly playing. The station that we use is commercial free so it was basically like listening to a CD. It was interesting because I couldn't hear the music the majority of the time due to how loud everyone inside was, but when I did hear the music it was unusual. I love listening to music, it is constantly on around me so the rare moments at work that i could hear a melody were the greatest. I'm sure that counts as cheating, but it was worth it.

After work I read and spent time with family. I'm ahead on homework and was fully engrossed in family dinner rather than distracted by my phone. It's been roughly 12 hours and I can already tell a difference in my productivity. On the other hand, I'm really glad that it's time for me to sleep so I'm not just watching the minutes tick by. Side note: I can still tell time from the analog clock on the wall in my house, but I'm not sure how I'm going to wake up on time because I don't own an alarm clock.

Friday, March 20th, 2015

[COPIED FROM MY NOTEBOOK]
My niece woke me up this morning because I didn't have an alarm clock. She thought no technology was a totally bizarre idea. She also questioned why I could still drive my car if I wasn't supposed to be using technology. Her question really got me thinking - I'll share my thoughts on this idea later.

After getting ready for school in complete silence, which never happens, I went to work on TalkingPoint. This is why I say that technology is life, no questions asked. It doesn't matter what my own agenda is when it comes to technology, I will always have responsibilities that require me to use technology. Life can't stop simply because I'm not using technology.

After TalkingPoint I went to work. Today at work I was on the register - yesterday I made sandwiches (technology free), but today I was on register so, I used technology all day. The radio was also on while I was at work, again commercial free, but still radio.

After work I went home and did some homework and took a nap to kill some time. When I woke up my phone was lit up with a message from my boss in Moab. She was working on payroll and needed me to confirm my hours. I couldn't make her hold off doing payroll simply because I wasn't supposed to be using technology (again, technology is life, no questions asked). I quickly sent her a one message response to confirm my hours and put my phone down again.

Tonight for entertainment I played Skipbo with my family and went to bed fairly early.

THOUGHTS ON NO TECHNOLOGY
I call BS on the whole thing. Yep, complete and total BS. Fasting from technology is absolutely impossible in the world we live in today.

Sure, I didn't check my social media, turn on my television, hangout in the movie room, do homework on my laptop or text for fun, but I still used technology every single minute of every day. I ate food from a fridge, lit my house with electric lights, drove my car from place to place, used my garage door to get my car out, cooled my house with an air conditioner, wore clothes made in a factory, slept in a house built using technology, obeyed electronic traffic lights. I could go on and on, but I think you get my point.

So, no technology is just absolutely ridiculous and entirely impossible. Even if I were out in the middle of nowhere I'm sure I'd still be using it somehow.

I'll admit that it was really  nice to disconnect from social media and focus completely on the schoolwork that I needed to get done. It definitely made me aware of how much time I spend on social media just passing time so, not wasting time on social media will be something I really work on. Other than the distraction factor I find technology to be more useful than negative. Writing out assignments on paper and then transferring them to a computer two days later is just a pain. And music - I've decided that I can't live without it. I've had music in my ears since I broke my fast this morning.