I did something crazy

This week, I tried an experiment. I have an IPhone and an Ipad. They are both somewhat redundant, but I am trying to intentionally give a purpose to each one. For my phone, it’s using it as a phone (shocking, I know), texting, music, tracking my walking and Fitbit check in. I have a few other apps like my Bible, photos, but that’s pretty much it. My Ipad has pretty much replaced my computer to do things. In fact, I’m typing this blog post on my Ipad. None of this is crazy thing that I did.

The crazy thing that I did is that I took my emails off of my phone. I had found myself checking my phone, like many others, over and over and over again. Did this mean that I would be ignoring people that emailed me? Not at all. It was taking more control of my time and intentionally making specific times to check my email.

So what happened? The obvious. I didn’t look at my phone as much. Did I miss emails? Not at all. Did I get more control of one portion of my life? Absolutely.

Now, I’m not saying that everyone needs to do this, but what I am saying and encouraging people to do is consider their relationship with their phones/tablets and how they choose to use it. Minimizing distractions and focusing on what is important in minimalism, and our technology can most definitely be distracting!

Check out this blog post for more about minimizing your screen time.

Check out this blog post for information about the Uncluttered course

If you’re on Facebook, click here to join the Minimalist Musician Facebook group

Minimizing your screen time

One of the primary things people talk about and think about when it comes to minimalism is getting rid of stuff. And that’s a big part of it. However, I feel, as do many others, that minimalism is about relationships.....with things, people and in the case I’ll be talking about today, technology.

Technology is awesome, isn’t it? Well, it can be. I remember growing up without an answering machine until I was in high school. We had a rotary dial phone until I was in 6th grade. And in the time since the 90’s phones have gone from big and bulky, to fitting in your pocket...if you have the right sized phone. But technology can be distracting. How often do you look around, if you’re looking up from your phone at all, to see people walking and looking down at their phones? We’re obsessed with our screens. We’re connected whenever we want to, which is good and bad.

I did a personal experiment when we were on vacation in July. I didn’t really look at my phone much for anything at all. I used it to play podcasts and music when I went for walks, but that was pretty much it. I limited my time to check e-mail, rarely checked social media. The shocking thing was....I SURVIVED! Tomorrow, my girls start back to school. We’re getting back into routines. And that’s the one thing I’m going to be doing more often. Getting back to using my phone to make and receive phone calls, minimal texting, and checking social media and e-mail twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. I’ve realized that I’ve personally become very engrossed in my screens, and it’s something that I cannot continue to do if I want to be productive.

I’d encourage you to consider your interaction with screens. Are you also finding yourself distracted by them? There are times I’ve considered going to a “dumb phone”, but haven’t gone there yet. Maybe you have. That’s great if you have. I think that getting rid of apps goes a long way. If I want to use Facebook, I have to log in and use it. It takes more time and work to do it. So I have to think about it before I do it. Breaking habits are hard. This week will be tough, no doubt about it. But I know that I can intentionally do it. I’d love to hear your feedback on what you do in regard to screen time!

Social Media

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’ve been a bit busy with launching a podcast (The Healthy Church Musician Podcast) and being a husband and a dad, along with doing lots of fun things for the music ministry I serve. Today, I want to spend some time diving into social media.

There are some pros to social media. It’s a great way to keep in contact with family and friends that you don’t regularly get to keep in contact with. I’ve used Facebook to join groups and get ideas and encouragements for lots of different things. But there sure are plenty of cons to social media. Not only the absolute time suck that it can become and the control that it can take on your life. And on top of that, the arguments, disagreements and whatever else that may come across the way.

So, how do you get control of it? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself lately. I’ve spent way too much time on social media. What I’m trying to do is schedule my social media time. 15 minutes in the morning when I wake up and 30 minutes in the evenings. But on top of that, this coming weekend, I’m planning on a social media fast. What does that mean? No posting, no reading, no nothing on social media. I’m going to start Saturday morning and actually go through Monday afternoon. Why that time? I’ll be doing lots of yard work on Saturday, so I’ll be outside most of the day. Sunday and Monday we’ll be going to my wife’s aunt and uncle’s house, so I’ll be busy with that, then go to a baseball game Monday night.

What are your thoughts on social media? How do you control your time and your interaction with it?

Social media

Today is Ash Wednesday. Many Christians practice giving something up for Lent. Today, I’m choosing to give up social media. And I want to spend a little time talking about social media and the benefit and the time sucker it also can be.

What are the benefits of social media? You can keep in touch with people that you haven’t talked to or seen in years. At a glance, you can keep up with lots of people. You can get exposure to lots of ideas and insights from others.

Why is it a time sucker? Well, it just is. The keeping up with others, the “conversations” or arguments that go on can suck so much time. And there are many, many other reasons.

So why am I giving it up for Lent? Well, I’ve spent January focused on eating, I’ve spent the end of January and February focused on exercise, and social media is something that I’ve let distract me from lots of things in life.

The “experts” on blogging would say that it’s pretty silly for me to start a blog in December, and about 2 months after starting it, basically quit the one form of getting the word out about it for 40 days. But after thought and prayer, I feel that taking a break from social media is what I need to be able to gain focus in my life. To be able to really start honing in another aspect of discipline in my life. So, after I share about this post on Facebook and Twitter, I’ll be logging out of them and not posting until after Easter. What will I gain? Obviously discipline. Focus. Time. Happiness. Figuring out what’s most important. And those are things I look forward to.

So I’ll still be blogging every Monday, Wednesday and Friday....but I won’t be sharing it on social media. So please do keep checking out the blog and share about it!