200 OK

So over the weekend just gone I did some LAN gaming with some mates. It was me and five other people playing games on PCs for over twelve hours solid. It was an exercise in reaching the brink of how much a human mind can take when exposed to that kinda stimuli and guess what we did the morning after? and when I got home on the same day? yep, more gaming! …crazy.

It got me thinking that since as long as I can remember and probably a lot longer than that, I have never gone much time without being exposed to some kind of digital entertainment. The longest I can think of is three days and that was because I was in fields at music festivals, which is a surreal experience so can’t really count as ‘real life’. In real life I can’t remember a day without using a TV or PC or both for some kind of entertainment even if it was briefly.

So I am going to turn it all off and go without it for a week to see what happens.

Why?

I want to see in my normal home environment what effect it’ll have on me to not have these things to keep me entertained/occupied. I want to see what emotions it produces and how i cope with them. I want to see how much of that ‘stuff’ you always put off to get done will actually get done. Plus, I am also an idiot.

The rules

• I will have to use a PC at work (I make websites!) but it will be used only for work, no YouTube/Facebook/RSS feeds/Iplayer etc on lunch and breaks.
• If I need to do something (e.g. pay a bill) and the only option is to use a website to do it then I will, but it will be done at work during lunch/break.
• I can use my phone but only to call people, no texts or internet or apps etc…
• I can use my Kindle to read books that are already on it, no internet or downloading new books. (Anyone who has used a Kindle knows its pretty much just like a normal book) Forget that, on second thoughts no Kindle, its still digital entertainment so normal books it is.
• I can use my camera to record the experience.

Other than that I am going to avoid all forms of digital entertainment, no PC, PS3, MP3′s, TV, Laptop etc…

When?

As soon as I press the Publish button on this blog post. I will write about the experience but I guess its gonna have to be on paper and i’ll transcribe it to a blog post or two later on… argh, not sure I’v thought this through.

So Goodbye, see you in seven days.