Those of you to whom I talk on Twitter, Facebook, email, etc., know that I’ve been keeping crazy hours lately. There’s just a lot going on and sometimes I need to catch up on work (that isn’t affected by when I do it) after hours.
The things I could tell you about the “6 week body” and isn’t Kevin Trudeau tired of being on TV only at 2 a.m.?
Not my preferred mode of work, believe me – I enjoy sleeping far too much, plus I think it’s an extremely bad practice to get into, especially in terms of setting others’ expectations of you.
Crisis communication may demand it, but if you’re in crisis mode every day… well, something needs to change.
At any rate
I was working on my deck yesterday (one of the perks of being my own boss), trying to move my Hopkins course along (my second year of teaching there! w00t!). During one of my self-imposed breaks, I found out that today is apparently the “national day of unplugging” from the Get Rich Slowly blog (love it, you should read it, because who doesn’t want to?), thanks to something called the “Sabbath Manifesto.”
Here’s what GRS says:
Yesterday on Twitter (ironic I know), I stumbled upon the Sabbath Manifesto. From the website, the Sabbath Manifesto is “a creative project designed to slow down lives in an increasingly hectic world.” Perfect!
The Sabbath Manifesto encourages people to set aside one day a week to take a timeout from life. On this one day, you’re urged to:
- Avoid technology.
- Connect with loved ones.
- Nurture your health.
- Get outside. (Image: Michele Molinari, Creative Commons)
- Avoid commerce.
- Light candles.
- Drink wine.
- Eat bread.
- Find silence.
- Give back.
The Sabbath Manifest is co-ordinating a National Day of Unplugging. From sundown on March 19th to sundown on March 20th, we’re being called to turn off and unplug our gadgets to whatever degree we feel comfortable. This has the potential to benefit our selves, our relationships, our environment ”” and our pocketbooks.
Check out this video too.
Sometimes things just fall into place.
The day before yesterday, Sean Williams (whom I’m looking forward to meeting for the first time at IABC/Cleveland next week, are you coming? At least to the #shonalitweetup happy hour?) and I were bitching talking about being time management, etc., the way consultants do.
Yesterday my eyes felt like sandpaper, thanks to consecutive nights of 3-5 hours’ sleep.
Then I come across this post, as well as my friend (and client) Shashi Bellamkonda’s musings on whether the wi-fi on Amtrak’s Acela Express is going to be a good thing or bad thing (and let me tell you, when I used to do the weekly run up and down from NYC at my last job, the “quiet car” was a godsend).
So that’s it. I’m unplugging today (and you’re reading this post because I scheduled it, ha) barring any paperwork I have to take care of thanks to some really unethical person intercepting, stealing AND CASHING a client payment.
Other than that – no Tweeting, no Facebooking, no nothing. There might be wine, though I don’t know about the bread. Definitely candles.
There shall be space. And peace. And on Sunday, hopefully I will be refreshed enough to plow through another round of deadlines, and there will be light at the end of the tunnel.
You should do the same.
Happy unplugging!
[…] I decided to manifest the Sabbath SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Living The Heretically Productive Life", url: […]
Splendid advice! Given the fact that I’m addicted to social media (not the games like Farmville), just connecting with new people and learning how to use it for business, it’s hard to unplug. I should make a commitment to myself to have a 1/2 hour daily of reflection and time away from the computer/phone/TV. As a working mom, it’s not always easy, but is worth a concerted effort.
I must ask though – how was your day of peace? Did it recharge your battery?
No, it’s not easy at all, Heather. The day itself was actually pretty decent, thank you for asking, but it’s something I’ve got to put in place every weekend, not just one. Hmm… maybe that’ll be another blog post!