Screen time

There is a company currently accepting applications for a person willing to go 24 hours with no electronic devices for a payment of $2,400. Part of the application process is to write 100 words or less about the way you use those devices. I don’t plan to apply but it did make me wonder what I do.

I own a phone, tablet, laptop computer, and TV.

On them I:

  • read books and the local newspaper’s comics
  • read and write blogs
  • play games
  • participate in a discussion forum
  • send and receive text messages
  • make and answer phone calls
  • order meals
  • buy and sell things
  • stream movies and TV series
  • check the time and weather
  • maintain a grocery shopping list
  • maintain notes on what I want to discuss with my doctor
  • write notes to remind myself of what I want to say in future blogs
  • keep a picture of Judi Dench on the cover of Vogue to show a stylist how I want my hair cut
  • use the magnifying glass, flashlight, calculator, timer, and camera.

Those things take up most of my day and it took 134 words to describe them even after massive editing. I think I need to get up and move more often. But, I doubt my ability to go 24 hours without using any digital devices. Good thing I don’t desperately need that money, right?

TTYL,

Linda

Duck!

Spring is springing here. The ponds are starting to thaw in the nature preserve across the road from us. There is now open water. And ducks.

(click to enlarge photo)

First there were two ducks.

The next day there were more ducks.

It reminded me of when we used to gather out in the desert with RV friends. The first one to arrive would pick a spot then send the GPS coordinates to the rest of us. We would then zero in on those coordinates to have a large meetup.

I wonder if ducks do that?

TTYL,

Linda

Clutter

According to Karen Trefzer in her new book The Minimalist Tool Kit, “Clutter is sticky.”

Here’s my version of how that works.

You are the first one home. You drop your purse, keys and the mail on the hall table, kick off your shoes and leave them on the floor.

Your husband comes home, add his keys and sunglasses to the pile on the table, kicks off his shoes and leaves them on the floor.

Your kid come home from his after school activity and adds his shoes and backpack to the pile on the floor.

The door bell rings. You try not to trip over any shoes on your way to answer it and are embarrassed to have your neighbor see the mess in your entryway.

OK. Here’s a different scenario.

You come home drop your keys into your purse and hang it on its designated peg on the wall. You kick off your shoes and tuck them into a cubby under a bench. You take the mail with you to the desk where you drop all the junk mail into a recycling bin there. You realize you got a letter so you get a letter opener from the desk drawer to open it and decide you might was well open the rest of the mail while you have the opener handy. You drop all the now unneeded envelopes in the recycling bin, place the bills in a to do folder, and sit down to enjoy reading your letter.

Your husband comes home, sees the clear table, and opens the drawer to put his keys and sunglasses where they belong. He kicks off his shoes, sees your in a cubby and put his in another one.

You kid comes home from his after school activity, kicks off his shoes, and puts them in a cubby. He takes his backpack into the kitchen where he puts his lunch containers into the dishwasher and his homework on the table where he will work on it while eating a snack.

The doorbell rigs. You can easily get to the door and are comfortable inviting your neighbor in to chat.

That second scenario took only moments longer than the first one but I sure find it a more pleasant one.

TTYL,

Linda

ps. the Kindle and paperback versions of the book are now on Amazon. I follow Karen’s blog so I know she not only talks the talk she walks the walk and has helped me to do so as well. I get nothing from recommending this book to you except pleasure if it helps you in your own journey to minimalism.