Last month I wrote a post about changing my habits and living minimalist lifestyle. I’ve started a new chapter in my life – Wife, new city and finding a new job – (See blog post here).
The post was my most popular article to date. Again, I want to reiterate, this is a lifestyle choice, an experiment in changing for the better. I don’t want to come off being like a preaching c*nt.
How am I doing?
Since limiting my internet access to only office hours, From the start of the day I feel more focused. I don’t feel the need to check Facebook, YouTube or other social network platforms religiously, I might check them in the morning after breakfast and that’s about it. During the evening I have access to my blog (In case I get inspiration) and BBC news. That’s all. I have my Twitter client running in the background, but making sure all notifications are turned OFF. Talking of notifications, I upgraded to Mountain Lion the other day. Some of the new features are incredible (I will be discussing one life changing feature in a future post). I had to do away with the notification center, it was driving me nuts. Every few minutes a banner would pop up alerting me to a new tweet, email or calendar event. NOTIFICATIONS – SWITCHED OFF. The problem is (Granted, a small problem) I can’t get rid of the icon in the menu bar. Help anyone?
In 22 days i’ve lost 7lbs (0.5 stone) from exercise and eating better(ish). I’ve now ran my first 10km which I’m delighted at. I’ve even bought new running shorts. Fancy. The exercise continues with the new segment on my blog called Bicycle Mini Adventures. I thought it would be a fun idea to get out and about, creating manageable one day and overnight adventures. You can see how I’m getting on by clicking on the adventure tab at the top of the page ^.
I’ve read two books this month, and just started my third (No, not Fifty Shades of Grey, who do you think I am?). This might not seem like a big thing, but for a non-reader like myself and my dyslexic brain, trust me, it’s a small feat. I’ve starting to get to the point that I’d rather sit down with a good read than watch a movie, something I thought I’d never say.
Now for some digital house keeping. All my photos are now catalogued in Aperture and backed up on two drives, as well as uploaded to the cloud. I have unsubscribe to all the junk emails that had been weighing down my inbox for months on end. I’ve also ‘unlike’ 90% of my Facebook pages. Only my friend’s pages stay. Pages from Gizmode, Gawker, Engadget are all gone, I found these blogs being the main culprits for getting sucked into the interweb. TO MUCH INFORMATION!
The not so smart phone.
Let’s face it, our smart phones are great. They do everything we need, and a whole lot more we don’t. And that’s my problem with living this way. They are intruding into my life. I feel like I’m wired to the internet 24/7. Last year, if I woke up in the middle of the night i’d automatically check my phone. Because it was right there, right next to my bed. I MUST CHECK TWITTER, I MUST CHECK FACEBOOK. Now my phone never comes to bed with me.
I think the iPhone is one of the greatest inventions ever, but I would find myself sitting on my couch or at a bar ignoring the world around me. Come on, we’ve all done it. I took to delete all apps that I don’t use. Filling up the empty space with music. Apple won’t let you delete Safari, but you can make it harder for you to use. The Restrictions can be found in Settings – General – Restrictions. You’ll be asked to create a password, then you can hide Safari. Browsing will be such a chore once you’ve restricted your phone.
Again, notifications are switched off except for iMessager. (Not that anyone messages me anymore, sob sob*).
All the apps I own.
Note: Page two has all the Apps that I can’t delete. Does anyone ever use that Stocks app I wonder?
Things I could will improve on.
My biggest weakness is waking up early. I’m not getting up everyday at a stupid time, I normally wake up at 8:30-9am, but I’d like to train myself in getting up between 06:30 – 07:30. That way I could get all my job hunting done and dusted before 9am. This is my main goal for the next month.
Any set backs with this lifestyle?
I won’t lie, some nights have been a little quiet for me. I’ve checked my Facebook a couple of times, when I couldn’t get to sleep. I nearly handed over 69p to Apple, just so I could play R-Type on my iPhone (My favorite arcade game from the 90′s), but I didn’t. I just couldn’t do it.
I’ve also missed a few days of running here and there. I didn’t feel like running three miles in a Derecho. But on a whole, it’s been a very successful month.
Next update in 3 months time.
Hi Sam,
Great article as always, and well done for doing your first 10k! When are you going to do a half-marathon?
Here’s a quick way of getting rid of the notification icon in Mountain Lion : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj5WpF6S3yM
Cheers, Andrew