girl, disconnected

Awhile ago a good friend of mine, Amy, announced she was going to disconnect (mostly) in the month of June. I love the idea! In fact, I love it so much that I've decided to join her!

I actually sort of see this is an extension of my Unplugged Challenge, only it's now a little more challenging!

The internet and computers have a lot of value in our daily lives and culture. I've found many online friends, even found my sister! I'm able to research our school curriculum and shop around for the best prices. This is especially a plus since we live a good hour from the best school supply store. I am also able to run a home-based business and sell my products online. So, as you can see, I too love the internet.

The problem comes when that is ALL I'm doing. I'm glued to the computer for whatever reason and there are more important things to take care of. I know I'm not as bad as some people but there is always room for improvement.

Amy has set down some specific do's and don'ts and I've been trying to come up with mine too! I think I might borrow a few of hers and add a few of mine.

Do's:

1. I will get online ONLY at nap time. At that time I will check my email (to clean it out & reply to important emails), check in on my businesses (for customer questions and to list or relist items), and write or do research for whatever upcoming blog post I have planned and to schedule said posts.
2. I will use the computer for non-internet related items but try to keep my time limited to the evenings, right before bedtime. I keep our school schedule in an Excel spreadsheet and my daily schedule in Microsoft Outlook and I especially need to review my Outlook daily and print the next days' plan.
3. I will use the internet for shipping but will only do that on Monday's and Friday's (like I already have set up).

Don't:

1. No social networking. I will NOT be on facebook. I don't twitter or whatever so I don't have to worry about that. But not being of facebook will be soooo hard! I do have a blog feed that will automatically post my current blog post to my facebook fanpage but I will not be there.
2. I will not look up patterns, tutorials, recipes, etc. I have a wealth of information ALREADY, it's time I use some of it. (borrowed from Amy)
3. I will not shop online. I probably shop for fabric way too much anyways… it's about time I use some of it.

I am committed, or maybe I need to be committed. Either way this will be a much needed challenge. One which I have been talking about wanting to do forever. I really think Amy sums it up best for me when she writes… "There is so much I want to create, complete, finish. I tend to take on WAY too many tasks, because, well, I don't know. But I do miss the early years after my son was born, before I took up the handmade life, when I just sat, reading a magazine, while he played on the floor....what happened to that? Where did it go?"

So there you have it. We start June 1st.

WISH US LUCK!!!