I don’t need this fancy pants phone. Over the last few weeks, I’ve managed to ween myself down to  So much so that I’m going to buy a “dumb phone” this weekend.

It’s kind of freeing. What am I saying, it’s TOTALLY freeing! 😀

I just don’t know if I realized that without really thinking about it, I’ve wasted hours upon hours of time doing stuff that DOES NOT BRING ME JOY just because it was there. A friend reminded me that I was one of the early adopters, that I was on social platforms before they hit critical mass. Perhaps that’s why… I’m also now OVER IT.

So taking notes from the latest KonMari craze… thank you, next!

Maybe I’ll blog more. Probably not. I’m still keeping all of you on the inside posted, so there’s that. And I’m making art, and hanging out with my neighbors and friends. And having spontaneous lunch dates. And all of those things, BRING ME JOY!!!!

 

• Get outside, move around, take a walk.
• Get more happiness for your money. Buy experiences instead of things and spend your money on others.
• Carve out time to be happy, then give it away. Thirty minutes helping others is more rewarding and actually leaves us feeling empowered to tackle the next project, helping us feel more in control of our lives and even less pressed for time. This translates to higher levels of happiness and satisfaction.
• Delay the positive, dispatch the negative. Anticipation itself is pleasurable, and looking forward to an enjoyable experience can make it all that much sweeter.
• Enjoy the ride. People who focus more on process than outcome tend to remain motivated in the face of setbacks.
• Embrace failure. How we think about failure determines whether it makes us happy or sad.
• Sweet dreams. Get a full night’s sleep on a regular basis.
• Strengthen your willpower muscles. Exercising willpower muscles in small, everyday behaviors strengthens our ability to stay focused at work.
• Introduce variety into your day-to-day activities.
• Stop comparing yourself to others.
• Reach out and connect with someone.
• Limit time on social media.
• Use your phone in the way phones were originally intended.
• Practice gratitude.

The list above is from a story someone in my office sent me: Realistic Ways to Achieve Happiness: An Interview with Tim Bono

 

 

It’s snowy. St. Louis City has no snow plows. I’ve been taking the bus. I NEED Google Maps.

Because of last Friday’s fiasco, I decided to start using iMessage on my desktop. I’ve always balked at this because who really needs your text messages popping up on your screen… DURING PRESENTATIONS! But I must say, this was a game-changer. I can leave my phone in a drawer all day now!

So all that time I gave up on Instagram, I apparently made up on… Pinterest!!! lol

This is the most snow we’ve gotten in at least FIVE YEARS! So no soccer game today. I have a bonus day with no real reason to have a smart phone. I made a lot of art! Not all of it was pretty.

BTW, I’m going under the radar with that for the foreseeable future. I’ll be sharing my process privately with my email subscribers. Why? Here’s the scoop. (TLDR: It’s really freeing to take risks and learn new things when you don’t have to worry about it being part of your public digital footprint AND another symptom of my EMBODY word for the year). If you’re so very interested in what’s going on behind the scenes, sign up in the sidebar —->

I haven’t been checking the weather app as much either so I missed the whole Snowpocalypse warnings all week. Fortunately, there’s no reason for me to go anywhere. And what better reason to get off the screen than… SLEDDING!!! W00T!

OMG! I left my phone at home!!! Is this a sign that I’m really weaning myself from the device? I had a lunch date and was gonna confirm with Carolyn this morning but… I COULDN’T because I DON’T KNOW HER NUMBER!!! I pinged her of FB, by email, and in a last desperate move, I looked up her home phone ON THE INTERNET! I can’t believe it was actually right. Scary what info is out there. 😀

Fortunately, she checked email. And then informed me that the work VM I left via ALL THOSE CHANNELS was full.

I’m still annoyed at myself for tapping on that Instagram icon without thinking. And THEN, when I see I’m logged out, what do I do? I check my EMAIL? Whut?!?! Just stop!

All day, I left my phone in my office instead of bringing it to meetings. I used to say, I need it in case my kids need me for something but then I have it and end up scrolling around when I’m in a meeting and c’mon, we all hate that person who’s looking at her phone during a meeting. So far, no emergency calls from the nurse!