1. I broke my phone and didn’t get another one for six months. I was basically fine, and generally preferred that. Eventually some forces-of-modernity (trying to get a job and paying a mild cost with interviewers having to schedule calls from my gmail-account) forced me to get another one. Shifting back and forth wasn’t as big a difference as I expected.
I currently have a phone, but have gotten into the habit of leaving it off and in a corner somewhere while I go out and do things, and I think this is a good skill to have in my toolbox.
2. Two Apps that I never miss a chance to promote: SelfControl and Freedom
Both of them let you construct blocklists for sites you don’t want to use. (i.e I have a blocklist including Facebook, Lesswrong, Tumblr, and specific blogs I don’t want to stay up late reading or get distracted by during work hours).
SelfControl only works on Mac. Freedom works on Mac, iOS, and (possibly?) android.
If you are a savvy programmer, you can find ways around them, but they are much harder to crack than things like StayFocused or RescueTime.
Of the two, SelfControl is much harder to crack than Freedom, but Freedom lets you schedule blocks of time at regularly occurring intervals across all your devices. (I used SelfControl for two years before switching to Freedom, and I think this trained the habits that let me use Freedom properly even though I could circumvent it)
This is all to say, if I were to implement on an official Sabbath, I’d set Freedom to automatically turn off the distracting parts of the internet on Friday night and leave them off until Saturday (or maybe Sunday morning)
Re the last point, yes indeed. Mark Forster (an excellent productivity author) recommends training yourself to comply with your own resolutions this by, each evening (for a while), deciding on something big or small that you will do (or not do) the following day without fail, no matter what. Then do so, and repeat.
Some Sabbath-relevant notes/anecdotes:
1. I broke my phone and didn’t get another one for six months. I was basically fine, and generally preferred that. Eventually some forces-of-modernity (trying to get a job and paying a mild cost with interviewers having to schedule calls from my gmail-account) forced me to get another one. Shifting back and forth wasn’t as big a difference as I expected.
I currently have a phone, but have gotten into the habit of leaving it off and in a corner somewhere while I go out and do things, and I think this is a good skill to have in my toolbox.
2. Two Apps that I never miss a chance to promote: SelfControl and Freedom
Both of them let you construct blocklists for sites you don’t want to use. (i.e I have a blocklist including Facebook, Lesswrong, Tumblr, and specific blogs I don’t want to stay up late reading or get distracted by during work hours).
SelfControl only works on Mac. Freedom works on Mac, iOS, and (possibly?) android.
If you are a savvy programmer, you can find ways around them, but they are much harder to crack than things like StayFocused or RescueTime.
Of the two, SelfControl is much harder to crack than Freedom, but Freedom lets you schedule blocks of time at regularly occurring intervals across all your devices. (I used SelfControl for two years before switching to Freedom, and I think this trained the habits that let me use Freedom properly even though I could circumvent it)
This is all to say, if I were to implement on an official Sabbath, I’d set Freedom to automatically turn off the distracting parts of the internet on Friday night and leave them off until Saturday (or maybe Sunday morning)
All of the Internet is Officially Distracting. Set your computers and phones to lock you out.
Better yet, just decide not to use them. Because those are the rules.
There’s real value in learning to follow rules without needing to tie yourself to the mast.
Re the last point, yes indeed. Mark Forster (an excellent productivity author) recommends training yourself to comply with your own resolutions this by, each evening (for a while), deciding on something big or small that you will do (or not do) the following day without fail, no matter what. Then do so, and repeat.