Digital declutter.

I have recently left my phone at home when I went for a walk and the urge to reach into my pocket and check if anything popped up on the screen was terrifying. I didn't need it do it. It wouldn't add any value to my life. And yet I craved it so much!

It got me thinking really hard about my relationship with technology. I'm not spending hours and hours of my life online, although I do catch myself going down a rabbit hole of videos, pictures and posts sometimes. I can endlessly search for something on the internet and click link after link.

So I thought that, given that it is Lent now, I will perform a digital declutter as suggested by Cal Newport. I recommend his newest book Digital Minimalism as an interesting background reading and a lot of inspiration. I listed all my optional technology use, decided what to ban and what to limit to a defined set of operational procedures.

Can I stick with it until the end of Lent? Maybe. I know some things will be easier than others. I can probably survive without browsing Facebook, but can I stop compulsively checking my email? Deleting social media from my phone was easy enough, but will I be able not to reach for it so often?

The key to success, according to Newport, is to replace optional technology use with high quality leisure activities. This is probably the more challenging part of the digital declutter. I am used to mindlessly engage in web-browsing, watching videos and checking news sites. Changing this habit into thinking through how I spend my free time requires that I treat leisure seriously, as an important part of my life. I plan my work activities, why shouldn't I plan what I do when I don't work or sleep?

My aim is to plan a leisure activity for each evening. So far I have scheduled in reading, which I do pretty much every day anyway, Clubbercise, baking, making a scrapbook, walking, playing the piano, stretching exercise and joining a book club. I really hope that I would be able to find new joy of leisure in the coming weeks and maybe even discover long-forgotten talents and hobbies.

I suppose that it is quite lucky that my digital declutter coincides with Lent: I need to refocus on my faith and all the digital media often interfere with it. I hope to empty my mind of the cacophony of voices and find peace.

The 2 minute rule.

I think we all have these lists of tasks that would not take long to complete at all, yet we always leave them to the last minute. These tasks are an inconvenient necessity of daily like.

The way I tackle those is by employing the 2 minute rule: it it takes less than 2 minutes to complete, I get it done straight away.

I apply it in a variety of areas of my life. House admin, for instance. Incoming and outgoing mail, bills, orders of toiletries. Nothing major and intellectually demanding, but in the past I would so often avoid dealing with these tasks. By employing the 2 minute rule, I get things done promptly, avoiding a backlog that can overwhelm. Every day I check my mailbox when I get back from work and I deal with any correspondence straight away. 2 minutes is enough time to skim through the letters, recycle the envelopes and possible file some of the papers so that I deal with them later. Paying bills or council tax doesn't take long, but in the past I would constantly put it off, now I just get it done.

I do still have extended times each month for 'house admin' when I make sure my finances are in order, check insurance policies and deal with utilities. But for the most part I handle things as and when they come.

The 2 minute rule can also be applied to household chores. I am not particularly fond of packing my dishwasher, but it does only take about 2 minutes to do it. Same with taking the rubbish out, wiping down the table and the counters.

Also at work, the 2 minute rule helps me to get on with little tasks straight away rather than waiting for a better moment. Trimming worksheets, arranging exercise books, cleaning the whiteboard. Little tasks that can be completed straight after a class, without putting it off until just before the next group of pupils arrive.

I found that I am less overwhelmed by small tasks when I deal with them promptly. I won't fill up my day with 2 minute jobs, but I will generally just get it done. It's easier and gives me more uninterrupted time to deal with what's important and what requires more effort.