Detox Tech Diet Day 5. Cheating

Yes, its' true. I cheated. Just a little. I did not revert to my obsessive habit of checking my email every fifteen minutes  but I did check more than 4 times in 24 hours. I think I was getting a little edgy from my withdrawal. In fact I still might be.

I've decided reading two newspapers cover to cover every day can become burdensome too. The theme is repetitive with all roads leading back to money and politics. More companies choosing profit over safety, cash incentives to get people to take their meds and students to get good grades, and attempts to make BP's irresponsibility President Obama's personal fault.  I find it fascinating that references to the blogosphere run rampant in the newspapers, substantiating that bloggers have influence and blogging is not a passing fad. And how cute was it that the Times headlined Anderson Cooper and his reporting in the Gulf! The paper talking about a television station it doesn't even own!

But I am digressing. On  Day 5 I feel a bit disconnected and  very ready for this detox to be over.  In my experiment to get control on one thing it's likely I am overdosing on newsprint. And it's not even Sunday yet! I continue to be appalled at the astonishing number of people who walk the streets of Manhattan oblivious to everything but their phone conversation, including a car who has the right of way, the person next to them and in more than one rather distressing scene, the child they were pushing in the stroller. And let's not get into the texting. Oprah is on a no driving and texting campaign. Perhaps the no phone zone should be extended to walking. No laughing aloud! You have no idea how many people bump into me texting and walking and look at me like I am the one who is rude!

While I'm ready for this detox diet to be done, I am fascinated by the time it has opened up for me and what I am observing.  I feel lighter, my head feels clearer and the world has not come to an end because I do not know the details of my Twitter feed or that I've been cheating a bit.

Day 4. The Detox Does Not Get Easier

I'd like to tell you this is getting easier. But it's not. Day 4 of my Detox Tech Diet and  in some way it's becoming more challenging. There is that worrisome little voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me I am missing something life changing by not checking my email every five minutes and that there is something of monumental importance in one of the 500 blogs that sits unopened in my Google Reader, not to mention the 65 newsletters in my inbox.  I am starting to wonder what all my Facebook friends and Twitter followers have been up to this week.

But the voice passes. When I do check my email I am assured that I haven't missed anything that couldn't wait a bit. And that check in is slowly shifting into something I can look forward to as opposed to an energetic drain. If anyone really, really wanted to find me they can call.  The fact is I am rather enjoying this pause.

And that's the thing I'm noticing. All of this obsessing and overusing  our technological advances is not only draining the power sources of Con Ed, it's been draining me. Trying to stay on top of my tech plug ins is  an effort by me to control when in fact I am the one being controlled.

But that's starting to shift. Like an alcoholic without her poison, I feel lighter this week. I am up earlier and with a much clearer head, even if my hands are shaking a bit. I notice more and more how epidemic this addiction has become and I am determined to find a balance.

Surprisingly I do not miss television news at all. But that may have more to do with my own personal backlash from spending so many years in the TV business and being forced to watch the 24/7 news channel I worked for. The other twist is that next to The View, that channel, NY1 is the only one I have to stop myself from turning on.

I threw The View into this diet because I consider it more a news source than a talk show. I admit to cheating a little here. I did DVR the show so I will have a week's worth of episodes  sitting in my  cue  when this diet is over. The only thing I know about the show this week is that  Whoopi Goldberg (my personal fav) is on vacation.  I'm wondering if she heard about my tech detox diet and decided to take the week off and do the same thing?

Have I mentioned that I hadn't realized how much I missed the feel of newsprint on my hands until I really started getting dirty with it again?

I was a little worried reading in the Thursday Style section in the NY Times that in a world that gives a cell phone to a twelve year old, there are schools and camps discouraging best friend pairings. It will also soon be easier to divorce in the state of New York. Mmm. We seem to be OK with making and keeping Facebook friends, but not so good with working on those in person relationships.

I discovered in the WSJ that a former colleague and Corporate America escapee, Melissa Perrucci is the brainchild behind IndieShop, a TV show and website that features independent designers and that the secret to finding happiness in New York according to Ralph Gardner, Jr. is the simple things like people watching. Except that with iPhone4 preorders hitting the 600,000 mark, it seems the thing people are watching most is a handheld screen.

So I'm over the hump on this detox and determined not to cheat. I know I can't do this forever, but I also know that I will come out of it on the other side with a fresh perspective and a plan for keeping this more in balance. And that after all, is what detox is all about.