This Day in History
Day 4 of 31: 200 Words-a-Day Challenge
Welcome back! Or HELLO, if this is your first day here. The rules for our challenge are simple. If you need my prompt below, use it. If not, still write. Whatever. JUST WRITE....as many words as you need to. And then SHARE.
Post what you write into the comments below or restack this post to Notes and share your piece there. And to comment on others’ shared writing: (1) be kind, (2) don’t critique unless the author explicitly requests it, (3) tell the author what in their writing resonated with you, or made you think differently, or was an ‘aha’ for you.
If you missed previous prompts, you can find them on the Gina’s Quill page or just pick up wherever you are.
This Day in History
Nearly every morning at our breakfast table, my husband reads me “This Day in History.” Being a history buff, I don’t mind. And it’s a sweet moment we share. A few morning’s ago, the read was for a relatively recent event in the grand scheme of things.
“On this day, June 29, 2007, the first iPhone was sold.” Wait, what? That was just a few years ago, right?
Ah, technology. It has pervaded and invaded our lives so rapidly. Most people I know either love it or hate it. I vacillate between.
The cell phone is a particular bane in my existence. Not because I get so many calls. No, it’s entirely a behavior thing on my part. It’s a computer in my pocket and I do A LOT on it. But sometimes, I also fall into the trap of mindless scrolling, particularly in the evening when my mind wants to justify it as “relaxing.”
Writing it out like that makes it sounds as ludicrous as it is.
Last July, I used the month to do a technology and social media detox. I minimized my use of all technology after I recognized that my attention span seemed to be getting shorter, my ability to focus on longer tasks harder, and my energy levels (or vibration—some of you will know what I mean) were going haywire.
It’s happening again. So I’m considering a repeat of my detox month. It wasn’t exactly what I imagined last year, but it helped me quite a lot.
The challenge is how pervasive and necessary the use of technology has become for all of us, particularly if we run a business. So I’m considering how I might do it again, but differently, what worked, what didn’t. Maybe there’s some things I haven’t thought of that could help. And more importantly, how can I carry this into future months?
I dream of turning everything off and spending my days writing (by hand). How much could I get done?!
Your Prompt / Day 4 of 31
How does technology impact you and your life—good and bad? Is it friend or foe? If you could switch off all your devices, what would you do with your time?
Share your response to the prompt, or at least 200 words about any issue that’s on your mind, in comments or Notes. Write. [Muster Courage.] Share. Done!
Thanks for playing along with me! Please invite your friends.
About two weeks ago, I committed to no online phone/computer use until 10am — meaning, no social media, no news, no shopping, no doom-scrolling. See how well I'm doing! LOL! I've been shocked to learn that the first category of failure was online shopping. Yikes. Time to reset and try again. I get up around 3am so I'm going to set my new boundary at 9am. Six hours will.not.kill.me... Starting tomorrow.