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11-10-2006, 06:39 PM
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 30 Day Forum Fast Me and Cron were discussing doing a 30 day forum fast in this thread. The plan is not to browse or post to any forums for 30 days, with a few exceptions as suggested by Cron: "...we would have to allow email, forum use for specific tasks, like looking up information we need to do things ( weather, directions, tech help ), but those things weren't the problem." And, of course posting your progress here. For those that want to join in the fast, post here and let us know your plan and then keep us up to date on you progress. Good luck. ----------------- I guess I'll start. I'm a bit of a forum addict, so my plan is to avoid forums and things like Engadget completely for the next 30 days as of NOW, no exceptions! Except, of course, for posting how I'm doing here once or twice a week.      |
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11-10-2006, 06:58 PM
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| I think for something like this to succeed it has to be kept simple. In my experience if I begin looking at the letter of the law and splitting hairs over exceptions I will backslide. Here are my suggestions for the group forum fast: 1. Everyone starts on the same date 2. No internet use except for looking information up that is NEEDED. This includes web forums, usenet, irc, and email discussion lists. 3. Email, once per day, only. 4. Everyone posts in this thread once per day to check in. In the check-in post they list any non-work related internet use, including email, that they felt was necessary. I propose Saturday November 18th as a start date. This will give people who are already on the forum and who are interested a chance to join Thoughts? |
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11-10-2006, 07:24 PM
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| I think this is a great idea. I oftentimes find myself straying into sites like Digg.com and StumbleUpon and absorbing all that information just for the sake of the information. It could be a funny video on YouTube or a top 10 list of ingenious sink designs, but chances are I would absorb it like a juicy burger. It's like Bulimia Nervosa Technologica. I want to participate, but I'm not sure if I can follow through. I will post my decision later today. |
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11-10-2006, 08:19 PM
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Read the original thread. Join us too! |
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11-10-2006, 08:20 PM
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| Notice they don't want to break a forum usage addiction, simply a forum over/mis/side-usage addiction. It's like the difference between reading books, and reading good books (for lack of better analogy). |
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11-11-2006, 09:52 PM
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| Alright, I've decided to try this. Anyone who catches me online, or who sees my post count is over 99 (its current value), let me know (harshly) so that I may not forget. Alright, m'brain. It's 30 days. T -00:00:05..04...03...02... And go! |
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11-12-2006, 10:59 PM
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| I'm still going strong, a whole two days. Haven't as much as looked at a forum, except for posting this post here.  Then again I've been pretty social this weekend, dining out with friends, having people over and more. We'll see how it goes next week. Nice to see more people joining in. |
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11-13-2006, 12:47 AM
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I will start my fast, as I described above, tomorrow, 2006 November 12. I will post my "first day done" notice the following day. |
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11-15-2006, 01:47 PM
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| Going strong. I've found I have fired up the instant messengers way more often than before the commitment. I guess it's because sometimes my brain doesn't know how to handle that time it just got usually spent on looking at (largely useless) information. Fortunately, though, most of the people I've ever talked to "frequently"/"over long, sparsely-separated periods" on instant messaging forgot about me after those months/years of inactivity, so I'm only in a couple (usually < 3 or 4) conversations a day. I have also found myself looking at other information that is perhaps more important. That's how I suppose I rationalize looking at it anyway. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. For example, if I'm reading a Wikipedia article about quantum entanglement, I might go on and follow related links for half an hour or so before I come back to my usual planned path. I have also seen that I tend to take up more reading in the evening. Knowing that I won't be able to play a short round of an ngame level (I'd link you, but... ;-) ), I tend to go to bed earlier and read some Jacobson's "Basic Algebra I" (that book's title could be considered true, yet has such a misleadingly elementary semblance) or an article from an old Discover magazine. I guess I've side-streamed my information "addiction" (whatever you want to call it) elsewhere. :P However, if I consciously reject something, then I'm fine upholding that. I haven't used Slashdot, Digg, or Stumbleupon a single time. EDIT: On a sidenote, 100th post. |
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11-15-2006, 04:41 PM
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| Well, it looks like I am going to start with my original plan of starting my forum fast on Friday November 17th. I tried at the start of this week, but I had a major stress bomb dropped in my lap Monday. If it wasn't for the distraction of non-necessary internet use I don't think I could have sat in my seat at work. Yes, I know that indicates that I am using it as a crutch. Still, all was not lost. I did reduce my wasted time significantly. I read more than I wrote which saved a lot of time. I also read a lot less. So, at least I have been getting a warm up in for Friday. When Friday starts I will be on a "forum fast" except for: 1. looking up things needed to get things done( work, directions etc ) 2. email 3 times a day ( a lot less then currently ), to communicate about community service activities I am involved with - but no discussion lists. |
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11-15-2006, 06:01 PM
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| I think I'm going to join this, too, starting right now. I've been using internet forums as a way to escape the boredom of my job and avoid doing more important tasks. I've been noticing the effects of this more and more lately. Wish me luck. I probably won't post an update every day, but I'll check in every once in a while. |
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11-15-2006, 11:04 PM
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| Good Luck with the forum fast guys... If you are at a point where you think you need a forum fast, then you definitely should a forum fast, but don't forget to deal with the reason you got so dependent on forums in the first place. Good luck,
__________________ Levnow Self-Help Tools & Levnow Blog Do something good for yourself today and Live Now! |
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11-16-2006, 08:59 AM
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Nice to have a word for our condition, "Bulimia Nervosa Technologica." I liked that. |
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11-17-2006, 06:35 PM
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| Forum Fast: Day 0: Cron Okay, today is the first day of my 30 day forum fast. So far I screwed up and pissed some time away. It is really hard! Phew, I guess this is the point of having this forum here....getting support. I think I will be good as "reporting in" will help keep me on track. It is about 1:30 pm here. If I stop now and only check my email when I go home for dinner I think I will have a banner day in terms of self discipline and improved productivity. I'll let you know tomorrow. Reporting out! |
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11-18-2006, 02:58 PM
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| Cron: Good to see you've started. I may even try to stick with you on the forum fast all the way to the 17th. I'm still going strong, though I must admit there have been a couple of times I've been bored, and really REALLY been tempted to log on to some forum or other...but have managed to resist it so far. I try to do other things. Just bought a guitar and got back into playing, which is nice. Have also spent more time out with friends, which is good. So so far it's been positive. Ragnar |
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11-22-2006, 12:43 PM
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| I'm going to join this, albeit a few days late. My goal is to only check email in the morning, once in the afternoon, and then at night. All other internet activity is off-limits except for one hour late at night, when I'm pretty much useless for doing anything else, anyway. Basicallly my goal is to cut down internet useage during the day to as little as possible and spend that time doing more productive, enriching things. Believe me, email check 3x's a day and 1 hour of surfing will be a vast improvement over my current habits. |
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11-25-2006, 01:42 AM
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| My weekly update. I'm still haven't read or posted on forums (besides this thread...of course), been two weeks now. Can't say I miss it much. Effectivness has been way down this week though, but that has more to do with relationship trouble than the internet.  Keep on fasting. |
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12-11-2006, 11:24 PM
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| I'm starting this tomorrow. Not just forums though, but the internet in general because my internet usage is out of control and definitely affecting my life in the "real world" negatively. (Sometimes i'm online for up to eight hours at a time). My sleeping schedule is out of whack, I'm not eating well, I feel and act lethargic and lazy. Here are my personal guidelines: 1. Email ONCE daily, at a prespecified time. This includes my netmail and yahoo. This should take no more than fifteen minutes, and it will help me reply promptly rather than letting things sit in my inbox. 2. No LJ, webcomics, or facebook, period. I fear this may be the most difficult part for me. I'll have to make posts letting people know they won't be able to reach me through LJ and Fb, and I'll be tempted to "just check." But rarely is something vital posted on there anyway. 3. Find other ways of getting information - going outside for weather, phone people if it will be quicker than emailing them. And if I Need to use the internet to find information, get it offline (print or write down) ASAP. 4. Post here daily to check in and log internet use. 5. No browsing or surfing. This includes google, facebook, LJ, Wikipedia, bookmarks, del.icio.us, these forums, 43folders, 43things, postsecret, etc. 6. Time limit of 30mins to one hour max of internet daily. December 12th - January 12th. How did your forum fasts go? Any tips? I need all the help and encouragement I can get.
__________________ http://solamorada.livejournal.com/profile http://www.43things.com/person/floramorada http://floramorada.zaadz.com/ Facebook profile |
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12-16-2006, 09:31 AM
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 My forum fast was officially over a few days ago, but I haven't checked any forums since. Haven't felt like it really. So I guess this forum fast was a success. I also think I won't be going back to many of the forums I used to post to frequently.I have been using the web a lot more lately due to my new job, which mostly involves programing, but it has been for very specific searches to look for solutions to problem (documentation for Java, PHP, css, MySql, Ruby, Linux etc.). So there hasn't been much aimless browsing. floramorada: Good luck with the forum/web fast. For me it was a little hard at first, but after a while I completely forgot about forums. A good idea might be to plan something to replace your browsing habbits. So rather than sitting at home staring at a turned off computer, which will really be quite tempting, go and do something. I bought a guitar and began playing again, plus I spent more time with friends...which were both very positive.Cheers, Ragnar |