I have been reading Jodi's posts about practicing simplicity and am inspired to write about a few changes in our family's approach to organisation, clutter and distraction. These posts will probably be sporadic, as I get around to making changes.
The first challenge? Break the iPhone addiction. Lee and I get fairly limited time together just one-on-one. It is literally only the ten minutes before we fall asleep that we aren't with either Archie or my parents. This is fine for the most part, but we found ourselves using this time to scroll mindlessly through pinterest, check facebook and play Candy Crush Saga and not speaking. Oh, the romance!
So I got some cheap crappy alarm clocks, and we leave our phones on the bench. It has made a difference to our sleep and our relationship, but most importantly has loosened the grip that those tiny beeping black boxes have. The iPhone can do marvellous things, but for me, it can feel like it ties me to a whole pile of expectations, obligations, tasks and distractions that I just don't need next to me as I doze.
The next thing I did was delete all social media apps except for Instagram. I put a password lock on the phone, and put all my apps into folders so I don't see them all the time. I turned off all the notifications and beeps as well, and deleted any games. It does feel a bit free-er and more liberated, and it means I can dedicate proper time to sit at the computer with a cup of tea and check facebook, read blogs and properly engage online, and also properly engage offline with my spunky family.