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Katerina Pavlakis's avatar

I'm up for this! Like Lorraine I have been trying to disengage but haven't quite figured out yet how to separate necessary time on there for work from getting sucked into the time wasting machine.

I can say though that the single most effective step I've taken to reduce the addictiveness is turning my screen to black and white: https://www.theintuitivecook.co.uk/blog/real-fake

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Jeff Gill's avatar

Excellent, Katerina. I'll be in touch later today or tomorrow with some thoughts about how we can support each other. I know a lot of people find the B&W screen thing helps. I love the beautiful colours it makes too much to do that.

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Rogue Rosalie's avatar

Are we allowed to read on a tablet? If so, I'm in. I usually read every night when I go to bed. I could re-read some of my hardbacks too. I'm also reading some art theory books.

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Jeff Gill's avatar

You are allowed to do whatever you want! I do most of my book reading on my phone, but I've got a hankering for paper at the moment. I've just sent you and the others a getting started email.

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Rogue Rosalie's avatar

Just for clarification, I will be giving up insta and facebook since I'm hardly ever on facebook. I will need to promote some shows I've got coming up.

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Lynn Childress's avatar

Sounds like a good plan! The more I read from earlier writers, the more I realize how strange and interesting the past is. I am reading John Aubrey's diary from the 1640s, back when would-be scientists conducted their experiments in their college "dorm" rooms (there were no labs), which were then taken over to be used as barracks by soldiers during the English Civil War. Both reading and journaling fill the well with material for future writing.

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Jeff Gill's avatar

I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes!

For the sake of clarification – When you write 'Sounds like a good plan!' are you offering encouragement or saying you want to join in with me and the others who are doing this together?

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Lynn Childress's avatar

Yes, I would be interested in the joining the group. I have been meaning to read Dr. Eliot's Five-Foot Shelf of Books (aka Harvard Classics) and it looks like the Penguin classics covers many of the same books. Doing this as a group offers motivation and discussion possibilities, which is better than going-it-alone. Some of these texts may be a bit of a slog--that is where people with contextual knowledge (especially biographies of the authors or historical knowledge) can liven things up. Keep me posted.

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Amie McGraham's avatar

I deleted my Facebook account 4 years ago and haven’t regretted that decision for one second. I have drifted away from Twitter because it’s no longer a fun playground for my writing. Gradually spending less time on Insta, because Facebook, algorithms, ads and an overall realization that, yes,

there’s more going on than anybody sees.

I want to start experiencing this with fresh eyes, not on a screen. I’m in!

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Jeff Gill's avatar

Excellent, Amie. I'll be in touch later today or tomorrow with some thoughts about how we can support each other.

Before Donald Trump took over the dialogue on Twitter in 2015, I was part of a crowd who just used it to make jokes. It was a lot of fun and it was excellent training in brevity.

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Lorraine Stephenson's avatar

I definitely want to do this! Much of my days revolve around social media with my work & I'm not sure how to be there & not get sucked in & waste hours. You’ve inspired me to give it a go though! I was reading at least a couple of books a month up to 2020. I have read 1 whole book this year, & that was on holiday!

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Jeff Gill's avatar

Excellent, Lorraine. I'll be in touch later today or tomorrow with some thoughts about how we can support each other.

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Steve Davies's avatar

I often think about how much Facebook or Twitter I have consumed and how many books that would equate to. Despite it's usefulness, it's still a lot of waste.

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Jeff Gill's avatar

I've argued with myself a lot about the usefulness of social media. I'm not sure if it's useful enough for me. That's part of why I'm doing this break – to find out.

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Denelle DeFer's avatar

I’m in Tucson again for a cyst on my kidney, ouch. I haven’t had internet since May. I use my phone in town. Pandora goes to offline mode so I have tunes. I keep in touch with family as to my whereabouts. My phone is a tool I use, same as pliers. Do you.

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