Technology is, to me, synonymous with distraction. Sometimes distraction is good; other times distraction is less good. Students today talk of multitasking - of writing essays, IMing their friends, watching YouTube videos - all simultaneously. I do this myself. Earlier last week, I read essays while streaming MidWest BrewHaHa, a roller derby tournament, and listening to Doctor Who for background noise. I'll do it again in two weeks when ECDX is happening in Philly. When I consider why I engage in such behavior, it stems to a need for distraction for me. Being away from friends/family and the things and activities that I love means that I am frequently lonely and even frustrated, at times. Over this past weekend, I missed attending BFD (a music festival) with friends, the very first international boot camp put on by BAD and London Brawling, the local Pride parade with my derby league, PePe's going away party, and my daughter's first ballet recital. I've missed practice for two weeks now. I'm missing hugs and kisses from my kids, meeting Rav and Enya at the hot tub after practice,, checks in with my wife every few days. I can do most of that digitally, but not all of it. Technology gives me the opportunity to 1)contact the people that I want to when I want to and 2)distract myself from how I'm feeling. Perhaps that's the not the most healthy way to deal with such feelings, but it works for me. 

• How successful were you at going Tech/Literacy free for a day?

I do believe I was successful in going tech free for about half of the time I was awake. The first few hours were the easiest as I had other things to do. The harder part was not being able to double check some things, like the timing of the bus schedule. I'm pretty sure I wound up missing one bus because I couldn't remember what time it actually showed up. I made it tech free from about 9 am-ish to 4 pm-ish. 

• What was the hardest thing about trying to go Tech/Literacy free?

The hardest part was not having distractions as the day went on. Being here at IUP means I'm away from my family and the vast majority of my friends. It means I'm lonely a good chunk of the time and missing the things I love the most. Being able to access technology means having something to distract my mind from missing those people and things. I know I've missed out on a great deal already by being gone this summer, and yesterday, I missed my daughter's first ballet recital. The hardest part of the day was knowing that I was missing such a major event for her, yet not being able to even do much to distract myself from that fact. 

• How did your friends/family respond to you do the task?

Well, they were the primary cause of my breaking the tech fast. As I mentioned, my daughter had her first ballet recital yesterday. Shortly before it was scheduled to begin, though, my husband sent several texts that needed to be answered as they impacted her recital. Ultimately, he remembered that I was tech free, but by then, I had already broken the tech fast. 

• Did going Tech/Literacy free cause you to get more physically active or less? Why?

I would say not. I am already a fairly physically active person. I would actually wonder if the tech free caused me to be active less. Weekends are typically my skating days, and it's a lot harder for me to keep going without music. I went about five miles without music, but the last half were a lot easier as I had something to keep rhythm with. In addition, I am confident I took more naps yesterday than I would have without trying to go tech free.  

• What did you miss the most while you were going Tech/Literacy free?

I missed not having ready access to family/friends. I missed the ambient noise that streaming music provides for me. At home, going tech free is easier. There's people, activities, things that need to be done. At my current place, there's only so many times I can do laundry or dishes or clean a room to pass the time. There's only so many books that I have (not on a computer or kindle) that I can access. There's few people just sitting around to have conversations with. Even finding people to have conversations with is dependent upon technology, to a degree. 

Overall, what did you think of this experience?