4 Things I Learned From Two Weeks Without a Laptop

A few weeks ago, I unintentionally went two weeks without using a computer. Two. Whole. Weeks. And then I did it again, without even really trying!

I'm really still in awe of myself.

I love my computer. I always have. When I was eight or nine and my family had first gotten a computer, I remember my parents limited my computer time to maybe fifteen minutes a day. But as soon as my parents left me alone, I'd always run to the computer to get a little more time in (sorry Mom!) to go feed my Neopets or play Zoo Tycoon or whatever it is eight-year-olds do on the computer. 

I've just always been amazed by the internet and just how freaking much there is out there. From my Zoo Tycoon-playing days until now, I've never been the type to voluntarily give up my computer. So I think you might now understand just how amazing it is that I went two weeks without my computer without even really trying. 

Really, it was a weird experience. Here are a few things I took away:

1. We aren't really as reliant on some technology as we think. I thought I would just die to be without Netflix on a big screen (compared to my phone) and without updating my music and whatnot. But (surprise!) I was just fine. I suppose, we all knew that all along, but it's funny how we can convince ourselves that we need things.

2. While technology isn't bad, it can be cheap replacement for real relationships and fun. I'm sure it's no surprise that it was rewarding to spend a little more time with my boyfriend H and with family, but I was more surprised that I actually ended up having more fun. In the past, whenever I've had free time, my go to "fun" pastime was watching Netflix or noodling around on the Internet. 

You know what else is just as fun, or dare I say...more fun? Reading. Jogging. Organizing. Trying weird makeup looks on yourself. Cooking. 

I tend not to do these things because they're the species of fun that's a little more effort, but they really are more satisfying in the end than just mindlessly lounging in front of some Law and Order.

3. Social media really doesn't make you happier. Duh, I know. But there really is something to be said about the way social media makes us compare ourselves to others and worry about things that don't matter. Even though I had been having a great time with friends and family, as soon as I started checking social media more often (though I had been somewhat through my phone) those compare-y thoughts wiggled back into my brain and it seemed like everyone else was having a better summer than me already.

4. Reading the newspaper is just better than reading the news online. It just is. 

Also: doing sudokus is a whole new level of nerdy fun.

What do you think? Could you go without your computer? 

It's Not Bad to Be Busy

I feel like it's become very trendy for bloggers or writers to write on and on about how we need to stop glorifying "busy" and how we would enjoy our lives if we weren't constantly doing so much. But you know what? I think that's crap. So now I'm going to rant about it. 

I'm convinced that it's not "busy" that is at fault for dissatisfaction and empty living; it's screwed up priorities. In a typical day, I go to class, I exercise, I go to church or spend time reading my Bible. I meet up with friends. I study. I go to club meetings or sports events. I go to work. I blog. I'm busy, that's for sure. But that doesn't keep me from doing what I want to do with my life. I always have time to do what I really want to do and you do too. 

Of course, sometimes I have to do things that I don't feel like doing and those things take up my time. We all have to work in some form of another and we're not all lucky enough to have jobs that we love. But in that case, wouldn't adding something extra to our plates be a good thing, if it is something we enjoy? I could just do the bare minimum--study, go to class, go to work. I wouldn't be busy, but I know I wouldn't be as happy.

So what's really wrong with being busy? A lot of times, I'm not home between when I leave for my first class around 7:30 and when I come back at night. And that's for someone who is always within a couple blocks of where they live! Maybe I have a different perspective as a college student, not someone who's working full-time. But I can't help but thinking that the same principle should apply all-around. If you're busy and you're unhappy, you're busy with the wrong things. 

It doesn't make sense to me why people try to convince busy people that they need to stop being busy in order to be happy, when they very well might already be!

Instead of glorifying busyness, let's start praising when people have built happy lives, in their own way. 

What do you think? Don't forget to take my one question survey, please and thank you! 

Can You Choose to Be Confident? (Yes! Here's How.)

For the longest time, I thought confidence was just something that happened naturally when you were good at things or pretty or well-liked. I thought it was a feeling that sometimes you had, and sometimes you didn't, and that's all there is to it.

The older I get, the more I am starting to think that yes, confidence comes naturally sometimes, and other times it just doesn't...but that maybe we can choose to be confident. I read something the other day that said that our confidence is also our "self-efficacy" which is just a fancy sounding phrase for how strongly we believe we are capable of achieving things--whether that's in work, relationships or anything else.

Choosing to be confident isn't just telling ourselves to buck up every morning and be self-assured. But there are certain things in our life that affect our confidence. According to this article, there are four different places that we get our confidence. The first one is one that we can't control--it's how often other people tell us that we are succeeding. But the other three, we totally can control:

1. "Developing mastery experiences"--which means experience working hard at things and seeing a good result.

2. "Vicarious experiences"--this is when we see other 'normal' people like us succeeding at things.

3. "Emotional status"--how well we manage negative self-talk, stress, etc.

According to this article, we can seriously change these three things and our life--and so we can change how confident we are. I'm not sold on it for sure, but I think it's such an interesting concept that we may be able to choose to be more confident people.

What do you think?