Rebecca, Days 8 & 9

Day 8:

Limit your media consumption. This tip won’t be for everyone, so if media consumption is important to you, please skip it (as with any of the other tips). However, I believe that the media in our lives — TV, radio, Internet, magazines, etc. — can come to dominate our lives. Don’t let it. Simplify your life and your information consumption by limiting it. Try a media fast.

While this challenge was in many ways covered by my Day 7 post, I do have some additional relevant experiences I can share.

We got rid of our DirectTV package a year ago, and sold our television set at a yard sale earlier this summer. We haven't missed either at all. I would use DirectTV's DVR feature to record all kinds of programs that I'd never have time for, and when I turned it on, I'd bizarrely feel as though it was a to-do list I needed to get through. (Remember, I love lists!) So although I worried I might miss DirectTV, the system was prompting me to spend more time than I otherwise would have, and the result is that I feel much freer now.

Now, we do Hulu and Netflix through a computer--it's much cheaper, and easier to avoid the ambient television viewing that happens when a set gets left on all day long.

In all honesty, I think this wasn't a big challenge because I'm just not that inclined to watch much television. I'm too busy for it, and I don't LOVE a lot of what's out there, anyway. And if I don't love it, why spend time on it?

There are a few shows I truly enjoy watching, like 30 Rock, but I can get these on Hulu. (The only one I can't find online and really miss is What Not To Wear.) I watch between, say, two and five hours of television over the course of a week--way less than the national average of 28 hours a week. Some weeks, I watch no TV at all; actually, I can't remember what or when I last viewed. I think it was at least two weeks ago.

I believe that overall, my screen time has been displaced from television to the internet. I don't know how many hours I spend online, but I suspect I have more in common with teenagers than I'd think.

Day 9:

Purge your stuff. If you can devote a weekend to purging the stuff you don’t want, it feels seriously terrific. Get boxes and trash bags for the stuff you want to donate or toss.

This is something I try to do regularly. I strive to keep only things that are useful and/or beautiful in my home, and to make sure every item has its own place. I do not always keep up with this--I'm so busy!--but I find that when I can keep up with decluttering/purging unused items, it's easier to tidy up, as fewer things lying around means less time cleaning.

I do like trying to get cash for the things I no longer need when I possible; we have a yard sale every summer (ours was a couple of weeks ago) and plan to have another in October. Also, today I took a pile of clothes I can no longer use to Buffalo Exchange and got about $40 for my efforts, yay! Then I gave several items to my friend's daughter, who was delighted. Now I need to see if any friends can use the remaining items; I'm proposing a clothing swap for next week. :) Anything they can't use, I'll donate them to charity.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to Days 10-13. Does anybody have really special tips/tricks/suggestions for discarding or rehoming items? I may watch an episode of Hoarders for extra motivation. I kind of can't stand that show, but the results are great--it's the perfect motivator!