Rule of 72's

Have you ever had the feeling that you can not unplug from technology? As I sit here writing this blog, surrounded by a teenager blaring television in the background, and two ladies in their mid twenties doing work on their laptop (one for school, the other for work) it has become apparent to me that there is an addiction to technology that may be hard to break. I propose the Rule of 72's to you that has helped me in the past.

As a computer scientist, I know all too well the benefits of technology. Socializing, relaxing, developing, and every iteration few and far between seems to have a web application available for consumption. Being able to interact on the most basic level to get a task done seems to always involve technology as a means of completion. My gut is telling me something is off, or that the muffin I just ate was bad.

Completely unplugging yourself from technology is becoming more difficult with the passing days and I can only see it getting worse. There is a rule of thumb to follow that I guarantee will benefit you once you start doing it.

The Rule of 72's

1. Limit yourself to 72 minutes a day to extracurricular technology.
1. (By extracurricular, I mean outside of your daily job or schooling)
2. And you can round up or down (70 minutes - 80 minutes)
3. The meaning behind this is that during a waking day you may have only 4 hours of free time to yourself. If you waste that time trolling Facebook, scouring Twitter, or pinning your interests with Pinterest, you are not able to get that time back. (If I were a betting man, which I am, I would say ~ 85% of that time was wasteful and unproductive). Limiting your time to this small rule will greatly improve your outlook on life as well as bring your social life back from the dead.
4. This includes television.
1. You: "Oh, but my show is on!"
2. Me:  "Tough luck, you addict."
3. You: "You are the meanest human being I have ever met."
4. Me:   "And you have a problem I am trying to fix." 
2. Take the last 72 hours per month to disconnect.
1. Go around your house and unplug EVERYTHING. 
1. Except your fridge, dummy.
2. Try your hardest to complete those 72 hours from start to finish.
1.  I promise, it will make your 73rd hour worth it.
3. Find a hobby, a book you would like to read, and/or even go for a run. 
1. You know how a tree's age is seen by the rings on its trunk? The same rule applies for a human's midsection. Try to stay lean and exercise!
4. Every month, try to increase this time by just an hour. 

I am very cautious about the future of technology. As it stands right now, we still have the CHOICE to shut our technology off every now and again. With the future of wearable tech (ahem, Google, Android, and speculatively Apple), I can see a wave of technology that is unwavering and constant. Hell, glasses with notifications? Say goodbye to the good old American pastime. 

There is nothing wrong with unplugging. 

I promise it hurts at first, but remember that with every addiction it will ease away slowly.

All of the best and post your results at HN or as a reply to this post. I would like to begin a discussion about your Rule of 72's experiment on the first of the month at 8:00 AM EST. This discussion will SOLELY be on Hacker News as an Ask HN post.

As it stands today, we have 5 days until the Rule of 72's true value comes into effect. (March 29th, 30th, and 31st). This is a public experiment and please do try it. It's awesome.

Cheers,

Skylar.