Last year the son and I participated in a large social experiment called Shutdown Day. The description from their site:

Shutdown Day is a Global Internet Experiment whose purpose is to get people to think about how their lives have changed with the increasing use of the home computer, and whether or not any good things are being lost because of this.

The idea of Shutdown Day project is simple - just shut down your computer for one whole day of the year and involve yourself in some other activities: outdoors, nature, sports, fun stuff with friends and family - whatever, just to remind yourself that there still exists a world outside your monitor screen.

The list of things I could do with the time I usually spend checking the news, doing email, blogging, commenting, and general surfing is long.

• Go for a hike
• Go for a drive in Maggie the MINI
• Take the boat out for the first cruise of the season
• Do a metalsmithing project
• Do a household creative project, like make new lampshades or paint a piece of furniture
• Get together with friends or family
• Work in the garden
• Take a nap
• Take my dogs to the dog park
• Clean out the garage
• Shampoo the carpets

Honestly, I’ll probably be more focused on the fun stuff.

We did it last year and I found it very enlightening. I’m facing rebellion from my sons this year. Could you manage a day offline, and what would you do with it?

Are you over-teched and addicted to instant online information gratification? I know I am; in many ways it’s my job, and I’ve made it my hobby, too.

The guys at SparkNW are putting on a day-long Seattle seminar called SoulTech Seattle, which focuses on helping people reconnect with others and balance technology with living fulfilling lives. They’re getting lots of great publicity, including a positive write-up in the Seattle PI and exposure on NBC’s Today Show.

One of the co-facilitators, Leif Hansen, and I have traded blog comments a couple of times over on my tech blog. He is an earnest man who seems to be successfully walking the fine line between making a living in technology and having a personal life that’s very focused and face-to-face.

I’m not able to attend this particular session - nor would I probably want to participate in one that’s being filmed for a nationally syndicated TV show - but I greatly admire the concept and these folks’ efforts. Their message aligns with my own interests in some level of simplification and downshifting.

It’s amazing what being offline feels like when I’ve been heads down, hyperfocused on a project too intently and obsessively for a while.

Lately I’ve been working on a new website. It always takes longer and requires more technical troubleshooting than I originally anticipated. This is in addition to my full-time day job, which takes place almost entirely via computer and phone.

I get to the point where I view the world, all day and well into the night, primarily through my little 15.5” wide-format notebook screen. I think in windows. I dream in web navigation.

It’s awfully hard on the eyes, the back and the carpal tunnel – not to mention the sedentary spread.

So Sunday, with the hub out of town at a seminar, I really needed to take a day for practical things. I had to do laundry, pick up the house, grocery shop, and run errands. As a be-nice-to-myself touch, I gave myself a pedicure between laundry loads. On Sunday evening, I cooked a nicer-than-usual dinner (smoked a spice-rubbed brisket, fresh corn-on-the-cob, Greek salad with homemade lemon vinaigrette, strawberry shortcake).

Spending the day offline felt like coming up for air after being underwater, breathing through a tiny snorkel, for a long time. The air was clear, my spine unkinked itself, and my house feels cleaner, uncluttered and more livable. (Plus, I’m really partial to clean underwear.)

I’m back to the hyperfocus grind today… normal days at work, time on the website, plus I’m taking an online project management seminar for the next two weeks.

I just need to remember the value of coming up for air.

On Saturday, I shut down my computer for the day in honor of International Shutdown Day. I learned many things in my day in the real world, some of which I’m sharing here:

• I overestimate what can be done in a day. Always have, always will. But getting my chunky behind out of bed earlier would help me get a lot more accomplished!

• There’s an awful lot of dog poop in my back yard, and the slugs are out already. I noticed this as I was upgrading our solar lanterns. We like our yard lit up a bit at night, it’s awfully hard to tell if our long haired black girl dog actually squats in the dark.
• Speaking of that, don’t listen to Brad Paisley’s new single “Ticks” while drinking coffee and driving, nor while you have to pee. I just about snorted coffee out my nose, and then howled in laughter through throughout the song. You can hear the song on his Myspace site.
• Beer batter fish and chips and chocolate truffles are a really sad dinner combination.
• Teens really dislike being deprived of electronics. They are bbbooooorrrrrreeeedddd and make vague accusations of child abuse. And then they make their parents listen to Lemon Demon over and over again on the car stereo. Mine got back on the computer at 12:01am.
• Since I had to pick up Ben in Seattle last night, I really, really missed the ability to check the Bainbridge ferry schedule and the Amtrak train status online. The ferry runs every 50 minutes, and the train is gonna get there when it gets there (most likely late) but I still missed knowing the details.
• When someone leaves the passenger door open on the car most of the day - gee, that would be one of my teen passengers - the car battery dies. Having this happen while the hubby is out of town is really poor timing.
• If you rip your home office apart to build shelves - and you need 12 shelf brackets and they come in a package of 12 - you will misplace at least one. Or more. Buy extra on the first trip!
• It’s awfully difficult to go to Home Despot for more brackets when your car is dead. I have a small inverter charger but it’s slow, and by the time the car would start, the store was closed.
• I really, really hate working in a cluttered, destroyed home office. This almost motivated me to to make a non-required trip across to my Seattle office just for a calm and non-trashed work environment. But with both boys here, I stayed home anyway.

So, I’m still working on reorganizing my home office today- finishing my closet shelves, putting everything back, sorting drawers and shelves and updating the decor and feng shui. If nowhere else, I should focus on enhancing opportunity and creativity in my office space.

I really, really wanted to make jewelry this weekend… maybe later this week.

As I have previously blogged, International Shutdown Day is this Saturday. As an experiment in playing First Life_(TM), try staying offline and in the real world for a day. We might all like it so much it becomes… addicting!

I am thinking of enjoying some - not all - of the following:

• Make jewelry
• Build shelves in my home office closet
• Go to Ikea for an office bookshelf
• Visit the Seattle International Gem and Jewelry Show
• Take the Chinese doggies for a walk
• Weed a garden bed or two
• Hang out with Zach

I’m looking forward to seeing the world through my own eyes, not my 15″ screen.