The Need to Unplug

Hello. My name is Robert and I have an addiction. I love technology. Although I don't check Facebook and Twitter as much as someone in my family does (I won't go down alone dear), I do admit that there's a glorious sense of anticipation every time my phone buzzes, telling me that someone somewhere has something really important to say to me via email or text message.

There. I've cleared my conscience. Now what?

I recently heard an interview with Scott Belsky, in which he said that looking at your smartphone has the same effect as cocaine. It relieves anxiety and makes you feel in control. Now I've never tried cocaine, but I have a feeling that whoever came up with that fact is probably right on the money.

Technology has such a grip on our society. We have to acknowledge this before we ever hope to break free. In that same interview Belsky says that we have to ruthlessly pursue windows of non-stimulation. He says that true creativity will only happen when we are able to unplug from technology, because that is the only place where true and deep thinking can occur.

Where this really hits home for me is with my kids. Adam is already addicted to my phone, or more specifically, he's addicted to a game on my phone about ticked off birds. Getting him to go in his room and play is so difficult. His objection: That's boring! One of the solutions that Mandy and I have been talking about is starting a new tradition in our home, where 1 or 2 days of the week are designated tech-free days. That means no Backyardigans, Angry Birds, or Wii, but it also means no Facebook, email, or Modern Family. Instead, we will use our time to play games, take walks, read books, and, in the case of the boys and I, wrestle. This is what the home is supposed to be anyway, right?

I've been reading a book that Mandy got at Mom Congress. It's called Hamlet's Blackberry, by William Powers. In one of the chapters he quotes from Henry David Thoreau's Walden:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived...I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.

I love those words. It's what I want for my family. It's also what I want for me. I'm making some changes when it comes to technology. Here are three things I'm going to begin doing that I know will help me during my hours at work.

1. I am going to designate 3-5 times during the day when I check email. The rest of the time my gmail will not be up. And I'm going to disable the push feature on my iPhone. No more buzzes when I get an email.
2. I'm going to stop checking email right before I go to bed and right after I get up. I've realized that nothing good comes from that.
3. My most productive times are in the morning. For some crazy reason I've been waking up around 5:30 every morning. At first it frustrated me, but now I've realized that it's a good thing. I'm going to begin doing any creative work (reading, writing, thinking) in the mornings, and I am going to begin scheduling meetings and appointments for the afternoon.

I know that some of these changes, whether it's for me or my family, are going to be easier than others (I imagine that Micah is going to throw things when he hears how it affects him). And I know that just as with any addiction, there will be times when I'm weak. But I believe that change is possible. I have a feeling that we are going to one day look back on the decade when instant communication became a reality, and realize that it wasn't the best thing for us.

My iPad

I've had my iPad 2 now for six weeks, and I'm ready to give my review. When the first iPad came out, I was not impressed. To me, it was nothing more than an oversized iPhone. My question was, "Why would you want an iPhone that can't make calls and that can't fit in your pocket?" I thought those were pretty good questions, and at the very least it kept me from catching gadget fever. At least for awhile.

A few months ago I borrowed John Carroll's iPad for a couple of days. Gadget fever started taking its toll on me right away. I immediately loved reading Kindle books on the iPad, and websites on Safari were much better than I had expected. I started doing some research and learned that I could fill out real estate contracts with an iPad and even get clients to sign them with it. I also saw how pastors were using the iPad in ministry. So I decided to start saving my money.

So after six weeks of use, I have to say that the thing I'm most excited about is the opportunity to go paperless. OK, maybe not completely paperless, but I'm getting close. Here's how I'm doing it. I was already using a lot of apps on my iPhone, but but there are two new ones that have become game changers for me. The first is Instapaper. With Instapaper, if I come across something worth reading, whether on my laptop or my iPad, I click a button on my browser that says "Read Later." The article is then formatted to remove ads and other clutter, and then I can access it through the Instapaper app. The only thing I wish it had was the ability to highlight in the app, but I'm sure at some point this will be available.

Instapaper is great, but what is even greater is PDF Expert. This app allows me to import a pdf from Dropbox (also on my iPad), and then mark it up. A more technical term would be "annotate", but I like "mark it up" better. I can highlight, underline, type notes, and even insert my signature or someone else (again, like a client's). So far I have used this for charts when leading worship, notes when teaching, and reading/annotating articles. I have no reason to ever print off another chord chart, or sermon notes, or an article. It's all here. And once I have my highlights and notes, I can email it back to me if I choose.

These two apps, along with the Kindle app, are wonderful and are meeting so many of my needs. If a book is on Kindle, chances are that I'm going to buy that version instead of a hard copy. And not having stacks of paper lying around is going to make me so much more productive. Plus, it will make my wife very happy!

Cutting the Cord

Last month I cancelled my cable TV service. I've hesitated writing about it because I wanted to make sure we didn't go through any sort of withdrawal. I'm happy to report that we've been fine. We haven't really missed it that much, but I know that we are going to enjoy the $65 savings every month.

On our back TV (our playroom) we have a Wii, which gives the ability to watch Netflix. This is primarily what the kids watch. They have their favorite shows on there, and so with that combined with a VCR and DVD player, they are all set. On our main TV in the front room we have an over-the-air (OTR) antenna so that we can watch our local channels, plus we have a DVD player and a Roku XDS.

The Roku is pretty amazing. Our favorite channels are Netflix, Hulu Plus, HGTV, Newscaster, NBA, Pandora, BaebleMusic, and Mp3Tunes. I also have an external hard drive hooked up so that I can listen to my music and watch movies that were on my PC. Out of all of those channels, the only thing we pay for is Netflix and Hulu Plus (about $18).

iPhone Makes Pretty Music

CNET's New Guide to Internet TV

In years past, you had three basic choices when considering TV reception: cable, satellite, or the good old-fashioned over-the-air antenna. But a fourth option is now coming on strong. It goes by a wide variety of names--IP TV, streaming video, online TV, even "over the top" (OTT) TV--but we're calling it Internet TV for lack of a better name.

This guide is intended as a straightforward overview of this new entertainment medium. We compare the available services and hardware, and help you choose which ones are right for you.

More here

Best Free Online Applications

Gizmo's Freeware site is the best place to find reviews on free software. He recently added a new category of reviews for online apps. I discovered several apps that will be very helpful to me. Check the list out here.

Using Smart Playlists

I've become a big fan of using the "Smart Playlists" function of iTunes. Several weeks ago I read an article from Lifehacker that gave me the idea that I'm using right now. I use a 4-star system and a 5-star system. I created a smart playlist that compiles any song with five stars and that hasn't been played in the last week. This playlist is labeled "Best Songs." They're songs that I don't mind hearing anytime. I then created a second smart playlist that compiles any songs with four stars and that hasn't been played in the last month. These are my "Better Songs." I have a lot of songs with four stars now. I don't rate anything with one, two or three songs.

Rating songs takes a long time. I use the Remote app to rate songs when I'm at home, and I love the fact that I can also rate songs that are on my iPhone. My old iPod didn't have this feature. I created one more Smart Playlist to help with this as well. It compiles songs with no stars and that hasn't been played in the last month. I also used some other parameters so that it would not include podcasts or audio books. As I go through that playlist I can rate songs, which will then move them to my primary two playlists.

Dropbox

Dropbox is another great productivity tool I've been using. It basically provides two great services, both of which are free. First, it serves as an offline backup system. I backup my files to a partitioned hard drive at least once a week using Syncback. But I've learned that backing up everything "off-site" is smart as well.

Second, it's a great way to sync files with multiple computers. Here's how I'm using it. The primary files I work with on a daily basis are in four different folders on my laptop: Neighborhood Church, Property Management, Real Estate, and Household. Instead of having them in the "My Documents" folder, I put them in the "My Dropbox" folder. I can work on a file, then, when I save and close it, it backs it up and syncs it. Then I can open the Dropbox app on my iPhone and read those documents (no edit function yet). I can also open, read and edit these documents on other computers.

If you'd like to check it out, go here. We'll both get extra storage space.

On Productivity

I think most people would say that they'd like to be more productive. I know it's true for me. Being that I don't have anyone that I report to, and neither do I have set office hours, this is even more important to me. I serve as my own accountability, which is nice at times, but I’m always tweaking things in order to be a better steward of my time. So here are five things that I'm learning when it comes to productivity:

1. We're most productive when in a place of rest. Stress never leads to increased productivity (see this post for more)
2. Know what fills you. It's important to work hard, but it's equally important to play hard. I’ve learned that being at home with my family fills me, though it’s also nice to be away at times (not talking about you so much, Mandy – just the little people)
3. Know what time of day you do your best work. Mornings for me are the time to do study or writing. Admin tasks, which come pretty easily for me, can happen in the afternoon, when the energy level is a bit lower
4. Multi-tasking on some things is great. For example, when I get into admin mode, multi-tasking is a friend. However, multi-tasking as a primary method of work is a bad idea (see this article, which I've linked to before). When I really need to get work done, I shut down email and web browsers.
5. Technology can be a help or a hindrance. Here is some technology that is currently helping me be more productive:

• iPhone - it is amazing just how much work I can do with just this one gadget
• Evernote - I use the desktop software on my laptop as well as the iPhone app (both free). I take notes there. I have a reminder list for our upcoming trip to Cancun there. I paste web pages there. Really great piece of software.
• Toodledo - This is the best To-Do list that I've found (and I've tried several). Once again, there's a web version that syncs with the iPhone app ($3 I believe). I have three folders set up (Home, Neighborhood Church, & Real Estate). I set up tasks with due dates within the respective folders, and can even set up short-term and long-term goals.
• Kindle - I've written a lot about Kindle in the past, but here are two ways it makes me more productive. First, it's great to be able to order a book and have it instantly show up on the iPhone. No waiting for shipping. Second, since I always have my iPhone, I'm never without a book. I get a lot more read this way.
• ReQall – This became my replacement for Jott once it ceased to be free. I have a ReQall phone number programmed into my favorites list. When I’m driving and remember something important I need to do, I call the number, then say “Add” after hearing the lovely lady’s voice. I hear a beep, then remind myself of whatever just entered my brain. When I get back to my computer I have an email with the transcription and recording.

Kindle or iPad

I've become a real fan of the Kindle. I should say that I don't actually own a Kindle, but I do have the free app for my iPhone and laptop. And I've purchased quite a few books from Amazon. When I first heard about the iPad, I wondered if the Kindle format would last, and more importantly, if it didn't, what did that mean for the books I, and many others, had purchased.

Well, Amazon has released a free app for the iPad, which in my opinion is a good thing. And this article from CNET encourages people to continue buying ebooks from Amazon instead of Apple. So for now, I will continue to purchase ebooks from Amazon.

Weekly Links

Real Life on Food Stamps - In this great Sojourners article a mom shares her experience of getting signed up for food stamps

Why single-tasking is more productive than multi-tasking

Doing two things at once, like singing while you take a shower, is not the same as instant messaging while writing a research report. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can multitask jobs that need your full attention. You're not really having a conversation while you write; you're shifting your attention back and forth between the two activities quickly. You're juggling. When you juggle tasks, your work suffers AND takes longer--because switching tasks costs.

John Carroll has assembled a great list of seminary-level learning that is available for free online. This is a great list. All of his links go directly to iTunes

Thinking of getting rid of cable and watching shows online? Check out this article from Lifehacker

2009 Top Ten Lists: Technology

A lot of my favorite blogs and websites from 2008 are still my favorite blogs and websites this year, so I decided to add a new category this year: Technology. I like gadgets, but some gadgets and technologies are more useful than others.

10. iTunes - I use it to keep all my music organized as well as my feed for podcasts. Free.

9. Files lite - I use this to keep Word and Excel documents on my iPhone. It doesn't allow for editing, but I don't really need that feature. I just want to have them available for reference. Free.

8. Grooveshark - allows you to listen to any song in its entirety as many times as you desire. Pretty simple. And free.

7. Syncback/Mozy Backup - Anyone who has lost data on a hard drive will tell you that you have to get a backup system in place. Here's mine. I use Syncback (scroll down to the free version) on my pc's. I use it to sync files between MyDocs and a separate partition on my hard drive. I do it every few days. I also use it with an external hard drive. Mozy costs $5/month, but provides secure offsite backup.

6. ReQall - This free service gives me a phone number that I have on speed dial in my iPhone. Here's how it works: I hit the speed dial, then a nice lady comes on, asking me if I want to add, share, or reqall. I always use the "add" feature. I hear a beep, then I make a statement like, "pay credit card bill" or "call John." I then get an email with the transcription. Best use is when I'm driving and think of something I need to do. Free.

5. Evernote - I had heard about Evernote for awhile before trying it out. Everything I read about it indicated that there are some very loyal fans of it. I've been using it for several months now, and really find it quite handy. I use it to organize research I'm doing online. For example, I'm teaching through Luke right now, so when I'm studying and come across a quote, link, idea, etc, I copy and paste it in the folder. There's an iPhone app as well. Free.

4. Twitter/Echofon/Facebook - I started twittering several months ago, and though I'm not near as deep into it as others, I've found it to be a useful and fun tool. Case in point: It's been easy to get updates on Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village in Dallas. Up to date info is the primary reason I read twitter feeds, and the primary reason I post is that I have my blog, facebook and twitter all linked up together. Echofon is the iPhone app I use. Free.

3. Kindle for iPhone/PC - I've written about the Kindle elsewhere. Amazon has most books available in Kindle format, and the majority are cheaper than the normal format. Plus, they are always offering Kindle books for free. Here is a list of their bestsellers (many are listed because of the fact that they are free). Free.

2. Google Reader - I've been using this as my RSS feed for the past year (after being onBloglines). It has a great iPhone application, which I use to browse feeds when I'm away from my computer. Free.

1. The iPhone - I probably don't need a link for this one, do I? You've probably noticed that almost all of the apps above are only possible because of this, or at least are greatly enhanced by this. Here's the review I wrote when I first purchased my iPhone last January.

Kindle for PC

This morning Amazon released the beta version of Kindle for PC. I had been hoping for this for awhile, and it's great. With this as a free download, plus Kindle for iPhone being free, I definitely don't need an actual Kindle (not free). I have to believe, though, that this isn't their primary goal. Customers buying books is, and I know that I'll be doing more of this. The newest version of Kindle for iPhone has a highlighting feature. The fact that I can now open it up on the PC version and see the highlighted notes is great. Now if they will develop a way to copy those notes and paste them into a Word doc...

More Links

Seth Godin on empathy

Wondering about Google Wave? Here's Lifehack's first look and best uses, as well as The Complete Guide to Google Wave.

The trailer for my friend Joe's new movie Hitting the Nuts is live.

Five tips for utilizing RSS feeds. I use Google Reader for this task and love it.

Ten ways to cut your energy bills this winter...and not freeze

Weekly Links

Ben Arment on "Three Kinds of Jobs"

More from Andy Stanley on Communication:  Pt. 1 & Pt. 2

The messages from Advance09 are available for download from Desiring God

New iPhone and software getting ready to come out

Good explanation of bi-weekly payments on a mortgage - I've been doing something similar since we bought our first home, albeit without the fees.  I just divided the monthly payment by 12, then added that to the principal each month.  It will end up knocking around seven years off my mortgage, which will save me approximately $36,000 in interest!

Internetmonk's review of Love is an Orientation, by Andrew Marin.  Here's Andrew on the Neue podcast as well.

Saving the best for last..."Why couldn't Jesus shapeshift?" and other Awkward Questions from Children - from Scot McKnight  

No More Firefox?

For the past few months I've been having lots of issues with Firefox.  I decided this weekend to download Google Chrome, and liked it so much that I uninstalled Firefox.  It has a few issues, but nothing too frustrating, and it seems to be a lot faster than either Firefox or IE.  I may give Firefox another chance at some point, but for now, I'll stick with Google.

Favorite Iphone Apps

I've had my iPhone now for close to three months, and I love it just as much as when I first got it. The 1 billionth application should be downloaded sometime today (winner gets a $10,000 iTunes gift card), so I thought I would share some of my favorite apps.

• Google app - I probably use this most of all because I'm now using Google Reader for my rss feeds
• reQall - replaced Jott when Jott ceased to be free; not quite as good but it's very useful
• Amazon Kindle - I haven't bought a Kindle book yet, but I've sampled the first chapter of many
• Evernote - I use this primarily on my laptop, but it's nice to have an app for the iPhone
• Files lite - free version; allows me to take documents on the iPhone; I can read them, but no editing
  
• Pandora
• Simplify - allows me to listen to my entire iTunes collection on my desktop at home; not the best quality, but still a great feature
• Yelp - pinpoints my location, shows restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops, etc. nearby, and even gives reviews; I used them a lot while we were on vacation
• Maps - right up there with Google as to most used; I drive around and look at houses a lot; this helps out quite a bit
  

Financial Advice for 20 & 30-Somethings

I just discovered Ramit Sethi's new book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich on Lifehacker. I don't like the title that much (he chose it because it gets people's attention), but I really like his practical advice and his focus on systems and using technology. Check out his blog for more info.

Facebook Bible Study

Just finished week 1 of an online Bible study on the Sermon on the Mount. My friend Joe is leading this interactive study of Matthew 5-7. He's an excellent teacher, and I look forward to learning with he and the other participants during these next few weeks.

A Real Smartphone

I started using my first PDA ten years ago. It was the Palm III. After that I moved on to the Zire 71. My first smartphone was the Palm Treo 600, and I followed that with the Treo 650. Each was a step up from the previous. Earlier this year I moved to Windows Mobile and purchased the Sprint Mogul. Compared to the Palm platform this thing moved. But it still didn't do everything I thought it should do.

Last night all my dreams that I didn't even know I had came true when I bought the iPhone 3G. This is the most impressive gadget I've ever had. It is truly "smart." I know I've said it before, but it makes me wonder if I need to go Mac all the way. I love the fact that I only have to carry one thing. It's a phone, a PDA, and an ipod. Actually, today that wasn't necessarily a good thing. I was listening to it in the car, and I put it under the seat before leaving the car to go into the grocery store (this has been my habit with my ipod). I got in the store and realized I needed to call Mandy. Oops.

The best thing so far is the Apps Store. Since last night I've downloaded 26 apps. All but two were free. Here are some of my favorites thus far.

Mint
Facebook
Pandora
Simplify – For $4, this allows me to access my entire iTunes library via wi-fi or 3g
Sportstap

One of the other nice features is that I'm able to sync my Outlook data from my laptop and all of my media from my desktop. I hadn't thought about that until last night after I started playing with it. I haven't messed with the GPS feature, but I've heard it's impressive as well.

More to come soon…