I've had the idea for a while of having some time where I wouldn't consume any content. No TV, no internet, no newspapers, no books, no radio ... you get the idea. If I wanted to keep myself occupied, I would have to come up with my own distractions and force myself to be a content producer.

The basic idea is, if you watch a TV show or read a book, you're a content consumer. You are consuming the content that someone else created and not adding any content of your own. Most of the content that we consume, we don't even use and so it's basically just escapism. Not that that is totally bad, but too much of it can be. Whenever I do this for long periods of time I always feel like I haven't accomplished anything.

If instead you film small movies or write a book, then you're a content producer and I would contend that you're a producer even if you don't ultimately publish these things or make them available for others to consume. The act of producing itself is important because you have practiced your art and will be able to make things of higher quality later. So with producing, just the act of producing is valuable, which is not necessarily true of consuming.

Put Into Practice

To try this out, I decided that the perfect time to do this was while on vacation. We were going to a secluded state park to stay in one of it's one room cabins and took along no books, no videos, no internet connection so that nothing would distract us. It ended up that the cabin did actually have a TV in it with DirectTV, but I quickly unplugged it and forgot about it. This was a weekend for creating only.

I brought along an AlphaSmart 3000, so that I didn't need my laptop and all the distractions it brings, and my ukulele. Amy brought her drawing pad and pencils along with some reference photos that she wanted to work off of. We were ready for unbridled production.

The first thing I noticed was, it was hard. The first night I actually said to Amy, "Do something interesting. Entertain me." I think that it's sometimes hard to get a handle on something until it's not there anymore. Once I didn't have ways of distracting myself, I just started to lose it. It did help me see that as a problem though.

When I couldn't take being bored anymore, I knew I was going to have to do something to occupy my mind. I broke out the AlphaSmart and wrote a blog post about the weekend. Then I wrote another one and I remembered how fun it can be to write again. I eventually ended up writing five blog posts and a chapter in a book that's been on the back burner for a while. Amy was able to do something similar with her drawing.

I think sometimes when you get into the mode of turning off your mind and just turning your attention over to someone else, you can get stuck in not thinking for yourself. It was interesting to me how I not only created more, but was able to see how my mind works to try and keep me distracted and not on task. The act of creating more automatically made me more introspective and think more critically about how I live my life and how my actions don't always live up to my intentions.

I'm sure most full time writers would read that and think 'Duh' because I've heard that advice so much in writing books I've read. This was the first time I really saw it in action though and I've finally understood it. The weekend really helped me find the value in not distracting myself so much with other people's content and focus more on creating some of my own.

First, get a Time Machine.

Go back about ten years and get a nice job. Then spend less than you make.

When you want to buy that new computer, don't. Use the old one for a little longer and justify needing that new computer. Ditto the TV. Ditto the new house.

Cook your food. If you eat out more than once a week, you're wasting too much money. Get TV dinners if you have to. Talk to Mom about meals she made when you were a kid and how to make that great potato soup that costs $5.00 and lasts a week.

Get cheap hobbies. World of Warcraft is not a cheap hobby. Writing is a cheap hobby. Reading is a cheap hobby, especially after rediscovering the library. Get a hobby where you make things and then sell those things. Get a hobby that you feel proud of when you're done. TV watching is not a hobby.

Get rid of recurring monthly expenses. Do you need cable? Wouldn't it be cheaper to download the shows you like to watch and not pay for everything else? Do you need that expensive cell phone? How much does it cost you a year? Is that really worth it?

Now that you have all this money sitting around, pay off your debts. Credit cards first. If you have credit card debt, don't save money in a bank account. Pay off the credit cards. Banks pay at most 3% interest, credit card interest rates are 20%. If you save the money instead of paying off the debt, you're throwing away money, about 17% to be exact. Pay off student loans for the same reason.

Then save your money. Put it in CDs. Forget about it. Save at least enough to live on for 6 months. Then save enough for 12 months. Then save more. The less recurring expenses you have, the less you need to save to cover those 12 months and the more you'll be able to save. Got a raise? Save more. Save into your employer's 401K, they're probably matching your contributions, which is free money. Always take free money, especially from "The Man".

How to Sleep at Night During the Next Recession

Do the above without the Time Machine. Start today.

Last Sunday through Wednesday, my family and I stayed at one of the Cedar Cabins in Alum Creek State Park, cabin E12 to be exact. We've stayed at the Salt Fork Lodge before and I was surprised at how different the cabins were, both good and bad. I knew it would be different, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind if you decide to do this.

It's Small

I was not ready for how small these things are. To give an idea, the main "living" room area is about as long as a sofa and contains said sofa and a pair of bunk beds. Then there is a bathroom with toilet, sink and shower. The kitchen has enough room for sink, refrigerator, and small stove and one person. Then there is a back room with room for a double bed and not much else. That description makes it sound like there's a lot in here, but it's very squeezed in and no room for luggage or anything extra. There's barely any surface area to prepare meals at and most eating is done on the sofa. It's sort of perfect for an artist's retreat and what I've always though of as a perfect one room cabin, but with a 2 year old, it's a little cramped.

Hot Water

We had no hot water. Now there is supposed to be hot water, but we didn't have any when we got here. We resorted to heating water in the microwave and using that for baths. Not surprisingly, it took time to get a bath ready. (It ended up that there was a switch by the wall with a red light below it that turned the water heater on. Make sure it's on when you get there since it might be off and it takes a while to heat up.)

Air Conditioning / Heating

For being such a small cabin, it sure was comfortable as far as AC went. The thermostat was easy to use and blew the air up through the floor. It was a very nice setup and we never felt too hot or too cold.

Mattresses

Mattress is kind of a strong word for what we had. The bunk beds had a two inch foam pad and the double pad had what felt like a bag full of springs. While they weren't the worst I've ever slept on, they were close. If you're somehow able to plan ahead for this with an inflatable mattress, you'd be wise to do so.

All in all, it was fun. We got to stay in the park and walk down to the lake a couple of times and see a few deer walking around in the park. It was great to detach ourselves from everything and spend some time together. I think it was money well spent, and it was much better than staying in a Red Roof Inn or something similar.

So I bought an AlphaSmart 3000 off of eBay. But my decision to actually get one is confusing me a little. Why exactly do I feel so certain that I want to buy such an odd piece of tech, when I have a laptop so easily available and am even looking at getting a G1 phone with a bluetooth keyboard that would work just as well?

I borrowed my friend's AlphaSmart 3000 during my vacation to do simple writing. I didn't want to take my laptop since I wasn't sure about the power situation but, more importantly, I didn't want the distractions. I find many other things more attractive than writing, like browsing, coding or solitaire, but usually far less satisfying. If I got rid of those "other things", I knew I would be able to concentrate more on what mattered to me; the writing.

This played out amazingly well during the vacation as I got a lot of writing done. I also found it's instant on / instant off ability very conductive to capturing what I was thinking. It was able to grab it, turn it on and be writing within seconds. Then when I was done, I just turn it off and set it aside.

Also, it's minimalism is a huge strength. It's basically a keyboard, a very durable and nice feeling keyboard, with a little LCD screen on it and some memory. It can only be used for writing, and that is greatly appealing to me. I write best by typing and have never been one to write with pen and paper. With an AlphaSmart, I finally feel like I've found my electronic "pen and paper" substitute.

Since its 3 AA batteries can last over 300 hours and it's case is very rugged with no moving parts except it's heavy plastic keys, it's a great take along when you're going some place that you wouldn't want your nice little computer to go. This could easily fit in a carry-on bag and it's not to big to be used in an airplane seat. It's also easily taken apart and clean so I wouldn't mind taking it to the beach or the great outdoors for fear of it getting dirty.

What it's really good for though is writing what Anne Lamott in Bird By Bird calls "shitty first drafts". You aren't going to be doing much editing on this thing with a small four line LCD screen and you can't see a lot of what you've already typed, but you sure can pound out the words. That simple fact has got me writing again and that's something that a lot of other devices just haven't been able to do.

I'm typically not a fan of specialized devices. I like to have devices that do more than one thing at a time like, say, a phone with a browser, camera, MP3 player, GPS and whatever apps I write for it. But the AlphaSmart does one thing and it does it well. Now we'll see how well I use it.

I got to play with an AlphaSmart 3000 recently and am actually going to be buying one of my own. One problem I was warned about was that it didn't quite work under Linux. Since the AlphaSmart just acts like a USB keyboard to the computer when transferring files I figured there was just some crazy little things that needed to be done to get it to work.

Well, I was right. There is a crazy little thing you need to do.

Here are the steps to get the one I was working with to work under Linux:

1. Turn on the AlphaSmart
2. Plug it into the computer's USB port
3. Turn on the Num Lock key on the computer's keyboard. You must do this before hitting any keys on the AlphaSmart
4. Try typing on the AlphaSmart keyboard to make sure it's transferring

After that works, you can use the AlphaSmart to transfer your files like you normally would.