Breaking Free: Challenge Update #1
Glen / 
59 Comments / 
October 2nd, 2009 / 
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I’m currently on day 8 of my challenge to remove all of the restraints and time wasters in my life (television, IM, idle web surfing, alcohol etc) and I have to say, things are going very well. I’m finally happy with what I’m managing to get done each day and my productivity is through the roof.
I actually can’t believe it has been over a week already. It seems only yesterday that I wrote the original blog post. If the following five weeks go this fast, this challenge could turn out to be a lot easier than I expected.
Quick Run Down
Every Friday I will give a little summary of the things I am cutting out of my life and how they are going.
Alcohol – I can happily say that I have not touched a drop in the last eight days. I’m certainly not reliant on alcohol to have a good time, but I do like to have a drink when I go out with my friends. They did bust my balls a bit for being the sober one this weekend, but it didn’t make me slip up.
I was used to not drinking for long periods of time in South Africa while partying so it is not like I’m wading in unknown territory. I did have a slight desire for it but it was easy to overcome.
IM – IM refers to Instant Messaging and the two programs I use for this are Skype and MSN Messenger. I use these to talk to friends who are in other parts of the world but still decided to cut them out as they waste a lot of my time.
I have not even thought about signing on to MSN Messenger which surprises me. I admit that I did sign on to Skype two days ago but purely for business reasons to discuss something that I’m working on. This lasted less than 30 minutes and then I closed it again. Again, somehow, this aspect of the challenge has been a lot easier than I expected.
Television – By far this has been the hardest thing for me to cut out and I have not been completely successful in all honesty. If I walk around the house somebody has a television on somewhere and I always catch a glimpse. Again, family meals are always around the box as well which makes things more difficult.
I will be living on my own for the next 3 weeks though so will remove television completely from my life. No excuses. I honestly haven’t found a good way to replace the time yet though; there are only so many books I can read each day.
Idle Web Surfing / Online Games – In the original post I mentioned how I was slightly addicted to a particular online game. Well, again, I haven’t missed it in the slightest. Thinking about it now, I suppose it would be cool to play, but I don’t have to play.
As far as idle web surfing goes, I have caught myself out a few times. This is worse when I have Tweetdeck open as people are always posting different links that you “must” click on. Cutting out the idle surfing has massively increased productivity but has been far harder than cutting out the game.
Changes
There are a few changes that I’ve implemented this week. I predict that as I get further into the challenge, this list will get smaller as I should be in some sort of routine.
Sleep Schedule – Typically, my wake up time would be around 11am or even noon and then I wouldn’t go to sleep until 3 or 4 am. Because of my challenge, I want to have more time in the mornings to get things done and then hopefully be tired earlier in the evening.
Right now I’m waking up between 9am and 10am and then going to sleep at around midnight. I find that this is a much more natural schedule and my body is already waking up at this time without an alarm.
Dutch – I’m sorry to say (for all the people that feel let down) that I have decided to terminate my goal of learning Dutch in three months. I have spoke to Diggy and we may be cutting short our time in Amsterdam, so I don’t really see the point anymore. The original aim was actually to have something constant in my life as I was wasting a lot of time in other areas, but honestly, work has taken over and it is much more enjoyable.
I did feel a bit anxious about how people here would respond, but then I asked myself “Would you rather quit because you want to, or continue something you don’t want just to keep other people happy?” Ultimately, I decided to go for what I want to do. In the two weeks I was learning Dutch I managed to pick up:
- All of the colours
- Most of the numbers
- A large array of animals
- I could say things like “The man with brown hair is young and he drives an old yellow car”
The Rosetta Stone program is still excellent in my opinion and I was surprised at how much I have learned, but that challenge stops here.
Reading - I have read two books already this week due to the extra spare time I have found myself with. I don’t think I had read one in the whole month prior to this challenge so that is quite a change. There is only so much I can read each day before I start getting headaches or just plain tired of it, however.
Sedona – I have added the Sedona Method into my schedule again. There was a time when I did this daily for months, but it has not been in my daily plans for quite a while. The Sedona Method is a releasing program which is great for dealing with issues in your mind. Instead of trying to solve things or go over them constantly, it offers a way to let go of them and be free from the emotional and physical side effects.
Green Tea – As I have been reading a lot more (which includes eBooks on my laptop) I have found myself getting slightly addicted to green tea. It’s nice to have by my side when engrossed in something. It makes me feel very relaxed and healthy which I love, but I don’t want to implement caffeine into my diet. I’m going to see if a non-caffeine alternative still has the benefits and if so, I’ll continue drinking it.
Otherwise, I’m going to finish my box of 100 bags (about 60 left) and then leave it.
A Small Request
I would say that the week has been a total success in terms of both productivity and focusing on things that matter to me. As it’s getting closer to moving to Amsterdam and I start video blogging, I have a small request to anyone that has a microphone on their computer:
Could you please record yourself saying “PluginID” (Pronounced: Plugin EYE DEE) and send it to plugin@pluginid.com. I’m looking for sound only, no videos. This is for my video intro that I’m putting together. If you would like to have your voice heard by over 100,000 people, you know what to do.
If you enjoyed this post, I would appreciate if you share it on Twitter, Facebook or Delicious!
Hey guys, one more thing to add.
I have just sent out over $1000 today to affiliates for Cloud Living. You get over $17 for every sale that you make, so if you’re interested in promoting it, just click here to learn more.
Heya Glen!
Cool update man! I laughed out loud when I read about your addiction to green tea
It’s amazing what you can get done when you cut out time wasters, ive written so many articles, gotten a whole lot of subscribers more and organised things i needed to do a long time ago. I must say I still log into facebook but only to promote my blog posts and connect with other bloggers
Congrats on the popularity of Cloudliving, its a great book!
See you soon brah.
Cheers
Diggy
PS. First video post is live on my blog
Haha, it gives me a weird kick man. Like…I feel drunk, but I’m not drunk. That’s probably the best way to describe it.
Bars will be selling it soon, I’m sure
Its cool that you tried Dutch out, but if it doesn’t motivate you anymore than its smart that you are cutting it out.
The green tea has such a lower amount of caffeine than coffee or even black tea that I wouldn’t worry about its effects, though I would add a drop of citrus juice so that you get all of the health benefits out of the green tea.
When I went to replace tv, I used conversation, and walks, but mainly internet. I may not idle on the web very often, but even when I do, I have set up my stumbler to give me actually useful things. If I don’t get value out of the time I spend on a website than I give it a thumbs down. I also hit DVD’s, and a lot of documentaries. I recommend bodocus.com as they have a good collection of online documentaries. I don’t know how far you are going with this cutting out tv, but hopefully one of those tips will help. Heck, maybe make a list of things to do besides watching tv.
Hey Jay,
Yep, I know Green Tea has much lower caffeine, but still has enough present. Especially when you need to drink 3-4 cups everyday to get the benefits from it.
I have used bodocus a few times, but still trying to cut out video viewing in general as I usually use it as a way to procrastinate. Thanks for your comment buddy!
Hey Glen, if you are trying to limit your caffeine consumption while drinking green tea, check this article out. It may be helpful: Green Tea Caffeine
-Brett
Great link Brett, lots of interesting stuff there.
Thanks for sharing!
So I promised I would give you an update on my progress too, and I guess this is a good time :p
My goals were slightly different from the beginning, considering my circumstances.
I realized that I will only be clogging up your commentary section, so I posted my goals here: http://pastebin.com/f2ee5b974
So far most of it have been going great. I actually did watch TV twice though, one time for some random reason and another time when someone I knew was performing on the swedish version of Idol.
The other thing I found quite hard was the email/twitter part. I have no problem staying away from MSN or Facebook, but E-mail has become a bad habit in some ways. I’m currently checking mail around 3 times a day.
One thing I noticed in particular, also seeing as how I’ve never done one of these challenges before, is that usually after I perform a big task (often early in the morning) I give myself permission to go do something unproductive as a reward. Now this is not my intention at all, it just happens. So this is something I will also be working on.
As for the other things to focus on, it’s all going great. Keeping my dream log (like 3-4 dreams a night sometimes
) and meditating daily.
Will be interesting to see the outcome of this
Stay awesome,
Jonas
Thanks for sharing your update man.
This is exactly what happens to me as well. I didn’t realise it consciously until you mention it now.
I have the most insane dreams everynight, but I think they’re from the various pills I have to take.
Hey Glen,
sound like your challenge is going really well. Too bad about the language learning, but I completely agree with your decision. Better to quit for you than to keep going for others.
Good luck with the rest of this challenge. I’m looking forward to the future updates.
Cheers,
Shane
Thanks buddy, appreciate your support!
Side note:
I also tried cutting out music, but as I’m a musician this is simply not possible. Even though I didn’t count me playing piano or sax before, but I still need my share of others music every day :p
Instead I will be keep it at ‘no music while working’.
ttyl,
Jonas
Hey Jonas,
Yeah, some things aren’t wise to cut out. I would view that as me, and internet marketer, cutting out the internet. It just doesn’t make sense.
It’s been about a year since I completely stopped watching television, at first i missed it, but not anymore. I’ve had time to read so many great books, find it easier to stick to an exercise program, and spend my free time more productively than watching most of the junk on tv.
That’s excellent Francis, thanks for sharing.
Stay encouraged Glen, sounds like a great attempt. Sacrificing lower level activities for higher goals is a powerful process (one that few wish to take), success is imminent.
Also, to comment on your quitting the Dutch learning. I say it’s a good move. Once you know the sacrifice wasn’t in vain, who cares what anyone else thinks. I think in the bigger picture the results will show.
Also, to fill in the non-television time, have you thought about taking up a new hobby? Perhaps something based around your weight training goals?
Cheers,
Hey Ron,
To be honest I have more than enough time to fit in my training goals as well. Right now I’m trying to become comfortable with being bored, as I think this will teach me a lot about my internals.
Cheers buddy.
Cool post Glen. I used to be a television addict, but then I realized that it was a total waste of time. Also, unlike the internet, you don’t have any control over it… One day I decided to unplug my TV and put it out of my room. All my housemates thought I was crazy for doing so…
I like the idea of unplugging it. I’m going to do the same.
Glen,
I keep reading about this Sedona Method on numerous post that you have. Can you recommend any books or websites that you use for it?
Thanks
Vince
Hi Glen / Vince,
I recommend the full Sedona course (which is around $300) or the book on Amazon which is about $15. Anything by Hale Dwoskin or Lester Levenson is worth picking up.
I used to love green tea but haven’t been drinking it lately. I need to pick back up the habit, I think.
Glad to hear your challenge is going well.
Thanks man, just try not to get addicted
Alcohol is probably the easiest for me. I now watch TV only while doing chores or working out
Yavor
p.s. file sent buddy
Thanks man, appreciate the sound file.
Glad to hear your challenge is going well my man. Out of curiosity why did you cut your time in The Netherlands short? You should come to Shanghai
I’ll be there for Christmas!!
No facebook has been a blessing. I must say.
Finding an apartment is getting ridiculous and we can stay in another country and get a better apartment for half the price
What other country?
SHANGHAI.. hint hint.
China? No ways. Very likely another country in Asia though. Thailand / Vietnam…
Sounds great! I do have a question though – why do you watch TV during family meals?
To be honest I’m not sure, it’s just something we’ve always done. We sit around the television. Beats the strange silence…I guess?
Once this challenge is done, may I suggest the next one is to try giving up tv at meals? Connect with the family, talk about your day?
I’m living on my own for the next three weeks, so I am unplugging the television.
There are still 5 weeks left of this challenge
Hey Glen
Really interesting to see how your week has gone. I keep thinking I need to do my own version. It’s interesting that some of the things you’d thought you’d miss, you haven’t.
Look forward to hearing more about your travels too, sounds like a good plan. I visited Thailand and Vietnam a few years ago and loved both, especially the food in thailand
Jen
Hey Jen,
Yeah I was in T + V back in 2007 as I have some asian family. Great places that I would love to see again.
Why not China?
No Youtube
I would go to china.. Anyways thanks for sharing your goals and I can confirm to everyone that Glen is definitely not on skype anymore.
Haha yeah Oscar, I miss our random chats
Hope all is well man!
I’ve got about 3-5 things I want to break free off. Your post and challenge is really motivating me to do so. Keep us posted how this continues and most of all, how it makes your general sense of well-being feel in time.
Cheers!
Dayne
I could say things like “The man with brown hair is young and he drives an old yellow car” =
“de man met bruin haar is jong en hij rijdt een oude gele auto” (translation)…
haha have you been studying how to say this haha
anyway a lot of people speak english here so there is no point in studying dutch…If it’s not a priority, then skip it
Hey Katya, didn’t realise you were dutch, just sent you an email!
Your commitment is an inspiration. I’m glad you dropped Dutch from your list – i think that was one too many.
Four years ago I convinced my hubby to have our cable cancelled “For just a month, Honey, let’s see how it goes.” He was a news addict. I got tired of being sucked into watching tv, even when I said I wouldn’t.
We tried one month, and then summer came. We are at the beach all day in the summer, so i said “honey, we don’t watch TV in the summer anyway. Let’s wait until Sept. to have it turned back on.”
Sept. came and by then, we didn’t see a need to go back to having cable. Not only has it saved us $60 a month, but it’s given us time to play games (monopoly and Chess), write in our journals, and keep negative messages out of our home. Our 8 year old son doesn’t know what it’s like to have TV, and so he doesn’t miss it!
Life is much better without TV. Just cancel your cable, no willpower is then required!
That is a great story Maria, thanks for sharing!
It was kind of the same for me in South Africa. I was out so much that I just never had the time to watch it in the first place. That, and TV in South Africa is awful
Wich books you read? Good ones?
Yep, currently reading:
59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman
How to Be Rich and Happy – Tim Brownson
Emotional Intelligence – Daniel Goleman
I have several really annoying and time-consuming things to rid myself of.
Its great to see you are getting to see the benefits of ridding yourself of your own time wasters.
I’m looking forward to see how you go and what changes your changes bring to your life.
Thanks Brigid, great to see you over here
Way to go Glen,
I gave up TV 25 years ago. It was strange at first, but now I can’t believe the garbage people waste their time watching. Just remember, there’s more to life than productivity. I think your setting an amazing example.
Definitely Jonathan,
I’m hoping not just to be productive, but deal with the resistance I have to cutting these things out. Hopefully I become at peace with myself and that will flow over to other areas of my life.
Thanks for stopping by, mate.
I’m glad you decided not to pursue learning dutch.
For some the problem is getting started on goals, for others it is giving up on something when it is no longer what you want.
Great point there Jarrod. Thankfully there’s a few things I’ve stopped in the past which resulted in disappointed friends / family, so I’m getting used to it
Hey Glen! I have been reading your blog for a few months now, and I finally decided to say hello and leave a comment.
I’m trying to remember how I came across your site. Ah yes, I was googling articles on how to build confidence I think and I stumbled across your site, and your site is one of the few that I read on a regular basis. I gotta say, I love the site. I think it is fantastic. The information that you provide, your experiences etc correlate almost perfectly with my own life. For example, you are only a few years younger than I, so I find I can relate better to you. As opposed to someone who is much older. I don’t wish to generalize, however, people our age (I’m 23 by the way) just don’t seem to have anywhere near the amount of conscious awareness that we possess. With that said, I implore you to continue cranking out these awesome articles and challenges!
I’m going to intentionally limit my writing here for now, as the whole self help/improvement area interests me the most out of any hobbies that I have. And once I start talking about it or writing about it, I am like the energizer bunny.
Pertaining to this article. I say kudos to you for making the attempt and improving the quality of your life. One of the biggest wasters of time in peoples lives (in my opinion) is TV. Mid August of this year, I had my house broken into. All the electronics, laptops, tvs, 200 dvds, digital cameras even my hockey skates! Were stolen. I must admit I was furious. However, if anything it is the principle of the matter. Things are things and can be replaced. On the other hand, taking a very compassionate approach and looking on the opposite end of the spectrum…I pity the individuals that broke into my house. Eventually karma will catch up to them. I also question what kind of life are they going to lead? I can’t imagine what kind of people they attract into their lives. What kind of friends they have, and what kind of a friend they are?
“News whether it is good news or bad news is still news.” I love this quote. Because it serves as a constant reminder to utilize clarity. A friend of mine once said “clarity is the most powerful weapon in the entire world.” And I agree whole heartedly! In the heat of the moment, or when your emotions are flying high and getting the better of you. Its not always easy to remove yourself from the situation and step back. But if you are able to utlize clarity, and see the forest through the trees. It will serve you well.
I used to buy dvds all the time. Hence why I had so many of them. Why? I rarely ever watch a movie more than once. Maybe twice. If anything, the people who robbed my house, did me a favour. They made me realize how quickly things can change and also how nothing is constant or forever. I will never waste another cent buying a dvd. It doesn’t do anything but take up space on a shelf anyway. Not to say I won’t rent movies, but I am cured of buying them.
I also had this realization through Leo over at Zenhabits. I am convinced that becoming a minimalist is the way to go. And that is what I intend to do. If I don’t use something, I throw it out. I had a 27″ flat screen in my room, but it wasn’t plugged in and I was going to give it away anyways. (Only reason I bought it was because my ex-girlfriend wanted a tv for the bedroom). Those thieves actually did me a favour, and hopefully whoever is watching the tv is getting more enjoyment out of it than I.
Its incredible. Change your perspective, and you will change your whole outlook on life.
Giving up tv is easy. Just use leverage. Associate pain with it. Consider how many hours of tv have you watched in your entire life? Now, convert that into days, weeks, and months…Im betting it may even add up to a year or more for some people. Thats a lot of wasted time. Associating pain to any addiction or habit that you want to break is an excellent technique.
For reading, I would recommend a few books.
Have you ever read:
Think and Grow Rich-Napolean Hill
Feel the fear and do it anwway-Susan Jeffers
also two books that I am in the midst of reading, but I am having trouble reading them, even though I know they will benefit me greatly. Are ‘Buddha is as Buddha does-Lama Surya Das’ and ‘Taoist secrets of love; Cultivating Male Sexual Energy-Mantak Chia’.
I am fascinated by Buddha is as Buddha does book. As it portrays the 10 original practices for enlightened living. I would highly recommend that you read it. (I don’t follow any one religion, nor am I agnostic. I love taking concepts and practices from all over and applying them into my own life).
I’d recommend removing the tv from your bedroom. Your room is your sanctuary. A place of peace. It shouldn’t be a place where you dumb down your brain by becoming infatuated with this magical box.
Once again, I thank you Glen. After writing that…reply. I am now inspired to move forward with things. First things first, is to take action. Enough thinking and planning. As Nike suggests “Just do it.”
I am going to join you on this challenge. As I want to improve the quality of my life, improve my productivity…and just plain old cultivate a new attitude of getting things done right away. I find the longer I leave something, the less likely I am to ever get it done.
Veraciously,
Kevin (From Canada)
Hey Glen,
How long does it take for a comment to show up once you click “add comment”? The only reason I ask is because I wrote a fairly long reply and I am not seeing it displayed and I am wondering if I did something wrong. I don’t thjnk I did because it brought me to a page thanking me for adding a comment and a brief synopsis about yourself and your journey.
I need to approve all first time comments.
Thanks for sharing your examples man, really enjoyed reading it (and yes, I did read all of it).
It seems here that you have proved the idea of writing things down helping with your overall clarity. I could almost see a shift in you gradually as I was reading.
Great stuff, and thanks for the support!
Hi Glen –
Good work on keeping up with the plan. I had a question about the Sedona Method. I have heard of it a few times before but was wondering (1) if it has worked for you and (2) if you could recommend any quick (and free) resources that cover the Sedona Method? Thanks!
Paul
Hello Glen,
I recently stumbled on your blog, and i must say you’ve got some great content. Much like Kevin above, i find myself in a very similar situation as you, so i hope this blog will give me some ideas on how i can improve my own situation.
About your decision to quit Dutch: i think it is a good move. Even though it is my native tongue, i wouldn’t recommend anybody to study it thoroughly, unless they want to live in Holland/Flanders permanently.
Reason 1: most people speak English reasonable well, and they’ll prefer speaking to you in English. That way you’ll get little practise, even though you want to.
Reason 2: It’s a very hard language. Unless you speak German, it will take a lot of time and effort, and probably you’ll keep a heavy accent.
Reason 3: The population that speaks Dutch is quite small (Holland and Flanders). Imo it’s better to learn widely spoken languages (Spanish, German, Chinese, …).
I studied one year in Spain without knowing Spanish, or even anyone in my city (Sevilla) before going there, but still had the time of my life. If you’d like i’ll share some ideas later about my year-abroad experience.
Good luck following through on your habit-changes!
To respond to some earlier comments, it is not true that green tea is generally lower in caffeine than black tea or other teas. This is a widely-perpetuated myth. Actual studies that have measured caffeine content of various teas have found that caffeine content varies widely from one tea to the next, and that it’s impossible to generalize about green or black containing more or less. For more information, you can read this article I’ve compiled:
http://ratetea.net/topic/caffeine-content-of-tea/21/
The article cites scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journal articles. Don’t trust information you read online unless accurate citations are given!