Lately, I feel like I have the attention span of a five year old in a toy store built inside of a candy shop located on a playground. Yep.

The internet is doing me in. Instead of being able to focus on one thing for a long time, I need about 10 things to keep me engaged. Now, I’m trying to reverse the effects, but it’s harder than I thought it would be.
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So I bought my first manual typewriter. On my desk, alongside my desktop computer, sits a vintage Smith-Corona Sterling manual typewriter. How did I find it? Glad you asked.

Smith Corona Sterling Typewriter

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. . . Because really, there’s no reason not to.

The old Quaker hymn says :

“‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down, where we ought to be.
And if we find ourselves in the place just right
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.”

In other words, life is better when it’s simple. But how do you apply it to modern life?

‘Tis the Gift

Simplicity

My life is less stressful when I have less going on. Think of a really busy week where your schedule is packed with a billion things from 7am to 10pm. Then think of a week that’s practically empty, or even one where you’re focused on one goal for the whole week. Which schedule do you like more? If you’re like me, you value free time and less stress. I find that I focus better when I’m not busy.

Life doesn’t lend itself to focusing on one thing at a time. Bills need to be paid. Relationships need to be maintained. Life goes on. When you get the chance to live a simple week, treat it like a gift.
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Some people have amazing stories about escaping death. Mine isn’t too remarkable, but it scared the shit out of me. So I’m sharing it.

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I enjoy playing guitar, running, and cooking good food. At what point, though, can something you love to do become something that you can do for a living?

In other words, when can a hobby become a career?

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“Life may change us, but we begin and end with family.”

Does your brain shut down in the summer? Mine does. I don’t intend it to happen, but it does.

A nap in the afternoon is followed by lazy reading into dinner time. The day stands still while I let my brain idle. In the evening I pick up my pace and get a few things done, but overall, I don’t oblige myself to do much.

Lazy Summer

I spent the past few months studying for the bar exam. I learned a lot of information while putting the rest of my life on hold – academic servitude to the master named “Bar Exam.”

I have never retained such a large vat of information at once. And now that the exam is over, I can crack open the escape valve of my head and let it slowly seep out. I won’t need any of it in the future – I hope. In the meantime, my mind and body have been idling, waiting to face the next big task.

Not everyone’s brain can go a mile a minute for so long. Two months is my limit. Take note of the limits of your body and mind, and when you hit it, slam on the breaks and give your engine a rest because you’ll need it for the next big journey.

Blackberries, computers, and iPhones. Technology moves forward, and I wonder whether we are left behind.

I’m always amazed when I think about the accomplishments of previous generations – you know, the ones that didn’t have a computer. How did they do it? And what can we learn from them?

When I read technology blogs, productivity gadgets pique my interest. Blackberries perpetually connect us as constant communication is now a requirement for many jobs. I used to laugh at doctors with their pagers. Now, I’d rather be the one with the pager instead of an email-enabled leash.

Phones can edit and view documents, ensuring that not one minute of time is wasted. If only we could use electronic devices during take-off and landing, we could fully maximize our time.

Mission Control at Nasa

Or could we?

I love computers. Heck, Apollo 11 didn’t have as much computing power as my living room. But you know what? Those guys made it to the moon. Some days, I don’t even make it outside. We can learn a lot from the generations before us, without fancy gadgets and computers, making possible the impossible.

Many prolific writers still pound out first drafts on a typewriter.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. moved an entire nation without access to the blogosphere or YouTube.

Einstein didn’t have a MacBook Pro.

Sure, some technology is necessary, as a matter of formality. Some schools require laptops for all incoming students. But we should never be trapped in the mindset that limited technology means limited potential. Da Vinci would agree.

The human mind is powerful. And it’s powerful without the aid of a computer. Use technology to enhance what you can already accomplish. But don’t use technology as an excuse for not getting something done.

Look to the past and find inspiration – Gandhi, King Jr., Michelangelo, Gauss, and Jefferson. See how much they accomplished with so little. In the internet age, we have so many tools that they didn’t have. There is no reason that we cannot achieve equally impressive feats.