Yesterday I woke up with the worst  eye twitch ever. My right eyelid kept moving around like crazy, and if you've ever had an eye twitch, you know it's almost as annoying as hiccups can be.

I'd had the twitch for about a week, off and on. It's caused by eyestrain; mostly two things: 1) lack of sleep, and 2) too much screen time. I decided that it was time for a screen-free day. That meant no phone, no computer. 

Find More Time in Your Day

What I instantly noticed- like, before 9:00 am- is how much extra time I seemed to have. Every so often I would start walking over to the computer, then I'd turn away and have to do something else. During the morning I fed my goats, cleaned up, read a book and ate breakfast. Then I made a 2-for-1 meal- stroganoff rice for lunch, and a lamb roast, potatoes and carrots in the crock pot for dinner.

After lunch, I looked up at the clock and it was not even 1:00 pm yet. I wondered how many minutes I would have spent at the computer that morning to "look things up", had I opened another tab every time I felt like it. I probably felt this urge at least once every hour, and if I spent a conservative 15 minutes looking up a recipe, looking for podcasts, checking Facebook, checking email.... that is 25% of my morning, gone like that.

Eliminating Interruptions

Another thing my screen-free day allowed me to do was FOCUS. I realized that I've been using the internet and my phone as a kind of "break time"/procrastination after I accomplish each and every task, instead of just moving to the next thing on my to-do list.

During the afternoon, I cleaned up lunch, collected eggs, did the dishes, and read a book. Then I read a different book. And another different book. I looked up and it was only 3:00 pm. So much time left!! I remembered that I wanted to make some puff pastry for the freezer, so I did that. Then I still had time left, so I decided to mop the floor and do some other cleaning. Read some more. Hubs came in early from work because he wanted to do some errands before we went to church music practice. "Will you be ready in 45 minutes?" he asked.

"Sure." I said. "I have dinner ready if you want to eat before we go."

"Perfect!" he said. He had a couple things to do outside, then came in about 10 minutes later and we had a nice, leisurely dinner before heading into town... early.

Books Are Enough
The last thing I realized is how much I appreciate physical books and I need to be reading them more them blogs or pithy little articles shared on Facebook. What I spend much of my time doing on the internet is "looking things up", or researching. However, using Pinterest and Google for research is actually very, very time consuming.

Reading answers to goat questions on forums, for example, is very redundant and you get the same answer about 10 times over, but even though I have my answer I don't have any background information to the questions. It's like getting the answer to a math question without doing the math. If I google "what to do if my goat won't eat", I get a million answers but I haven't done the background research to discover why my goat won't eat. Yesterday I got to read a good portion of The Goatkeeper's Veterinary Book that I ordered. Now I have a better understanding of different problems that can arise (BEFORE they've happened to me!), and I'll be able to answer questions without turning to a screen for help. I feel like a better goat keeper for having read the book, but when I read goat forums I don't feel informed in the same way.

One interesting thing that happened while I was reading: I read a tidbit in one book about Eleanor Roosevelt. "I would like to read more about her life," I thought to myself. Then I remembered that I had in my possession another book with a short biography on each First Lady. After I had finished the chapter in the first book, I found my First Lady book and read about Eleanor Roosevelt there instead of turning to Wikipedia, which no doubt would have led me on several researching rabbit trails and took far more of my time.

For those of you compulsive "looker-uppers" like me, know that for the most part, books are enough. Reading books (as opposed to short, pithy articles) will give you a deeper understanding of a wide ranch of topics, and you will feel more able to deal with circumstances as they arise. 

During the time that I was earning an income, I invested in many high-quality textbook-style reference books, centered around my interests. These will be more than enough to provide a quality learning experience for me, WITHOUT the time-wasting and eye twitch that comes from spending hours on the internet trying to sort the useful from the not-useful. If you are a researcher, invest in yourself by purchasing books or borrowing from the library, and further invest in yourself by giving yourself a Screen-Free Day every once in a while in order to read those books.

Conclusion & My Challenge

Based on my findings from Screen-Free Thursday, I'll be attempting to limit my computer time to 30 minutes a day, or an hour on days that I write. I realize that being an writer, it will be difficult to limit screen time. However, it will be easy to limit internet time, and that I will for sure limit to 30 minutes. This will be more than enough to check social media, use my favorite phone apps and keep up with my two favorite blogs, every week.

To handle my unavoidable Google questions, I'll keep a piece of paper on the table and write down anything that might come up. Then during my computer time, I'll look those things up in an efficient manner, without going on rabbit trails. 
Have you tried having a Screen-Free Day? Could you really use a Screen Free-Day? I challenge you to treat yourself to one!

-Bethany

P.S. Screen time today is 48 minutes so far. Not bad for writing this whole article!

Learning to Enjoy Winter
As a kid, I enjoyed winter. It was the time for hot cocoa, building snowmen, riding behind the snowmobile and going skiing. And Christmas! But somewhere as the years went by, between cold, icy farm chores, praying that I wouldn't drive into the ditch, and not being able to EVER get warm, I lost any fondness of winter. Even downhill skiing, which I had loved as a teenager, was not fun anymore. I would do anything to stay out of the cold. I wore a coat and hat everywhere, even at home and at work. I just couldn't shake the feeling of being cold.

Now that I'm married, most of the bad parts of winter have seemed to disappear. I no longer spend hours in the cold milking cows. I no longer have to drive to work every day, and our apartment stays cozy warm all winter long. Christmas is fun again because I have someone to spend it with, and I have my own home to decorate and bake cookies in. Who doesn't love baking cookies?

A Season of Rest
The best part of winter now, though, is my season of rest. Finally I have time to do things like sewing, needlework, home decorating, reading, and learning new cooking skills. While most people take their vacation in the summer, because of Hubs' work we take ours in the winter, so there is that to look forward to as well. Christmas is a lot of fun because now I have the time to make floral arrangements from greens in our very own backyard. Hubs has more time off because work slows down during the cold weather.
​ 
Cooking, even, is significantly easier. A jar of this, a frozen bag of that... soup is incredibly easy to make, and we have it all the time during winter.

Things I am looking forward to this winter:

-Knitting and embroidery for gifts
-Spinning on my new drop spindle
-Trying new recipes
-Reading books
-Cleaning out the pantry
-Propagating and growing some new exotic plants
-Restyling some outfits for vacation
-Working on new ebooks
-Making a marketing and branding plan for our hobby farm
​-Seeing friends and family

What do you enjoy doing in the colder months?

​From what I can tell, the last book review I posted on Goodreads was in June. Oops! According to my bookshelf reading challenge, I'm supposed to be reading one book (that I already own) every month. While I haven't posted reviews in July, August, September, and October, I've still managed to get some reading in.

However, I must admit that in July I broke down and bought a new book. It was a very unique book that I had 0% chance of finding at a garage sale. I paid $10 for the Kindle ebook, Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker. You can read my review and why I didn't think I got my money's worth over at Goodreads.

In the meantime, I'll restate WHY my bookshelf-only reading challenge is a great idea, and how it is still possible to get a great education with free or cheap books.

Save $120+ Per Year
If you are a voracious reader, you probably spend a lot of money on books. Books are like your candy. When a new one comes out, you just have to have it. After I got my Kindle several years ago, I was spending about $10 a month (that's only ONE book people!) on ebooks alone, not including other used books that I bought on Amazon. It was just so easy to click and buy. It wasn't so easy to finish reading a book before I found more books that I just had to have. It came to the point where collecting books was more my hobby than actually reading them.

Now I'm at the point where I'm starting to chip away at my book collection. My goal this year was to read and then donate or sell one book per month. Out of my 263 real books and 60 Kindle books (yep, I just counted), I've been able to finish and review eight this year. Not a bad start, really. Hopefully before Christmas I'll be able to finish reading and review a couple more. If I read 12 books per year, my collection should last at least 26 years.

The Good News- More Books for Less Money
The good news is that going on a Bookshelf-Only Reading challenge (even for 26 years) is not as hard as you think. Here were my rules:

Rules:
1. No buying books on Amazon or other bookstores (high-value books found for free or very cheap at garage sales may be exceptions). A good rule for garage sale books is to not pay more than $1.
2. Try to read one book every month from your current collection.
3. Post a review on Goodreads.
4. Sell or donate the book so someone else can enjoy it.

Even if you don't shop at bookstores, there are plenty of VERY affordable books at thrift stores and garage sales. In 2015 I bought probably 15 books at garage sales, thrift stores and library book sales. In addition, I was also given some books. I also downloaded at least ten free books on to my Kindle. 

You can see that even if I NEVER buy a book from Amazon (or any bookstore) again, I won't run out of new reading material. At this rate, I'm still more a book collector than a book reader. But simply cutting out bookstores and Amazon purchases has allowed me to spend far less on this habit. It's like a coffee addict who stops going to coffee shops. He's still a coffee addict- just a richer one.

Free Books are Just As Good
After you've read so many books, you'll find out that really, there is nothing new under the sun. In almost every area except technology, information remains the same. Reading a history book from 1890 will provide almost the same story about George Washington as a history book from 1930 or 2005. Most authors and publishers are great at repackaging and marketing information. Cooking techniques, marriage advice, herbal medicine- none of it really changes. And if there is truly something new out there, it is probably available for free on the internet.

What does this mean for us? Simply that any book written in the last century is probably just as good as most written last week. And many books in the public domain (anything pre- 1923) are available online for free.

For the past few days, I've been on the topic of decluttering; getting rid of unneeded "stuff" in your house or on your calendar. Many times we are making things hard on ourselves because of too many choices. It's too complicated and not simple enough. Another problem? Lack of planning ahead.

For example, making supper. It gets to be 4:30 pm and the family is beginning to get hungry. You should start making dinner, but you are in the middle of a project. Bummer. Quit the project, start looking through the fridge and kitchen cupboards to see what is there. Spaghetti? That would be great, except there is no spaghetti sauce. There are some carrots in the fridge. What about a nice roast? Too late for that. What about spaghetti noodles and carrots? There's got to be something to make with spaghetti noodles and carrots.

By this time it's quarter to five and you have no idea what to make. You're starting to get hungry yourself, and snack on some saltine crackers. Now everyone is hungry and begging you for saltine crackers. There is no time to make anything. Forget it, they can all have crackers and peanut butter. Or jelly. Or cheese. Throw the carrots in there, and it should be healthy enough.

Have you ever been in this place? It could have all been prevented with a plan.

My new book (yep, a little shameless self-promotion here!) can solve all of your meal problems. It's got a complete list of meals- breakfast, lunch, and dinner- plus ideas for healthy snacks and some ideas for potlucks and other I-forgot-about-that events. My plan includes a weekly grocery list so you'll never be stuck without spaghetti sauce, and even tells you when to start cooking, so the food is done before people get hungry. No saltines here!

Imagine this: you, rolling out pizza dough. There's no hurry because everything is under control. You've got some nice music turned on. Get out some ranch and barbeque sauce to spread on the dough. This is going to be a killer supper! In a good way. Sprinkle on some cheese, bacon (that was on sale!), green peppers and toss it in the oven. Set the timer for 20 minutes. It's early enough that nobody is clawing at you for food. 

Ten minutes later the house begins to fill with a delicious aroma of baking bread, melting cheese and bacon. So warm and good. Kids wander in the kitchen, following their noses. You set out some plates and fill the cups with water. One kid wants to help, so you have him set out napkins. Finally, the timer dings and you call everyone in to eat. "Man it smells good!" "I can't wait" and "I want the biggest piece" are heard from excited diners. You bless the food, cut a few slices and dig in. So delish.

Does the pizza scenario sound good? It probably sounds great if you have experienced the saltines-and-peanut-butter meal. Do yourself (and everyone else) a favor and buy my book,
Pizza Night; a Simple Meal Plan, available on Amazon. 

I know this plan works because I use it myself. It sure makes life easier!

Have you ever thought, "There are just not enough hours in the day!"? I have. Some people say you can do it all, but that's not true. Time is precious and its something you can't buy more of. And sometimes we unintentionally sell our time for too cheap or even give it away to people and things that don't matter.

When I got married, I quit my job. I knew I would not have enough time to be the kind of wife that I wanted to be, and a good secretary. There were a lot of things that I quit when I got married. All music and band activities ceased. A lot of social functions and side projects (like selling things on Ebay) got cut because I now had new priorities. At least for this first year of marriage, my husband and I have committed to not putting extra "stuff" on our calendar. It is busy enough WITHOUT me signing up for everything that sounds good or fun.

Getting rid of calendar clutter is a lot harder than getting rid of physical clutter. Why? Because you have to deal with people. You have to tell people "I can't", "I won't" and "no". I can't do (insert activity) anymore, I won't do (insert activity) for you in the future. This can upset some people, especially if you are accustomed to saying "yes" to everyone. Some people might try to manipulate you with guilt or anger. I used to think that I was obligated to do something if I was free that day. If I didn't want to do it, I would lie and tell them I had something else going that day, or come up with something to .do, because it sounds better than "I just don't want to". The problem with this approach is that people keep coming back for more. They didn't hear "no", they heard "later". It's important that you say what you mean. If you have integrity in this way, people will respect you and your time, without demanding explanations.

Consider whether certain activities are in line with your personal and family goals or if they are actually fighting against those goals. For me, a conflicting goal was music. I love music and at one time I was playing in three different groups. However, I married a man whose primary goals did not revolve around music. If I continued to spend so much time playing in bands, we would not go anywhere as a team. I would be pulling one way, and he would be pulling another way. We would have different goals. So for now, playing music is on the back burner. This doesn't make me sad; it's just a different season in my life and I cannot do everything.

It's important to identify what got you so busy in the first place, and to modify your behavior so it doesn't happen again. My problems were beating around the bush when I wanted to say no, and also having a million different interests and trying to follow  them all at the same time. Life got easier when I realized that I could give a firm no, and when I intentionally stopped certain activities so I could get better at others. Example: I put most all of my efforts into gardening and writing this summer, and almost no effort into sewing or painting, which are also things I want to pursue. I will have time for those things later.

You will not believe how easier life becomes when you start protecting your time and saying "no". Suddenly you can actually accomplish things because you are focused and not spread thin, serving everyone and their neighbor. You can actually do a good job at your most important roles in life.

Edit: After nearly a year of marriage, Hubs and I were able to play music again and help out the worship team at church. During the winter, after gardening season, we were able to go to Guatemala for nearly a month, and I was able to spend more time sewing. Learn to say "no" until the time is right!

Do you have a problem with calendar clutter? What has helped you say "no" to unnecessary activities?

I grew up always hearing about "clutter". Every so often my mom would go on a de-cluttering frenzy and throw out several garbage bags of stuff. I didn't see clutter- I saw good stuff getting thrown away! Sometimes I would sneak out to the dumpster or burn pile, pick out what I wanted to keep and put it in our "fort" in the hay mow. My sister and I furnished a very nice fort this way.

Now that I'm older, I realize that every "thing" you own needs to be stored, cleaned, fixed, sorted, moved and otherwise taken care of. Even more so if you actually USE the thing. If I can't use something, it gets sold on Ebay, donated or thrown away... not put into storage "just in case" I need it. 

The Dreaded Sewing Projects

Before I got married, I had dozens of unfinished sewing projects in storage. They were all nicely labeled and stuffed into individual grocery bags, which were then put into garbage bags for easier moving. I was going to finish them... sometime. I was going to make them a priority and finish them all, one by one. Maybe one a week, or even one per month.

But then a year went by, and two and three, until I found projects that I had completely forgotten about. The sheer amount of unfinished projects was overwhelming. I felt bad because I had promised to myself that I would finish the projects, and I had broke my promise. And there they were, reminding me of my broken promise. 

Finally, I decided to cut my losses and throw away all of my projects. I didn't look through the trash bags and save out my favorite ones- I just threw them all. When they were gone, I felt so good. It was like being forgiven of sins or something. I felt free of the guilt and procrastination that the sewing projects had caused.

Are you giving up a large part of your mental real estate to a bunch of "stuff"? I challenge you to clean out your closets, kitchen cupboards, pantry, hobby room, garage, and every other place where stuff accumulates. Don't throw away things that you actually use, but if you haven't used it in a long time, what makes you think you will use it again? Make three piles; one save, one donate or sell, and the other trash. DON'T just pick toss or donate a few things and then put all of your stuff back into storage. Don't consolidate your stuff and just shuffle it around, moving it from place to place. If you don't use it, refuse it!

Go And Hoard No More

If you're afraid, like I was, of "throwing out good stuff", here is a simple solution: don't buy or accept stuff that you don't need. Then you will never have to throw it away.

Once you've cleaned out, the hard part is facing the next garage sale. Or shopping mall, or auction or whatever caused you to accumulate stuff in the first place. It's okay to pass up a deal. It's okay to let someone else get the 300 tubes of toothpaste free from coupons or all that free stuff from Menards rebates. If you use it, get it. If you "might" use it... think twice.

Nowadays, I don't pick up every bag of buttons or zippers that I see at a garage sale. I don't save every old pair of jeans for "a quilt that I'm going to make someday". These days, when I have an old pair of jeans, I cut them up and use them for cleaning rags. And then I throw the rags away after they are dirty.

That's not to say that I'm the perfect non-hoarder. I still have hoarding tendencies, but when I go to the grocery store or to a garage sale, I have specific guidelines on what and how much I can buy. I know that I am not in a famine, or Great Depression, or any other crisis event where I have to hoard. There is plenty of everything here in America, so I don't "need" stuff.