Lee McKusick

I stare at a screen all day. It’s what I do. Oddly enough, I enjoy doing it. I know, it’s a little weird. But I also know that a lot of other people are in the same boat.

But often, it’s nice to take a break from the LCDs, PDAs, PS3s and other acronyms that are so integrated into our everyday lives, and do something that doesn’t involve the use of something digital. Revolutionary, I know, but our country was built on the revolutionary!

 

Some activity ideas include:

Read a Book

Ahh, the printed word. Flash back to the thousands of years before the invention of the computer, television, or any of the other devices we now take for granted, and pick up a book. Find a subject you’re interested in; there’s bound to be a book about it. History buff? Grab an autobiography. Fantasy geek? Try some Tolkien. If you’re really stuck trying to figure out what to read, here’s some of my favorites:

• The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
• Dune - Frank Herbert
• The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
• This Present Darkness - Frank Peretti
• Lord of the Flies - William Golding
• Prey - Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park is a good one too.)

If you’re in a bind as to what to read next, try out StoryCode. It’s a website where you rate the books you’ve already read on different criteria, and it gives you back a list of books you might enjoy. Or here’s a novel idea: check out your local library. Not only are there tons of free books, but your librarian can be an invaluable resource for finding a good one.

 

Go Outside

*Gasp!* Yes, I know this might be difficult for some of you who have only seen the light of day as simulated in Halo. However, I’m confident in your ability to withstand the burning rays of the sun enough to get some fresh air. There’s bound to be nature trails, parks, places to swim, or sledding hills near where you live, so there’s really no shortage of things to do. Granted, some activities will depend on the season, but It’s a big world. Go explore it.

If you need a headstart, here’s some examples of some cool outdoor activities:

• Apple-Picking - This one’s really only a fall activity, but it’s a bushel of fun. It’s pretty cheap too. Bring some friends, and have a good time going through the orchard and finding nice, ripe, juicy apples. Don’t forget to put a few in the bucket. Plus, you’ll have tasty, nutritious snacks at home for a while.
• Geocaching - Not many people know about this. According to geocaching.com, it is an “entertaining adventure game for gps users…The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.” These caches are typically small plastic containers with a log book, and maybe some sort of trinket (remember, if you take something, be sure to put something back), and are all over the place; there’s at least 3 on the RIT campus. It’s a fun activity if you like treasure hunts. =)
• Camping - Spend a night or two in the woods, go fishing, hiking, or mountain biking. It may not be the Marriott, but it’s a nice way to spend a weekend with friends and/or family and make some memories.

 

Clean

Let’s face it: things tend toward chaos. We all know it, and we’ve all got the messy room to show for it. Some of us just have a more cluttered area than others. So take some time to declutter your living space. Trust me, not only will you not be tripping over stuff, but it’ll look better, and you’ll feel better about living there.

Here’s some helpful tip resources:

• 30 Minute Room-by-Room Clutter Solution
• 22 Items You Need in Your Cleaning Kit
• How to Cure PackRat-itis

 

Get Some Exercise

I know most people hear that word and cringe. Endless hours on the floor doing crunches isn’t fun. But exercise doesn’t have to be tedious repetative motions. We get enough of those from our mice. Try some of these fun, healthy activites:

• Stretch
• Ride a bike to work
• Go Swimming
• Go for a jog around the neighborhood.
• I know it’s a screen, but I’m going to advocate the Wii here. Wii Sports is good exercise (15 minutes of Boxing can burn an average of 121 calories.), and the new Wii Fit coming out this month looks to be tailored exactly for this purpose. Nintendo’s done an excellent job of catering to “non-gamers.”

I also know that a lot of us have a hard time finding the motivation to keep up a good exercise routine. We pick up a weight here and there, but ultimately it just falls to the wayside. Here’s some motivational tips, as well as some other practical things to know:

• 31 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise
• How to Select a Running Shoe
• How to Maintain a Mountain Bike

 

Cook a Meal

I’m not talking about peanut butter & jelly. And I’m not talking about a DiGiorno either. Try something where you have to get your hands dirty (figuratively speaking). Use fresh fruits and vegetables. Experiment with spices and sauces. Check out the Food Network website. There are a ton of recipes from professional chefs like Emeril Lagasse or Mario Batali there. The rewards of being able to cook well are immense: excellent food, a healthy diet, and hey, treating your lady to a romantic, home-cooked meal is just that, a wonderful treat.

 

Make Something

It’s always satisfying to see the fruit of your labors. Having something tangible that you made yourself to keep and show off is even better. Make Magazine, Instructables.com, and DIYNetwork.com are all sites that have all sorts of DIY projects to do. Try something simple, and work your way up to more elaborate things.

On the same note, you could try a home improvement project. Remodel your bathroom, put a patio in your backyard, that sort of thing. Make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into though. Do your research, and make sure you can afford the materials and invest the proper time into it. It can be a lot of work, but it can pay off bigtime in the end, by both improving the look of your home and adding to its resale value.

 

Learn a Skill

Learn to play an instrument or something. Guitar’s a popular choice (there were 2,991,260 guitars sold in the U.S. in 2006 alone), but there are certainly other, more unique instruments out there. Try a woodwind (flute, clarinet, saxophone) or a brass (trumpet, horn) if you’ve got good lungs, or don’t find strings appealing. Or if you were the kind of kid who was always banging on stuff, try the drums. Try a bunch of different instruments, you’ll find something you like.

Of course, there’s also more practical skills. Learn CPR. Learn how your car works and how to properly maintain it. Something that will probably come in handy down the road.

 

Community Service

There are innumerable opportunities to serve your community. Anything from volunteering at a food pantry to helping rebuild homes that were destroyed in Hurricane Katrina (Yes, there are still plenty of people who are still displaced by the storm, even after two and a half years. Just because the media has stopped covering it doesn’t mean the problem has gone away.).

Get creative here; if you’ve got a heart for a particular group of less-fortunate people, go for it, help out in whatever way you can. I’m sure it will not go unappreciated.

If you need a place to start, try your local church. Chances are, they’re either already in contact with organizations looking for volunteers, or would be more than willing to put you in contact with one.

 

 

There are so many things to do offline. People have lived for thousands of years without computers and the Internet, we should be able to survive for a little while without it. Like I said before, it’s a big world out there. Use your imagination and go explore it.

 

What do you do offline to recharge?

Leave a comment and add to this list.

 

Thanks again to Chris Brogan for the idea for this post.

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