My Name is Wendy and I’m an Addict

I have a bit of an email/Twitter compulsion. And by “a bit” I mean I wake up in the middle of the night to check the BlackBerry on my nightstand. The BlackBerry is only 8 months old, and the chrome around the trackball is already chipping off from overuse.

It’s a sickness, I admit it.

When I’m working, I have my laptop on my lap, and my BB next to me. I will email and tweet from either one at any given time. I check my email compulsively – some might say maniacally – hundreds of times throughout the day.

I need what my friends refer to as a “Twitervention”.

Actually, two weeks ago a Very Bad Thing™ happened to my BlackBerry, and I lost service for a fortnight. For two weeks I was unable to roll over in the wee small hours of the morning to check my email. For two weeks the ability to check my Tweets 1500 times from the train platform was taken away.

And you know what? I survived. Ok, the first few days kinda felt like I’d had my hands cut off, but after that, I just got used to not checking in. I didn’t get all new-age-get-on-the-cover-of-Oprah or anything and start saying how great my life was without being tied to technology. That’s all bunk anyway. I didn’t feel any more or less free for not having a BlackBerry, and I think my tweeting only went down by about 20%.

Social Signal has an article with Seven ways to break the habit of compulsive e-mail and twitter check-ins. Most of them are inane touchy-feely type things, but I like the second one:

Declare a Twitter sabbath. Observant Jews go without electronics — without turning on electricity! — from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. You don’t have to keep kosher to discover the benefits of 24 hours offline each week. If a day without e-mail feels unimaginable, try a day without Twitter. I went three whole days (!) this past long-weekend, and enjoyed the opportunity to experience memorable moments without boiling them down to 140 characters.

It’s worth attempting, though I think I’d have to shut the power off in the apartment to achieve it.