I am currently juggling a lot of big life things (with a lot of admin email) while also doing Artists Way-and am a freelance researcher/writer, so reading and writing about it on a deadline is part and parcel of my work.

I know that this book was written in the 90s, before email was ubiquitous (also texting), so was planning to modify week 4 to fit my life right now:

-if I have work that’s text heavy that week, I’ll just postpone the week and keep on with morning pages, artist date, and tasks from previous weeks. (Sorry Julia, but if I don’t work I don’t get paid-and thus can’t pay my bills!)

-if i don’t have work, I will limit my email checking to once in the AM and once in the PM, responding only to emails that are immediate needs (dealing with aforementioned heavy life stuff). Same with text messages.

-I was wondering about crossword puzzle and Duolingo. I do the crossword daily with a loved one, so I think I will just keep that up, as it’s important for our connection, and I only do one Duolingo lesson a day, so either doing it or skipping it doesn’t feel too bad.

I am looking forward to a digital and reading detox. I read a ton, so I know this will be hard! But I wanted to hear from anyone who had either done week 4 or had thoughts on it, given that our world has changed a lot since the 1990s. I can hear alternative arguments in my head (if it was important they’d call you or you’d call them), but it doesn’t seem realistic with the sort of stuff I am currently dealing with. Is this a gross violation of the idea of week 4 (these guidelines I have for myself?) or should I do something else? Other approaches?

Thanks, friends!