Lifestyles by Estelia……  It’s my pleasure to start a new section of my blog devoted to lifestyle trends, philosophies, and passions that you, my reader, may find interesting.   Fasten your seatbelt…. here we go!

Simplify Your Tech Life “Thoreau-style” – How to take refuge from banal Facebook posts and incessant phone alerts without retreating to a cabin in the woods:

1. Prevent Procrastination:  Even the most disciplined among us find it hard to resist the lure of unlimited, high-speed Internet access. But you can fight technology with technology designed to kick your late-night Netflix habit. Free Web browser plug-ins—like LeechBlock for Firefox and WasteNoTime for Safari and Chrome—let you block specific sites on a set schedule each day. The Mac and PC program Freedom ($10, macfreedom.com ) goes a step further and disables your computer’s Internet access entirely for as long as you tell it to.
2. Take a Walk for the heck of it:  Leave your fitness tracker and earbuds behind and enjoy the sights, smells and sounds of your neighborhood, near-by park or beach.
3. Manage Your Facebook Technology:  As your Facebook connections grow to include all 437 of the people you sort of knew in high school, it’s easy to get to the point where the site’s News Feed becomes a hub of oversharing—much of it accidental. Facebook tries to figure out which posts will be most interesting to you, but nothing beats getting in there yourself and decluttering by hand. Start by removing serial offenders: On the website, hover your cursor over the person’s name as it appears above a post, hit the “Friends” button that pops up and then uncheck “Show in News Feed” to block future posts. If that feels too drastic, click “Acquaintances” from the pop-up screen instead. This relegates the person to a special “friends list” whose updates will appear lower in the News Feed. (Fear not, the person won’t be notified about either of the above demotions.)
4. Read Something Longer than 140 Characters:  Computers, smartphones and tablets are perfect for skimming TMZ, but for hunkering down with the sort of thoughtful text Thoreau would endorse, a dedicated “ereader” is the tech equivalent of a wood-paneled reading room. Although there are fancier models out there, the classic Kindle ($89, amazon.com ) and Kindle Paperwhite ($139) are still tough to beat. Because their screens aren’t backlit, they don’t cause eye strain the way a tablet or color ereader can. While Amazon sells discounted models that display advertisements (each costs $20 less), don’t fall for the trap: The ads undermine the tranquility of the device. (If you already own an ad-supported Kindle, remove the ads for $20 using the settings page.)