Internet Abstinence
The temptation is always there, so I took an extra step and turned my computer off for the full abstinence period. No net, no spreadsheets, no computer solitaire…the whole day was a relief. Abstaining from the internet made the whole day relaxed and removed the sense of urgency it gives to communication and tasks.
Because I work from home and go to school online (there’s another phrase trying to locate the Internet in a place), I spend most of my workweek chained to the computer. A few times before, I’ve turned off the computer on Saturdays, just to get a break, so by this time I’m used to internet abstinence.
On this Saturday, I found that net abstinence eliminated the sense of urgency and immediacy in communication and tasks. With the internet comes the mindset to “get it done now.” If I receive an email, there’s pressure to answer it as soon as possible. If I want to look at website X, I can and usually feel like I should do it right then, because the internet makes it possible. Often, I find myself switching from half-finished task to new task, or trying to multi-task. While abstaining, however, life became less urgent. If I wanted to research something or look on a website, it went on the mental to-do list.
Also, turning off the internet also cut off the urgency of certain types of communication. I couldn’t receive or read emails/messages from my boss, coworkers, or teachers, which mean that I didn’t have to respond to or follow them until a few days later. It gave me more time to communicate face to face with the people I live with, and conversations followed a more relaxed ebb and flow. With the verbal conversation, the communication didn’t require a quick, thorough, snappy reply/message, but rather whatever came to mind at the moment. And if something else came to mind a few moments later, we could pick the conversation back up and keep going. Also, there was less pressure to hurry up and finish it, so we could move on to something else. The conversations took as long as they needed.
I also felt like I had more time in the day. Instead of half a dozen things popping up in the email or on the browser screen, all clamoring for my attention, all I had was one task at a time. And the focus wasn’t on the time component of the task, but merely on finishing it. Instead of thinking, “I have to do this now!” I could take my time. Also, because I was prioritizing and not multi-tasking, it seemed as though I had more of a choice of what I wanted to do.
Filling the time was no difficulty. I already had two swim lessons and some housecleaning planned for the day. Oddly enough, I accomplished the cleaning and activities related to the lessons at a much more leisurely pace than I usually use when communicating on the net, but still seemed to have more time during the day. I also found time to read, do some cooking, and move around more. If I had to compare the internet days with the non-internet day, it seems as though I accomplished more and enjoyed more of my tasks on the non-internet day.
I feel the same as you about completing more on “non internet days.” Time passes by so quickly when I am online and I find that what feels like a couple minutes I could have literally wasted an hour. The internet puts everything in front of you and makes everything so incredibly easy that it is hard not to get caught up in it.
kimberlythompsoncomm385 said this on January 16, 2009 at 5:43 pm
So, what it seems you are saying is if you didn’t need the computer for work and school, you could live without it happily getting things done leisurely? I agree that things do get done when you are not chained to the blinking box, but in this 21st century, that blinking box has become a necessity of sorts and it is a bit of a shame in some regards.
I find the internet to be one huge guilt trip. If I don’t answer an email within 24 hours I feel like I’m rudely ignoring someone. If I don’t check blackboard in the morning, I feel like I’m missing out on some important assignment. If I don’t send the latest pictures to my friends across the country, or don’t update my facebook, I actually get phone calls to see if I’m alright. Geez, there is life outside – go smell a rose now and then.
During my fast my boss didn’t understand why I couldn’t just answer her email. I’m thinking, “for heaven’s sake, you are standing right in front of me. Talk. Tell me, what is in that email that you need an answer. I have a voice, I can speak” but I didn’t dare say it. I marveled at her complete confusion on when I was going to respond and why and how she was more concerned about that instead of the response itself. I had to leave to go teach so it was pretty funny in retrospect how she and I had the opportunity to get an immediate response yet she was so conditioned to the mediated form that she was actually speechless.
Personally, I would rather talk face to face with notes taken to affirm comprehension rather than communicate with blinking cursors and impersonal phrases.
jcs3042 said this on January 16, 2009 at 6:32 pm
The Internet and computers in general somehow influence us into doing more than one thing at a time. Just when browsing I tend to have quite a few windows open with a ton of tabs in each. Having it all there instantly encourages this behavior because we are no longer required to wait for the information. There’s no waiting for a letter to come in the mail or having to drive into town to see the hours a business is open. It’s all there for us, 24/7, whenever and wherever we need it. It’s all part of our sped up society.
Alex Casey said this on January 16, 2009 at 7:59 pm