An Experiment: Taking a Month Off of the Internet
I am going to take the month of July off of the Internet. Why? Well I have a few reasons.
I quit my job in 2008 so I’ve been home for 5 years. I got sick a little less than 3 years ago and in those 3 years I’ve leaned hard on the Internet for support and company and diversion.
Lately I’ve been feeling that maybe my brain is fried from constant info and constant stimulation. I was inspired a couple of weeks ago when I read this story about Paul Miller, who took a year off of the Internet. At the end of his Internet-free year he found he was no better and maybe a little worse for having taken the year away. http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/1/4279674/im-still-here-back-online-after-a-year-without-the-internet
I have two online classes starting in September so I cannot take a whole year off of the Internet and I’m not even sure I’d want to continue this experiment for an entire year. I do, however, want to see what a month away is like and what sort of person I am during/after July. If I feel more productive and more focused I may very well continue through August, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, for right now I’m just planning for July.
A Few Things/Objectives
1. I am not abandoning my iPhone because unlike the author I cannot afford to run out and buy a new phone. He actually wound up getting paid to write about not being on the Internet.
2. I am not giving up texting.
3. My upcoming Philosophy professor offered me this advice on how to succeed in his class come September. “…practice writing anything in a logical order: write a story or a list of things that need fixing or an argument that favors a point of view on an issue. But write!” I am going to write letters for at least the month of July.
4. Like most bloggers I’m a little socially awkward. One of the things that I find difficult is calling people on the phone. I always feel like I am disturbing people or calling at a bad time. For that very reason I’m a chronic texter. Texting allows me to communicate without having to put myself out there and actually call people on the phone. Because I won’t be able to get all the gossip via Facebook I am going to call people and actually talk to them.
5. I am going to try to get outside every day, even if it’s only to go out back and fill the bird feeders. In a perfect world I’d take a walk every day, but for now I’ll start with opening the front door and stepping out.
6. I am going to buy a notebook and try to write every day, even if it’s what I would say in a dumb Facebook or Twitter update. I want to see how much I write during my month away from the Internet.
6a. I haven’t yet figured out yet if I want to use my laptop to type things in Word.
7. I haven’t really made any decisions about what I am going to read yet and I don’t have a goal amount of books to read. I think a goal amount would put undue pressure on this experiment. Any suggestions on books or magazines to read?
8. I haven’t fully figured in how exactly photography factors into this equation yet.
9. I haven’t made any progress in teaching myself how to crochet. I haven’t been successful teaching myself via book or YouTube so the possibility exists that I will look for a crocheting class during this time.
10. This is a work in progress, so the possibility exists that I will add, subtract or tweak my objectives.