Taking a day off the internet
I’ve had a fairly serious internet addiction for many years now. I have had other addictions in the past, most of which I dealt with by going cold turket -just shutting off the behaviour completely.
I’m very much an all or nothing person: I find it much easier not to do something at all than to restrict myself to only doing it some of the time.
But the internet is different.
It is so useful and even necessary that shutting it off permanently would be extremely difficult for me. RetireJapan runs entirely online, as does much of my wife’s school. My communication with family and friends is through LINE, WhatsApp, email, and social media.
The downsides of being online 24/7
There are four main drawbacks to spending too much time online.
- the ‘random reward’ nature of email and social media make it extremely addictive and encourage you to check it constantly
- online interaction gives the illusion of human contact and relationships without actually providing them
- the ease of access to the internet via your work computer, your smartphone, your home computer, etc makes it easy to jump online at the first hint of boredom or discomfort
- the blue light from screens prevents you from feeling sleepy at night, so being online before bed results in less sleep, which messes you up the next day and makes it more likely you will end up mindlessly browsing the internet…
I find myself wasting enormous amounts of time online, time that I should be spending with my family, using to improve my health and fitness, or actually create things.
Like any addictive behaviour, spending too much time online develops gradually. Before you know it, you are defaulting to checking your email or social media, to surfing YouTube, or clicking on links to camera lens reviews.
That last one might just be me.
Turning off the internet for a day
Now that I have a bit more flexibility in my schedule, I decided to try something new. One day a week (I chose Saturday) I will go completely offline. Last Saturday was the first time I tried this.
On Friday night before going to bed I turned off wifi and mobile data on my phone.
All day Saturday I didn’t touch a computer, and kept mobile data/wifi off on my phone except for the couple of minutes when Yodobashi asked me to download their app to use as a point card. Was good though and didn’t do anything else online.
On Sunday morning I turned my phone back on and went online on my computer.
I told my family I would be doing this so they knew they needed to call me on the phone if they needed to get in touch.
Being offline for 32 hours
Was wonderful.
It was way better than I thought it was going to be. I felt fine, more focused, more present, and less stressed.
Now, I did end up substituting reading books on my Kindle, watching Sandman on Netflix, and writing notes for online time, but those activities seem more productive and fun than mindlessly cycling between email, Twitter, Facebook, and web browsing.
Logging back into my various accounts on Sunday morning, I found just one time-sensitive thing that I needed to take care of (approving a new user for the RJ forum) but that was it.
I have found in the few days since that I am less likely to mindlessly go online, and more likely to leave my phone in the other room to charge, or just leave it in my pocket.
The digital Sabbath
I am planning to continue my offline Saturdays, and maybe even add on more blocks of time when I am deliberately offline.
I really recommend trying this if you are in a similar situation (stressed, time poor, spend a lot of time online for work/leisure).
PLOT TWIST: I have been here before…
How about you? Are you satisfied with your relationship with the internet? Any advice?
I suggest not using the internet at all in the evening. Make a point of going out with mates a few times a week, reserve a weeknight for dinner with the wife, and go to the gym at night (which will make you tired before bed). If the gym is boring, try a sport like squash or racquetball. Place the books you want/have to read/study in strategic places (like in front of the TV or PC). By doing these things, I have been staying in shape, maintaining my social life, and continuing to learn. I’m too busy in the evenings to waste time on the internet.
The internet is a part of our new reality so I don’t think it’s bad, but it also depends on what you are doing online. Are you burning your time online for entertainment, education, business, etc.? In other words, are you using the internet as a tool, or are you the tool (used by social media, advertisers)? Majority of time spent as entertainment plus the online addiction would probably be my red flag.
My device preferences help my habits. I don’t want the current smartphones because I would need to buy a purse to hold them, so I have a smaller one. Then, it is so small, current phone screens as well, that I cannot read nor write efficiently so I mainly use the phone for texts, calls, checking weather etc. occasionally. My phone is downstairs, iPad is upstairs that acts as my second “phone” device “in case of emergency.” But a real emergency would be a call, not a text.
For strange reasons I only check email on the iPad when I am away from the computer at the end of the work day. It is mostly reading, minimal writing.
Notifications on mobile devices including sounds are on only for texts and calls from actual people, and just screen display notifications without sound for some emails, weather alerts etc., no other notifications for any games, entertainment, etc. So I don’t see these until I actually pick up the devices and “check.” If nothing there, I continue on my merry way. For all SNS-type websites I “subscribe” to daily or weekly curated emails if those options are available. I always go for email notifications whenever possible, and then I only check my email once a day and try to unsubscribe to emails that aren’t useful over time.
My main screen time is only the full computer, widescreen monitor, full keyboard. This is where there is productivity: writing emails more than one sentence, learning, doing my hobbies, etc, where I can also devour content rapidly and be productive with dual monitors.
I’ve read a few books on the subject offering fancy ways of digitally detoxing. But the conclusion I came to was simple: just turn everything off. And guess what? It works, especially if you know what life before smartphones was like.
It’s not rocket science.
“…or clicking on links to camera lens reviews. That last one might just be me.”
Not an obsession, but I spend time on dpreview.com looking not only at cameras, but also galleries there. One of my retirement gifts to myself was a fujifilm X-T2, and I have three lenses for it–tho it’s hard to bring along when phones are as good as they are these days.
The main local newspaper kind of sponsors a photography group, lectures or some kind every other month, along with some contests and notices about exhibitions in the area. It’s almost all old guys like me, and the lectures draw about 35-40 people each time.
Noticed this on a different forum:
“20 years ago the internet was an escape from the real world. Now the real world is an escape from the internet.” @Noahpinion on Twitter
“the blue light from screens prevents you from feeling sleepy at night, so being online before bed results in less sleep, which messes you up the next day and makes it more likely you will end up mindlessly browsing the internet…”
Turn on ‘Night Shift’ or ‘Night Light’ feature on all your devices. This will cut the Blue Light. Set it to turn on at about 3pm and turn off at about 7am.
And stop drinking coffee after 3pm
My job involves research on the Internet, and when I was younger, 10+-working hours a day was commonplace. But now, I limit my internet use. On a day-to-day basis, I turn off message notifications between 19:00 and 8:00 the following day.
For the past couple of years, I do a digital detox at least once a week. This involves not checking email (and of course not replying) and not checking social media (even if I do, I have a limit set on my mobile phone).
Doing physical activity has contributed a lot to this plan. At least one day per weekend, I go hiking. (Even if I use a hiking app on my smartphone, I *do not* check email or messages!). On the other weekend day, I work for two or three hours, but also jog and do aerobics. Doing some small bit of work on Sunday helps me feel prepared and in control of the following week, and the exercise simultaneously re-energizes and tires me out.
One bad habit though is that I do use my tablet before bedtime. Not a great habit, I know. I try to mitigate this by using a blue-light film protector and setting the screen to dark mode. I also limit myself to relaxing scenes. Looking at photos of people’s hikes relaxes me so much that I fall asleep in about 6 or 7 minutes.
Good luck on finding habits that work for you!
Would live to do a digital detox; just turn off my mobile, but with an elderly parent in my home country and a kid in kinder garden need to be available always