Internet hiatus...

I'm just coming off of helping with a study where for six months I completely gave up recreational use of the internet. I still used it for purposes like work related things, but no internet time killing, no porn (on the internet) no Pinterest, Tumblr, Facebook, no gaming, and no forums like TFP. I missed my habitual hangouts a lot at first, but that seemed to pass away like withdrawal symptoms. I finally got to where I didn't really miss it that much. With my extra time I read a lot more, played the bass more, took a couple of road trips and left the laptop at home, painted a room, etc. I even wrote a few letters with pen and paper.

The format allowed for continued "instrumental" use so I still did financial research, banking, buying and selling, brokerage, ebay and Amazon, that kind of thing. The rules seemed a little arbitrary. Like buying tickets for a baseball game was OK, but looking up the score online wasn't.

It's good to come back here. TFP was one of my most missed places. I'm wondering if anyone else has tried to limit their internet use for any reason.

 

My lifestyle makes the idea of extended time away from the internet not really feasible.

It's all about balance. Being someone who works with computers daily means I'm hyper-aware of how important it is to be able to step away from the screen from time to time. I go for walks. I read. I spend time with Magpie. We like to play board games.

I on't think there's anything inherently wrong with using the internet in your spare time. It's a powerful tool for learning and also for recreation. It's not inherently better or worse than reading a book or watching television. It just depends on how you choose to use it.

 

periodically, usually when I foolishly get caught up in a saga

 

This is kind of why I decided to participate in giving up rec internet. I would just futz around, although I hardly ever even watch TV, like I was aimlessly channel surfing on TV, going from one site to another, gaining no particular satisfaction. I would go to sites that were just (to me anyway) timekillers like Tumblr, shopping sites, and it was taking away from what I should have been doing in my more serious side, like my work, where I really can't get along without the internet. I felt caught in this miasma of quicksand like dithering. Hard to explain, but I needed the reboot, so to speak.

I never did do much with social media. I used Facebook to keep up with some family stuff, dropped off of twitter a couple of years ago. And I missed you to, @Fangirl. I'm gonna go look at some of those silly wordgame things...

 

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