Internet fast

[Mr Kleb]

First, I hope all our American members had a most excellent Thanksgiving.

I fasted from the internet Wednesday night. No news and commentary, no email, no weather web sites, no facebook, no lab board (eek!), no blog post. Faye and I enjoyed a good dinner of baked chicken thigh wiht cajun beans and rice. Later we shared time on the couch, talking about various topics. Later I read a couple chapters of Fate is the Hunter, a book that has been on my 'best' list since my teen years, and that I re-read yearly. It felt quite good. No need, compulsion, or even desire to surf. Think I will do it again.

Do you, or would you, voluntarily step away from the internet for an evening or for a day?

[Coopspuppy]

I don't. I do all of those thing you mentioned above, and can still fit in a bit if internet.
If you enjoyed it.....I say go for it more often!

Coopspuppy

[Bamps]

My internet server is AT&T sometimes I have no service or 1bar E, sometimes up to 3bars 4G but I get it while I can lol

[Mr Kleb]

Coopspuppy, good for you to be able to fit it in. It is more a matter of declaring independence from the need to fit the internet into, if only one night a week, to what is my real life - my home, my dogs, my sweetie.

Bamps, y'all are out where service is sparse so I get the need to connect when you can.

[SunDance]

I'm on the computer first thing in the morning...eating a quick breakfast etc. before going out for my walk. In the winter, that's a longer stretch of time since I need to wait for daylight. I check the weather, too, for that walk and the subsequent dog walk. If I don't think I'll need to check the weather again before heading out with the dogs, and I'm not expecting any deliveries that I want to keep an eye out for, I'll turn the computer off. If either of those things will require doing, I'll leave it on. The days that the computer gets turned off (admittedly fewer), there's a good chance I won't turn it back on for any reason. If it stays on in the morning, it tends to stay on all day....and I end up sitting here on and off throughout the day.

If I have a day's worth of yard work to do, I'll definitely turn it off for the day...or else I'll be thinking of things to look up...and do so on potty breaks....all day.

[POPTOP]

I'm similar to Sundance. The computer is on all day but I'm on only as time permits. I've been on more than usual lately checking recipes/goodies that will tolerate shipping. I check in several times a day here and on facebook as time permits. Life keeps me too busy to be sitting here.

[JC001]

Instead of a fast, I took a different approach as I felt I was spending too much time on the internet. I didn't feel the need to cut it completely but realized I didn't need to check mail, forums or websites as many times a day as I was. So now every day I allocate time to do something for myself or something productive that I've been procrastinating doing. It seems if I have "plans" I won't stay on the internet as long.

Next vacation will will definitely be an internet fast as I won't have access for a few days.

[Mr Kleb]

SunDance, that is good exercise of self discipline.

POPTOP, good for you. Real life is too engaging to spend too much time looking at a screen.

JC001, that's a good way to do it - do something for yourself first!

[MightyThor]

I'm online all day since I work from home and stay virtually connected to my coworkers. I'm also, as part of my job, expected to have my finger on the 'pulse of the internet', as it were. So I'm online a LOT. But I also get outside frequently - to hike, to run, to backpack, to camp - and often in places where there is no signal. Being disconnected during my off time is important to me.

I also try to spend some time every day with 'mental relaxation' that isn't as brain-mushy as watching TV. I'll sew, I'll read a book, or I'll do a puzzle. Something to keep my eyes off of a screen.

[kimbersmom]

I blur the work-life balance way too much when I'm online. I love my job, so it's natural for me when I'm surfing to think of something job related and then end up down a rabbit hole doing work! I also find that surfing is entertaining but not relaxing; I'm be-bopping from one site to another, never fully engaging in a deep way that allows my brain to relax. So I intentionally carve out time for me to be away from the Internet. For two years, we rented a beach house that had no WiFi- specifically because it had no WiFi. Last month, I took a day off from work and went to a really isolated part of my region just to get away for a bit. As soon as I got home, I jumped online and started reading the 50 emails I'd received in the 7 hours I was gone. Sigh.