:: in.a.mirror.dimly ::

I’m one week into my evening and Sunday internet fast. At 6 PM I have to get off the internet and do something, anything else. In addition, I’m staying offline all day on Sunday.

I do allow myself a few exceptions: watching one TV program on Hulu with my wife and if absolutely necessary, I can send an important e-mail regarding something for the following morning—provided I do it on my wife’s computer.

Here are the changes I’ve noticed thus far…

I am writing a lot more.

I am allowing myself to journal, free write, and to mess around with fiction on my time off. Without social media, articles, and other online distractions, I’m spending my free time doing things that I really enjoy and find very fulfilling. I still feel quite connected with my friends.

I am much more productive during the day.

Since I know I can’t fritter away and putter in the evenings on my web sites, read articles, or chat on social media, I’m much more focused on my work and with my internet time. I dive into my to-do list with a lot more determination and check in on Twitter, Facebook, and my blog reader much faster and take care of updates and conversations with quite a bit of efficiency.

I got a lot done on Sunday.

With no internet on Sundays I’m not only catching up on our household needs such as baking bread or folding laundry, but I’m also taking time to walk, read, and even write fun little stories. Once I get past that moment of dread, “Oh no! I can’t go online,” I find something else to do and have a great day. 

I enjoy my weekday evenings much more.

Much like Sundays, I have time to do the dishes AND to read, rather than only having time to do one of them.  Julie and I have about the same amount of time to hang out as usual since I usually stop whatever I’m doing when she takes a break from her graduate school work.

I look forward to going online in the morning.

It’s a little weird, but on several occasions I’ve caught myself going to bed with an almost giddy feeling of, “I can’t wait to get online in the morning!!!” I’m not sure how I should feel about this. On one hand, it’s good to know that I’m denying myself something I want, but on the other hand it’s a bit odd to feel this way about… internet. I suppose the thing is that I’m anticipating connecting with friends, family, and colleagues via the internet, so perhaps it isn’t such a bad thing to anticipate.