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My week of Internet Abstinence
Sunday, March 22, 2009

I just finished an entire 7 days with no Internet, which meant no email, no websites, no nothin'.
And while I missed it at first I can say with certainty that by the end of the week I had no desire to go back online.

I'm writing an essay on this, so I can't share all my thoughts. But here are some of the highlights:

I read a lot more than I usually do. I read the newspaper and newsmagazines more thoroughly and listened more to National Public Radio. (We don't have TV in the house; none of us like it. Too intrusive and just plain stupid)

I talked more on the phone. I actually ANSWERED the phone more often, rather than letting the caller fall into voicemail.

I missed the internet as a reference tool. Instead, I wrote down things I needed to learn, and I took a trip to the library and to Barnes and Noble.

The days seemed longer. I had no idea how much time, cumulatively, I spend online. Ten minutes here, 15 there. I hazard to say I spend at least 90 minutes a day online: facebook, email, websites. All added up, that's an entire work day every week!

I missed visual stimuli the first few days, but this feeling soon dissipated.

And, most importantly, I wrote a lot, lot more. I learned, dear readers, that my blog has been sapping my creativity and writing energy. I will continue blogging, but not 5 or six days a week as I have been.

ON ANOTHER NOTE: Thanks to all the readers who showed up to hear me speak at the Southwest Florida Reading Festival this past weekend. A great turnout and a great festival!

1 Comments:

Sharon Kennedy Wynne said...: I can't wait to read your essay on this because I was thinking about you last week when you were gone, wondering if you were getting the bends. Keep an eye our for Monday's SP Times (tampabay.com) Leonara LaPeter has an interesting story about how the iPhones and Blackberries have created a virtual reality for all of us. She went into a Starbucks and asked each person what it is they were doing on their phone or computer. While it looked like a quiet coffee shop with about 20 people sitting around, it turned out a LOT was going on.; March 25, 2009 9:19 AM