Once, many years ago, I told someone I was going to do a sugar fast, and they thought I meant I was only going to eat sugar.
So no, when I say “internet detox,” I do not mean that I’m trying to spend all of my time on the internet.
I’ve known for years that, since computers became part of my life (pretty late – age 13 – even if I’m old, it was late for my era) they’ve steadily eaten away at my hazy patches of uncategorized time. I can still pinpoint the time I spend doing yoga, playing harp, reading, sleeping, working, etc, but there are massive fields of hours – and also fragments of lost time – that go to the computer. And, really, to the internet.
The first step (I mean…other than recognizing it) is probably writing down all of the time I spend online. (My immediate thought here is “Ooh – I should buy a special fancy notebook for this!” but that’s probably a) procrastination; b) jealousy over my students’ new school supplies.) AND THEN? Trying to repurpose that time for something that is, at the least, more intentional than reading about blogs on reddit or scrolling through gymnastics message boards.
In part, if I can spend more of my subway and at-home time reading, I think I’ll feel better. If I can spend it WRITING, I’ll really feel better. And I’ll also feel justified in spending time on things like paring down both my physical possessions and my digital belongings.
I could also feel better about setting aside time to do things like listen to my Discover Weekly playlist all the way through (necessary, no; I’m kind of a completionist, though, which is why having too many magazine subscriptions is dangerous for me and also why I’m still reading a book that I find pretty boring–and, until I finish it, I can’t take my Kindle off of airplane mode to download new ebooks, because this one is overdue at the library…I know, the horror and trauma) or searching for a program with which to draw the various ideas for graphic design/cartoons that I have kicking around my brain.
