"No surfing the internet" week, anyone?

[Smokering]

Two weeks ago I vowed to stop surfing the internet for a week, because it's a huge timesuck for me. I tend to spend hours and hours looking up crafty stuff to "inspire" me, resulting in very little crafty stuff and an ever-growing mental pile of ideas which makes me feel permanently stressed and guilty. Not pretty. Also, I spend way too much time on MDC reading pages and pages of threads about people's mothers-in-law and childcare issues, on which I have nothing helpful to say. And, you know, Cake Wrecks.

So anyway, that week I didn't do any Internet browsing that wasn't necessary for my work (freelance writing), or necessary in terms of looking up recipes and phone numbers and such. It was cool! I didn't end up being vastly more productive - I turned to reading to get my downtime instead - but hey, I got through about eight books. And it was kind of unnerving to realise how automatically I'd go to the computer, even when there was nothing specific I wanted to look up.

Anyway, last week I Internet-ed again and I've decided I'd like to save the web for the weekends, at least week by week. So this week (it's Sunday here), no browsing until Saturday! Anyone wanna join me? I can't pop in to chat until Saturday, of course. Just thought it might inspire a few fellow Internet addicts!

[kristenok18]

I need to do something like this! I've been trying to make myself move the computer upstairs so that I won't be tempted to "hop on" all the time. Hasn't worked yet.

[tinybutterfly]

I've deleted all my news links, logged out of one of my other favorite message boards and logged out of fb and told everyone I'm on break. I did that last week. I am on my way already to trying to spend less time online.

I'm working hard at not cruising the interenet and trying to read more books or clean my house.

I'm in.

I have to check my e-mail a couple of times a day as that is the main way I keep in touch with people and I need to come to MDC a couple of times a day. Oh, and I like to check the weather for my area in the morning. Other than that, I will stay off the interwebz.

I have been thinking about putting my laptop in the closet. Seriously. Just unplugging for a few months totally. I can't do that realistically right now...but I think about it.

This is way, way worse for me than t.v. I can take or leave t.v., but the internet is very addictive.

[genifer]

What a capital idea! lol. Im not sure I can survive, mentally, without surfing the net all week and only on the weekends on a permanant basis, but I might be willing to consider to limiting my surfing time for one week of every month! I havent done much surfing over the summer with the kids off school anyway, but with school starting again the end of this week, that could be a good way to start the school year.

[tinybutterfly]

Originally Posted by genifer

What a capital idea! lol. Im not sure I can survive, mentally, without surfing the net all week and only on the weekends on a permanant basis,

I KNOW I use the internet surfing as a way to cope with stress.

I mean I am not sure which is worse, endless internet cruising, eating or shopping...those are my other stress relief activities.

I wish I was one of those people who CLEAN when they get stressed out.

Oh, I figured out how to stop myself from oogling the news on my yahoo page and getting sucked in. I set it to sports. I have zero interest in sports, so that will take care of that little bit of tempation.

[Purple Sage]

This is exactly what I need. My main issue is that I work from home online, and it is so tempting to read blogs or MDC instead of actually doing my job. I think I'll limit my online time Monday-Friday to work only during the day, and then spend a little time after the kids are in bed catching up on my email and blogs. I value a good night's sleep more than surfing the web, so I don't think I'll be tempted to spend too long online at night. It's all the times I have the intention of working but take "just a minute" to read something else that gets me. I hope this leads to more time on-the-clock (more money!) AND more time cooking, cleaning, and playing with the kids. The computer is such a time-suck, that is for sure!

[cristina47454]

I think I need to jump in on this too. Ugh...but can I???? Other than bill pay and weather...makes me break a sweat just thinking about it. But I NEED to be present for my kids. During the summer it was easy bcs we were always at the pool or doing something outdoors. My fear is that when school starts in a couple of days I'll use it to "disengage" again. And I hate that side of me.

[VisionaryMom]

I'm in. I do work remotely, so I have to be online for that. I will make a concerted effort not to do any chatting/message boards/Facebook/mindless surfing for trivia.

[LauraLoo]

I'll join, too. I've already put together a list of things I'd like to accomplish in the next week.....bet I'll make a decent dent. Not to mention that it's a week before the dc's start school.......I want to spend some extra time hanging with them.

See you all in a week!

[daisymama12]

I need to do this too.
I was at a cottage this summer without my computer, and the place was always clean, and I know why!

Starting now!

[tinybutterfly]

I'm here usually most days, so thought I'd check in. It's okay for me to check my e-mail or come to MDC. But NOT to use Google to cruise.

Big fail yesterday and today.

Gonna get off here soon and NOT use Google anymore this week.

[Dreaming]

I want to join, but most of my connecting with other adults is done online.
I do know life would be so much better if I just stepped away from the computer. I'm in. I just need to think of my personal perimeters (I have an online business).

[LauraLoo]

Well, 2 1/2 days I did pretty well. I was even going to limit my MDC surfing.....but I found that I needed to post some things today. No other surfing of the internet though, which is pretty easy for me.

Signing off now.....

[Dreaming]

Well, I completely suck at doing no internet.
However, tomorrow is another day. I have a TON of things that need doing that do not include using the computer. I will do everything in my power to focus on them.
I just had a discussion with a few women in my business group about how no one reads craft blogs anymore because they can use that time to actually (wait for it) make their OWN crafts. Profound.
If I could tear myself away after just one blog, I'd do it, but one thing leads to another and soon I'm attempting to consume the entirety of the internet in one day.
My kids need me and my business needs me and my house needs me. I'm sure DH would prefer to have me around more. I am TOTALLY hiding out in the computer and it's not serving me. Instead, I'm getting sore (and sometimes half numb) hands and fingers from typing and using the mouse all day long.

Okay, so after all that blather, I am going to unplug tomorrow. I will check my email 3 times and only read the really important stuff like customer orders. The rest of my time will be doing other things.
I can do this.

Right?

[tinybutterfly]

Originally Posted by Dreaming

Well, I completely suck at doing no internet.
However, tomorrow is another day. I have a TON of things that need doing that do not include using the computer. I will do everything in my power to focus on them.
I just had a discussion with a few women in my business group about how no one reads craft blogs anymore because they can use that time to actually (wait for it) make their OWN crafts. Profound.
If I could tear myself away after just one blog, I'd do it, but one thing leads to another and soon I'm attempting to consume the entirety of the internet in one day.
My kids need me and my business needs me and my house needs me. I'm sure DH would prefer to have me around more. I am TOTALLY hiding out in the computer and it's not serving me. Instead, I'm getting sore (and sometimes half numb) hands and fingers from typing and using the mouse all day long.

Okay, so after all that blather, I am going to unplug tomorrow. I will check my email 3 times and only read the really important stuff like customer orders. The rest of my time will be doing other things.
I can do this.

Right?

This.

And the bolded parts especially.

Right now I have only checked my e-mail and been here. So...when I get off MDC I need to NOT GO ANYWHERE ELSE!!!

I have soooo much to do this week. Major housecleaning...and if I didn't spend so much time on the internet the cleaning, um, wouldn't need to be so major.

This is my place I escape to...this is how I mainly destress ( this and eating too much. )

I need to find some more appropriate ways to deal with stress.

I HAVE been reading more. That is good.

I did delete a bunch of blogs from my bookmarks. I am thinking about deleting more.

And yes, today is another day.

[onlygirls]

I can identify with all these posts, just wanted to comment that we are all trying to get away from the internet and we are supporting each other on the internet! Like an AA meeting at a bar!

My problem is that DH works nights and once the kids are in bed, I get SUCKED IN. I stay up too late, have a hard time getting up in the morning, lather rinse repeat.

I need to make myself a priority and get some rest. There are a million things I would rather do with my time, but at night my brain turns into oatmeal and an hour goes by so quickly.

One thing I have found that works for me: I have internet on my phone, so I know when I get an e-mail. I can check my e-mail from my phone without sitting in the office, where I will end up on my butt for hours. Like this morning!

[Dreaming]

I had an idea and I plan to implement it.
If I give myself x amount of time once a week to surf or check certain blogs or whatever, at least I'm not feeling totally "deprived" of all that is fun on the internet. Kind of like someone having a cheat day on a diet. If I know I have two hours of uninterrupted guilt-free surfing coming up, I can put the thought aside until it's time (or make a note or whatever).

I have a lot of goals that I'm working toward and none of them really have to do with surfing the web.
I think that by focusing on my goals and getting excited about them, I'm more likely to focus my time and attention on the goals instead of aimless wandering or internet social connections.

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by onlygirls

just wanted to comment that we are all trying to get away from the internet and we are supporting each other on the internet! Like an AA meeting at a bar!

Ooops.......what the heck am I doing here.....???

Seriously, though, I've definitely limited the amount that I've spent just surfing away without intent. Even though I didn't make it a full week, I feel good. I put a list of all those non-urgent tasks, but things I'd like to tackle right beside my computer and I ask myself every time I look at the computer if I'd be better off doing one of those instead. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I did find that I missed a couple of semi-important emails that got buried in all of the junk mail that accumulated in my email in-box. I think it's time to unsubscribe to some things that I never really read anyway......

[Smokering]

Echhh, well, I totally failed. I had a good reason though, kinda. DH and I decided to start TTC, so of course I "had to" look up a lot of information about prenatal nutrition and stuff, and that led to me spending two hours on Ravelry last night finding the perfect newborn knitting projects. It took a lot of searching because I wanted to start RIGHT NOW with my lovely new wool, and I only have two and a half pairs of needles, so I could only pick projects that used those sizes. Of course by the time I filtered out all the too-big clothes and the probably-the-wrong-season clothes and the difficult patterns and everything knitted in the round and the ugly patterns, it was too late to start knitting. Oh well - we were at SIL's this afternoon and I got some done, because I couldn't get distracted with the internet. Imgine how much I could get done if I didn't surf the web! And yet, if I knitted for an hour instead of web-surfing, I'd feel like I was being lazy. It makes no sense.

My main problem is that I use craft blogs to get "inspired", but I tend to forget that it doesn't count as inspiration unless you actually follow through by making something. My pretend-inspiration-to-actual-achievement ratio is like, 5000 to one. Not great.

I'm not sure what I'll do about next week, because I do want to be free to look up more TTC stuff and knitting tutes if necessary. But I also need to get ahead - well, less behind - on my articles. Hmm. Maybe I'll make a definite ban on frivolous sites (CakeWrecks, et al), and say I can only use the net for purposeful research purposes. Which does not include checking the "I'm Pregnant" forum to see if anything interesting has shown up, still less "Birth and Beyond" - or the UC forum, when I don't even intend to have a UC. Gah. It's a sickness, I tell you.

[tinybutterfly]

Originally Posted by Smokering

to see if anything interesting has shown up, still less "Birth and Beyond" - or the UC forum, when I don't even intend to have a UC. Gah. It's a sickness, I tell you.

Not to enable you or anyone else here, but...if you are a very curious person who really enjoys learning new things, THAT may be part of the draw of the internet. It's like...a giant library there in your lap! I was one of those kids who enjoyed reading the dictionary and the encyclopedia...knowledge is power and all that.

So...the internet is pretty much irresistable.

I totally failed this week, but will try again next week. I'm not going to get all harsh on myself, cuz honestly it was a stressful week. I am way more upset about the overeating I did, than the internet time.

I have not been on AS MUCH, but I was still cruising and some of it started out innocently enough, but then led to rabbit trails and...I went.

This week is going to be stressful, too.