Disconnected. But in a good way.

By Lisa Jones

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives”
-Annie Dillard

My best friend declared Sunday to be Computer Free Day.

I thought it was royally stupid.

I heard myself saying things like “I can get offline whenever I want” and “I don’t check my email that much” and “lighten up, the Internet is just fun.”

It was all very reminiscent of the language evoked by addicts.

I had to face the fact that maybe my computer use (email, Twitter, Facebook, blog readers, community forums) might be complicating my life and getting in the way of more important things. Getting online is the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do at night. I refuse to publicly admit how many times I check my email during the day.

(“But, I’m a freelance writer! I work from home! All my work is online!” My addiction cries.)

Sure, some of my usage is valid but I know I waste huge amounts of time on useless stuff. Seriously, who needs to spend that much time watching a Goat Cam?

Anne Dillard was right, I don’t want to spend my days looking at rap video spoofs on YouTube, only to find that I’ve spent my life doing exactly that. I like to live with intention and be conscious of what choices I make with my life.

So, here’s how my Simple Sunday experiment day differed from the norm.

7 a.m.
Normal Online Day: Mindlessly eat breakfast and check email.
Offline Sunday: Drink tea and enjoy the magazine articles I’ve been meaning to read. (Added de-cluttering bonus; once I read them, I recycled them and finally got them off the coffee table.)

9 a.m.
Normal Online Day: Watch cute cat video someone posted on my Facebook wall.
Offline Sunday: Take the dog on an extra long walk, chat with neighbors along the way.

11 a.m.
Normal Online Day: Have a question? Google it. Apparently, earthquakes are pretty rare in Hong Kong.
Offline Sunday: Have a question? Think about possible answers to my question. Mention it to my husband. Interesting conversation ensues.

2 p.m.
Normal Online Day: Check Twitter, once again, to see if any of my quips were clever enough to be re-tweeted.
Offline Sunday: Sit outside with a book and a lemonade.

5 p.m.
Normal Online Day: “Like” a status update on a friend’s Facebook page.
Offline Sunday: Call that friend and have an actual live conversation.
9 p.m.
Normal Online Day: Indulge a guilty pleasure of “Real Housewives” blogs.
Offline Sunday: Indulge a guilty pleasure of a long bath with Epsom salts and essential oils.

I was shocked at how often I unconsciously wandered over to my laptop, just because there was nothing else to fill up that moment. It was wonderful to stop myself, mid-tap, and just let that moment be.

It also led to eliminating other unconscious behavior. Because I was so deliberate with my actions, I didn’t unknowingly grab for the remote or find myself with a handful of chips and wonder how they got there. My whole day was much more intentional.

While I missed being online—I think I had withdrawal shakes at one point—the not-so-shocking truth was when I eagerly powered up on Monday morning, I found that I had missed absolutely nothing. The world stayed on its axis just fine without my witty Facebook status updates and the most pressing email was about my cell phone bill being easier to read. I’m not saying we need to go back to 1985 and shun the Internet (how would you keep up to date with Charlottesville Woman blogs?) however, I think it’s worth while to take a closer look at our technology use.

If I look at my activities as a whole, the offline day seems to align better with my ideals of a good, intentional life.

(So, this is apparently a trend! Check out Unplugged Sunday for what others are doing with the wealth of time they have discovered by going offline once a week!)

Lisa Jones is a writer and a yoga fanatic with a serious travel addiction. You can find more from Lisa at her blogs Simplifying the Simple Life and Just here. Just now.