I shut off my computer on Friday night. I disconnected my Wi-Fi. And I didn’t turn on my computer or check my email until this morning.
Felt great.
That’s a full 58 hours without email or Internet.
Instead of sneaking to my computer to peek at email or blog comments every few hours, I played with my kids, went to the park, vacuumed the garage, put together a puzzle, bought a new pair of shoes, did some reading, and did a little bit of list-making and writing in my notebook.
Not much different from what I might normally have done; the difference was a feeling of clarity. A feeling that I wasn’t chained to my laptop. A feeling that I was living in the real world.
I’m sad to confess that until this past weekend it had been months since I went two days or longer without checking email.
It’s my fault for letting down my guard and allowing my own busy-ness to consume my time.
Note to self: Turn off my Wi-Fi more often.
-Ryan M. Healy
{ 8 comments }
Good for you, Ryan!
I attempt to do the same things over my weekends.
It’s way too easy to become so consumed with success that we forget the real reasons that we want to be successful in the first place, right?
Good post from what I ’sense’ as a great guy!
Your kids, btw, will be grown and gone before you can blink …
so soak up every moment you can with them.
My 2 cents …
Thanks again,
Carolyn
http://blog.kickasscopywriter.com
Kids do grow up fast, don’t they? I’m always amazed my daughter is already five years old. Even more amazed when I think of her being a teenager in 8 years!
Thanks for the comment, Carolyn.
Ryan,
Hmmm…can’t turn off the computer huh? Until this 58 hour episode? :)
Symptoms of “Cantturnofis Maximus” include what you described here.
It’s that little switch that glows green (usually) on your monitor. ;)
Good job liberating yourself bud.
Joseph Ratliff
Actually, I turn off my computer often. But when the kids are napping on a Saturday afternoon, it’s way too easy to turn it back on. ;-)
ryan, grats on the liberation. i’ve done it before but there’s always a bit of internal turmoil involved… plus the fact i have a crackberry. sometimes i feel like a junkie looking for a tech fix…
Thanks, Mark. I can only imagine how much harder it would be with a Crackberry. Which is one reason why I’ve stayed away from them, as well as Palm devices, iPhones, etc.
Technology starts as a convenience, becomes a dependence, and eventually an addiction. Said another way, it liberates you and then enslaves you.
I say this (unfortunately) from experience.
It’s great to get away from it all and shut down.
“The hand you hold is the hand that holds you down.” – Everclear
Technology can be such a time waster when it’s not used in a focused manner.
Steven – That’s a great quote from Everclear.
I just took a short trip to Phoenix and left my laptop behind. So this time I went 96 hours without email. And I loved every second of it.
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