Yesterday’s blog made me think about ways I could further remove myself from my phone and the internet and Netflix and human society. I realize the last one is probably a few years down the line, but the other two are more within my grasp.

Here are my ideas:

Only check texts/emails/anything at all at certain times instead of whenever I have a free moment. Shift to batching these things.

Only go on Facebook long enough to post my blog and reply to things. Definitely no clicking on the stupid news stories they post in the sidebar. Except that I already read about the substitute teacher in Oklahoma who got arrested for doing cartwheels with no underwear on. This pretty much explains why I won’t be looking at the sidebar anymore.

No Netflix or video games until I’ve written at least 1000 words that day. I don’t watch a lot of television or play a lot of video games in comparison to most people I know, but it is still more than I would like, and I think they serve as a sort of retreat for me. I notice that the more tired I get or the harder the day was, the more likely I am to just park in front of the television.

This is the big one: no non-essential internet use. This kills Reddit for me, but it probably needs to be done. I use the internet for a lot of worthwhile stuff, but I also browse a lot of stupid shit and then post it on Facebook. It’s odd that I get joy from people “liking” or commenting on something I found, but it’s there. This will cut on back on consuming the news as well, which is always toxic, but especially so right now.

I am sure there are other ways to disconnect, and I will find them as I go.

It is really sad how much time we waste on the internet, when it has the potential to be something that saves us time.

It is troubling how much energy we waste on things we cannot control because the internet is putting them in our face 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

I get that we all need to be informed, but being obsessed over things that we cannot do anything about is pointless and detrimental to our health. Time we spend on things we cannot control is taken from the things we can.

Install the Moment app on your iPhone or Quality Time for Android, and see how much time you spend engaged electronically. Remember that these do not even address time spent on laptops or the television. Decide if this is the best way to spend the limited time you have on this planet.

Says the guy who’s already spent 45 minutes at his computer by 5:15am. Have a great day.