Internet Free Days!

Papist

Papist

Trad Catholic
Heritage
I am referring only to internet browsing for leisure purposes, but it strikes me I spend far too much time online. I watch almost zero television nowadays, literally <1 hour per week, though I do stream films and documentaries, but even then it would be <10 hours per week.

My point is that the internet has replaced television for me and though it does involve reading, and so engages the brain somewhat, I feel that I would benefit from internet free days where perhaps I could read the Bible and get more exercise.

Obviously, this being an internet forum, I imagine there will be many in a similar position to me. I also don't want to discourage anybody from participating in this forum.

Has anybody tried this? A friend of mine states that he uses an app that limits his time online. Any other suggestions?
 
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
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1 Cor 10:23
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If you have better things to do, cut back; but more importantly keep off pornography and other vile content.

As for me:

Aside from exercise and scripture I have no other hobby but using my computer, and I do not see this changing. Not for the time being.
 
virtue said:
If you have better things to do, cut back; but more importantly keep off pornography and other vile content.

As for me:

Aside from exercise and scripture I have no other hobby but using my computer, and I do not see this changing. Not for the time being.
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That's reasonable. Many people spend huge portions of their lives watching television, as I said. At least with the internet you're reading, writing and thinking! However, have you not considered learning to play a musical instrument? Or a foreign language? Or a martial art? Or painting? Creative writing, etc?

I am a hypocrite, btw, as I would like to do all of those things and yet year after year, I find myself lying on the couch with the laptop on my chest, surfing the 'net!
 
Yes, it's a challenge because the internet, and especially finance topics, investing or planning, are my morning "newspaper". Otherwise, I go for walks, work out, etc but find that since I watch no TV any longer (only sports occasionally), it's hard to be completely removed from the information and interactions we have in places like this.

I really should spend more time praying, but that is a difficult thing to do for X period of time per day. I have to work on it.
 
Papist said:
I am referring only to internet browsing for leisure purposes, but it strikes me I spend far too much time online. I watch almost zero television nowadays, literally <1 hour per week, though I do stream films and documentaries, but even then it would be <10 hours per week.

My point is that the internet has replaced television for me and though it does involve reading, and so engages the brain somewhat, I feel that I would benefit from internet free days where perhaps I could read the Bible and get more exercise.

Obviously, this being an internet forum, I imagine there will be many in a similar position to me. I also don't want to discourage anybody from participating in this forum.

Has anybody tried this? A friend of mine states that he uses an app that limits his time online. Any other suggestions?
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I have began spending less than an hour per day on my phone, and using my computer screen only for work and discussion like this site.

In the last 31 days, I have used my phone a total of 37 hours. Which I believe I would like to get down to under 20 hours per month (giving up a whole day to a little screen is insane).

Sundays can be the day we go to church, spend with family, read books, and spend zero minutes on the device. Let us start a forum wide challenge for this!
 
Thefinalepic said:
I have began spending less than an hour per day on my phone, and using my computer screen only for work and discussion like this site.

In the last 31 days, I have used my phone a total of 37 hours. Which I believe I would like to get down to under 20 hours per month (giving up a whole day to a little screen is insane).

Sundays can be the day we go to church, spend with family, read books, and spend zero minutes on the device. Let us start a forum wide challenge for this!
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A great idea!

It's all about self-discipline.

I will reiterate, that spending time on a forum such as this is definitely not a bad thing. We are mostly discussing topics of importance, sharing information and reading, writing and most importantly thinking! However, spend hours in front of Netflix or video games is surely bad.
 
For the last 2 weeks I shut my phone off on Saturday. The entire day. Yesterday no texting, no youtube, no emails, no news sites, no aimless web searching, and no forum; I only used my laptop to watch an episode of Star Trek and to do some creative writing. It was what I needed. I let myself get too overstimulated and I can't handle all the distractions and 101 ways to amuse myself on my phone. My mind jumps around from one thing to the next and I can't get fully engaged with anything. I say go internet free at least once a week.
 
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I have went several days with my phone turned off and no internet usage a couple of times. Day 1 and 2 don't seem all too different but I always notice cognitive improvements around the third day. I'm way more focused while studiying, have better quality sleep and I'm able to efficiently block out time in the day for other activities such as reading or going for longer walks. As an introverted guy, I also really enjoy the fact that I can have time to myself - not carrying a device that gives others the ability to reach you 24/7 makes a world of a difference.

But here is the thing. Every now and then I have to turn on my phone to let others know that I'm ok and just needed some time to be offline. (They find this very difficult to understand) Yet, when I do so I tell myself beforehand that I'll turn it on for about an hour, reply to messages - and then turn it off again. So far, I haven't managed to do this. As soon as I turn on the phone again, I leave it on for the entire day. Sporadically checking for messages, scrolling social media, watching Youtube on it and so on.
Even though I'd like to believe I have somewhat control over my phone/internet usage time, examples like this clearly show me that I do not.
These devices and the internet are way too addictive in my opinion and I'm planning to finally switch to a dumphone for good.
 
The worst part about my screen addiction is that my university's educational process is oriented towards phone-users — there are no physical manuals and books, they are all moved onto a website, and we also work in programs on our laptops. As a result my screentime is horrifying.

Glory to God, with His help I have been able to control myself and decrease my screentime (to an extent) recently. I deleted all the social media with the exception of this forum and GoyTube. On Saturdays and Sundays I go to the church, so it's easier to forget about my phone.

This week I started praying the daily services from the Orologion and it seems to have effect; I feel it just makes me more organized in general, as my prayer rule before that was quite sporadic and chaotic. I advise all Orthodox to try this. I'm still wasting too much time staring at the screen, but there's progress, thanks God. My next step would be turning off all my devices for a couple of days completely, which I hope I'll do these holidays — also a part of the Nativity fast. I believe in our days it is more important to fast from screens than food (or at least in my particular case).
 
I've been slowly transitioning away from less dependence on the internet. I got a flip phone for personal use, it's a newer that has a primitive version of google maps, what's app, and a couple of other smartphone tools. I pay $300/year for unlimited calls and text, with 10gb of data. I also have an mp4 player to listen to classical music (public domain) and audiobooks from old books (also, public domain) as well as podcasts or educational videos. I convert YouTube videos to mp3 format to then listen them over my mp4 player. Gonna try to figure out how to convert audible books into actual mp3s, so that I can listen to my purchases at anytime instead of through an app.
 
I feel like I’m ok with screen time (phone anyway, but I probably watch 3-4hrs of TV a day about 50+% is educational YouTube, but one thing I’ve noticed is that I tend to go back and check on my various “things” too many times and it’s unnecessary. Like do I really need to check my crypto balance 5+ times a day when I haven’t bought or sold anything in several months? Just one example. Sure it’s only a combined <5 min max per day but then there’s my fantasy football scores and email checking and so on. I have no social media accounts so that is good. Also I keep all notifications silenced so I check my phone only when I think about it, not jumping into good dog behavior off any vibrations or sounds.
 
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