Internet-free Sundays

A year ago, I decided to try taking one Internet-free day per week. Since my work requires internet use, I have to read my work e-mail for example, this left me two choices: Saturday or Sunday. I have previously taken the occasional 24-hour break from the internet. This was usually a Sunday, although occasionally it would run Saturday evening through Sunday afternoon. I always felt better – maybe a bit more refreshed – after the break. It would happen once every two months or so.

What if I made the break more regular? Last October, I decided to give internet-free Sundays a trial run. I didn’t know how long it would last, but a year later I’m still going strong. On two occasions, I shifted my internet-free day to Saturday instead. One because of a final exam on Monday morning at 8am, and the other because of a conference. But otherwise I’ve managed to stick to internet-free Sundays. It helps to have a set day for habit-building.

I’m good about not doing work when I’m at home. Hence, internet usage typically involves non-work-related e-mail and browsing/surfing the web. I’m also good about refraining from non-work internet-use when I’m at work. So it’s only when I’m home that I catch up on news, potentially a bit of social media (although not daily), and random reading usually related to my interests: books, food, boardgames, science, etc. My web-surfing isn’t particularly focused. One thing can lead to another, and before you know it, chunks of time have passed.

So if I avoid the internet on Sundays, what do I do? After consulting my spouse, we both agreed that the #1 thing I do more is read. Actual books. Readers of my blog will know that I already read a lot. Now I read even more. I’d like to think that I spend a bit more time thinking and meditating, and that I do a bit more cooking on Sundays, but upon reflection I’m not so sure if I do. Maybe some Sundays. We did set aside some time every Sunday for a more extended ‘family chat’ to discuss in detail things we have been thinking about for the past week. I think that’s a good thing although it’s probably just an additional half hour time-wise. I don’t go out more or exercise more than usual on Sunday. I don’t sleep more either.

I haven’t quantified my normal internet usage on Sundays before this ‘experiment’ so I’m not actually sure how much time my reading has increased. I do feel that not looking at a device screen has been good for me. I already spend so much time at work in front of a computer; I shouldn’t be spending all my time at home in front of screen. Probably better for my eyes, my back and neck, and my posture in general. And I feel good about taking the internet-free day psychologically. All this seems reason to continue. I look forward to my internet-free Sunday as the weekend approaches – I think that’s a good thing!