Weekend Blackout - Freedom from Internet

Internet has become a pervasive part of everyone’s life and people are addicted to it. Even I am addicted to it to some extend but have the willpower to restrain myself from it.  Last weekend, I was given a golden opportunity to test my claim as I moved into my new apartment – new ‘empty’ apartment.

I was in a bit of shock that how will I survive without any entertainment source over the weekend. After working for 5 days in office, these 2 days of weekend are for relaxation. So, without television or internet, life would be difficult. How will I see my facebook notifications, how will I update my twitter status, how will I listen to songs online, how will I read news and keep abreast with the things happening around and finally and most importantly, how will I check my mails and chat with friends. These are the reasons which most people state when they are asked – what do you use internet for? Even I had the same reasons. But somehow I felt I can do away with it.

I love internet because I like information. I am not usually active on facebook as it throws huge amount of personal information of others on you. I just check facebook once or twice a day to see any notifications or messages. I love twitter. I follow others as it gives me all the current information on the topics I love – startups, technology, hardware hacks, arduino, android, sports, etc. Apart from these 2 social networking sites, I read news and check my mails and sometimes use internet for online learning.  I also love to write, and so I read other blogs and maintain this blog. Hence, my use of internet is limited to these domains only.

Over the weekend, I didn’t have access to internet. How did I feel – sad/bored/unhappy ? Strangely NO.

Instead, I felt great and peaceful. I had time with myself. I did things which I was procrastinating since weeks. I went out and did shopping. I bought clothes and shoes. My to-do list shortened. I hanged out with friends. I went to see a movie in a cinema hall. I finished a novel which was incomplete since ages. I went out for a walk. I played with some hardware. I called up people and actually talked with them. My relatives were surprised on hearing my voice :P I chatted with friends over sms and the most important thing which I did was to sleep. I slept like a baby for 12 hours a day. I felt completely rejuvenated.

I realized that we all have become slaves of internet. Internet/social media rules our life. There is  - ‘information overload’ in our lives which may not  be a good thing. Using internet is good, but there should be a demarcating line before you reach to the extreme end. My demarcating line is that I don’t use internet on phone. So whenever I am away from my laptop, I am with myself, unconnected with internet and the virtual world. It was a new kind of experience to live without internet but totally worth it. Now, I am trying to cut down my online presence to enjoy the real world. Hope you also try this once and feel what I experienced :)