21 days without the internet…at the time of writing this.
To say that going into this experience wasn’t met with a touch of apprehension would be In-accurate, although we knew that we would cope ok we just didn’t really know how we would go once we flicked the internet switch off.
Some of the goals hoped to gain from this experiment were
- Reduce the amount of screen-time we were indulging in
- Engage more with each other
- Read more, Learn more
As the experiment went on we found we gained a whole heap more then we expected!
Day 1
Day 1 arrived it was a Thursday and thankfully being a normal routine day in the house not having the Internet wasn’t too much of a problem, we went about our day as per usual, the kids were none the wiser.
For us, however we knew the weekend was looming and we hoped that prior preparations to have activities planned for the kids was enough to keep them engaged, having fun and distracted from the absence of tablet time.
Day 2
The pressure was on normally Friday night we would all get together as a family and watch a movie to round off the week. But with no internet there were no movies tonight kids.
We charged through the nightly bath and dinner routine, and once we were done we all sat down and just talked about anything and everything. We even sparked a little game of charades before we all felt the tiredness set in and by 730am we were all down and out for the night.
The weekend continued without any questions about the internet (or lack of entertainment) the kids seemed happy with drawing and playing , out hopes were high that this would continue , had we really pulled this off ?
Only time would tell…
Day 7
Although we had no home based internet connection for business and work purposes my wife and I still required mobile internet to complete administrative tasks. Using our phones as wi-fi hotspots we had 30gb each to work with for the month. My dilemma was that by day 7 of this experiment I had 2 weeks left on my billing cycle and only 15% of my data usage available.
I had to tighten up the reigns on my usage so I went to my screen time settings and set some restrictions in place.
Settings as follows;
- 30 mins of Instagram per day
- 30 mins of FB per day
- 45 mins of YouTube
I also set my phone to go into “down time “ between 9pm and 3am. This setting is great, basically the phone would shut down all the phone apps bar the ones I selected to keep on (alarm, podcast ,audible)
This meant that I would not be alerted to any notifications from any of my apps during this time and thus I wasn’t unwittingly drawn to the little red notification bubbles on my phone.
Day 14
So far so good although we have had to deal with a few bordem antics from the kids it’s actually been really cool when the kids would actually turn off the telly on their own and start a drawing or craft project un-prompted, even putting themselves to bed at night was a welcome surprise.
So far only 1 query about the internet has been asked and the response was met with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders and no further concerns or questions were had. Sweet maybe we were in the clear…
Day 21
Now at 21 days into the experiment we have all found other ways to keep ourselves occupied but I can say without a doubt there have been some stand out improvements since the experiment began.
Sleep
My sleep has improved dramatically, not only am I going to bed early I’m sleeping really really well. In fact the whole family are all in the same boat by the time 7:20pm rolls around we are all off to bed absolutely knackered from our days. On the odd occasion I would even grab a 20 min nap and wake up completely refreshed and revitalised!
Activity/training
Without the internet our activities as a family have gone up. I feel we are simply more pro-active with our time, and with no internet we aren’t glued to a screen, and thus moving and burning more energy.
I also noticed my energy to train was up, averaging 6 sessions per week with a tonne of incidental exercise included, I felt my fitness has increased substantially.
Play
Wow! If your a parent and there was ever a reason to give this experiment a go then this is it. The kids have really shown that if you remove the restrictions that screens impose on your kids imagination you will see them adapt and express there on creativity, autonomy and resourcefulness. They are far more pro-active with the household chores, as well as being more patient and playful with one another.
The kids are a true reminder of how much we influence there behaviours, by removing screens they are stimulated to grow, what we thought would be the most difficult component of this experiment has actually become the most encouraging.
Productivity
My productivity usage with technology has doubled whilst my social media and entertainment has halved! Likewise I have replaced you tube with reading from books and audible of which I completed a whole book in a few days.
Summary
What an interesting experiment and with a few surprising results that were not expected at all! It’s amazing cos when you use your brain and body more you get super tired , and now on reflection I always used the excuse that I needed entertainment to wind down when in fact based on the experiment the opposite is proving to be true.
We live in a world of noise and distraction with no letting up in sight. I was beginning to feel discontent with using devices and even a sense of disappointment in myself for becoming so hooked in the first place. I knew I had to turn this around and there’s no doubting the last 21 days have put me back in the drivers seat and back in control!
There’s power knowing you are in control, there’s power knowing you can make conscientious choices, and there’s power knowing you are no longer influenced by technology that is designed to keep you engaged and addicted to the content it feeds you.
Our lives are too short to be glued to a screen, and It seems so ironic that as you read this article this message would not have reached you in any other way but through a screen. This is the dichotomy we all face but know you have a choice, be deliberate about the content you engage with and enjoy the time you create disconnected from technology.
This experiment has taught me resilience and not to give into the pull of technology, but to harness it, and leverage it as a tool not as a master!
With a month left in 2019 we will continue this experiment into the new year and beyond, however we will definitely need a strategy to bring the household back online eventually, but we will save that story for another time…
Richie
