Tag Archives: Internet addiction

Taking Control of Your Clutter is Not Merely a Fantasy

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Simpler Living Tagged , ,

Clutter:

Gets in your way.

Takes up time that you’d rather spend on other things.

Distracts you when you’re trying to get something done.

Lurks in your mind even when you can’t see it.

Displaces more important things in your house and your mind.

This is true of digital clutter as well as physical clutter. When I took my digital vacation a few months ago, I was able to focus more on reading and on thinking as well as working with my hands. I wasn’t a slave to a device; it no longer controlled me. The physical comparison would be how rearranging your clutter around your house controls your actions and keeps you from doing other things because all that clutter is in your way.

I’m old enough that taking a break from devices lets me go back to the way I used to be, before the Internet. But younger people don’t know what life was like before the Internet. Their reality is a life of being controlled by devices, and I mean controlled. Take a look at this article by a man who visits England every summer and purposely takes the long way home in the form of seven days on the Queen Mary, where it’s too hard to access the Internet.

He loves the break from being online. He loves being able to think, or read, or just sit. But as he nears the U.S., and Internet access becomes available again, his smartphone sucks him back online like an octopus pulling him under the ocean. Once again, he loses control of his actions.

Like physical clutter, digital clutter must be conquered if you ever want to get your life back…..or enjoy having a life for the first time in memory. Am I the only one who thinks the headline of this article, “The Fantasy of Being Disconnected,” is tragic? The author is a person who is completely controlled by digital clutter.

Digital Fast is Extended Indefinitely

By Claire Posted in Personal, Simpler Living Tagged , , , ,

My recent and ongoing digital fast has really opened my eyes to how technology can add virtual clutter to your life. But what does digital fasting have to do with decluttering?

What I’ve learned over the past month is that being addicted to technology, and in my case Internet surfing, keeps you from doing things you enjoy. With the best intentions, you buy more yarn…paint….garden plants, and then struggle to find the time to work with those things because you waste too much time surfing, or checking up to see what people are doing on Facebook, because of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Future projects pile up and supplies you’ve bought sit collecting dust because you spend too much time with your phone, tablet, or laptop.

While I’ve now discovered this for myself personally, I know of others with similar struggles, like the hoarder who lives in a mess but is constantly checking people’s Facebook and Instagram to see what new clothes they’re wearing or what they’re buying for their house now. Then she orders those new things online; they’re soon delivered and simply add to her houseful of clutter.

An Internet addiction, whether the sufferer is a news hound like me, a Facebook addict like the hoarder I know, or even a gaming or Pinterest lover, eats up enormous amounts of time that would otherwise be spent keeping up with other pursuits, including those that create clutter if you don’t follow through with them. This is one more way people end up with closets full of fabric, tabletops covered with books and basements packed with craft supplies.

In addition to the clutter those things create, we miss out on the fun we could be having with those items. There’s a peace you get from creating and finishing things that cannot be matched by satisfying your FOMO….and news junkies like me definitely have FOMO.

This experiment has led me to decide to stay off Internet news sites for the foreseeable future. After a month away from them, I feel very uninformed, and much less stressed. Best of all, my garden is in great shape, I’m reading a couple of books a week, and I’m having fun with a couple of craft projects that I may actually complete before long, now that I’m not spending so much time online.

Digital Fasting Continues

By Claire Posted in Personal, Simpler Living Tagged , , ,

So it’s been two weeks since I banned the Internet except for work and email. It has been much easier to do this than I expected. As I hoped, I do feel less stressed, and I think it’s because I’ve had more time to do things I need to do.

The mornings have been particularly different. I usually sit down to breakfast and surf all of my favorite news sites. That takes a while. But since the ban, all I do is check email. So I’m getting the breakfast dishes washed sooner, I’m getting the laundry started sooner, I’m able to run errands earlier….it really does make a difference.

I’ve started reading books again. I’d forgotten how pleasurable that is. I’ve had time to work around the house, work on my writing, work in the yard and still read for fun and relaxation. It’s been many years since I could do all those things in one day, and I realize that my Internet addiction is the main reason for that.

I should point out that I don’t have a smartphone, by choice. So as long as I keep my laptop closed and limit my tablet use to checking email and the weather, I haven’t been too tempted to surf the Internet.

As a result, I’ve decided to add another week to my Internet ban. For sure, I want to get the rest of the annuals into containers, and I’ve got a couple of sewing projects that have been calling my name. Then, once I catch up around the house, I have a book that I’ve been writing that needs to be completed.

As for Candy Crush, I may pick that up again, but only at night when we’re watching a DVD. I’ve crocheted enough dishcloths these past two weeks, so I’m ready to put down the crochet hook and pick up my tablet. But if I get stuck at a level for too long, I may give it up again. I’m finding that time is too precious to be wasted on a device.

Digital Fasting Update

By Claire Posted in Personal, Simpler Living Tagged , , ,

So it’s been just over a week, and I’ve stuck to my promise to stay off the Internet except for work and email, and I haven’t even gone near Candy Crush.  I did this in hopes that my stress level would go down.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened, but only because two family members ended up in the emergency room last week: one was in an accident, and the other had a stroke. They’re both doing better now, but having those things happen two days in a row definitely elevated my stress level.

But that’s an unavoidable kind of stress. I do believe that I am slowly de-stressing now that I have no idea what’s going on in the world, who’s mad at whom politically, or who is behaving badly. Oddly enough, I don’t care. I’ve been chipping away at my to-do list, and working in the yard, something I do every year at this time. But this year I’m doing it without the time pressure that usually comes with it because I wasted part of the day surfing the Web and, as a result, am short on time. So I’m enjoying spring planting even more than usual.

I’ve crocheted quite a few dishcloths at night, when I would usually be playing Candy Crush, but I do miss it. More accurately, I miss winning; many times, Candy Crush means losing the same level for days on end, which got very frustrating, and I certainly don’t miss that!

In six days, I can go back online. To be honest, I’m not sure I want to. There’s a slower pace to my life right now, and I think it’s because time isn’t flying while I surf online. I like it; in fact, I may extend the ban. We’ll see……