Unplugged? A week of trying to stay offline

A week ago I decided to unplug myself from the Internet – or at least try to.

I’d been feeling increasingly tired and felt as though I needed a change of pace and a thought being disconnected from the interweb would help with that, giving me a chance to rest and relax and slow down.

My plan

My plan had originally been to switch off the wi-fi hub at home (the previous week a problem had meant it hadn’t worked for 24 hours which had given me the idea to disconnect for longer in the first place). But, as I don’t live alone it clearly was’t very fair to inflict my disconnection cold turkey on other people! So I came up with another plan.

Unplugging – literally

I decided to let my Internet connected devices run out of power and to put their power supplies out of reach so that I couldn’t recharge them for the week.  A couple of years ago this would having simply meant unplugging my laptop. Now things are more complicated. I began to collect together power supplies for:

1. Laptop
2. My iPhone
3. My iPad
4. My Kindle
5. The radio
6. The television

I realised that far beyond work related things I was dependent on my Internet connected toys for almost all my entertainment and media consumption (I download my daily newspaper onto my iPad, the book I’m currently reading is on my Kindle, I listen to my favourite radio station online, I watch my new favourite comfort-watch TV programme using an online catch-up service).

Realising how difficult the week was going to be!

As my toys drained of power (or in the case of the TV and radio simply didn’t work without their plugs!) I realised just how difficult this week was going to be. So much of what I do is dependent on devices that have an Internet connection (even if I’m not connected). I use these devices to:

1. Talk to friends
2. Watch TV/Films
3. Listen to the radio
4. Read
5. Listen to music
6. Arrange and keep track of my social life
7. Draw!

A media fast

What had started off as an idea to work less and unplug myself from the distractions of the Internet looked like it was in danger of becoming a media fast (and a rather lonely media fast at that).

After the TV and radio left my life, my iPhone was the first to go. I began to panic a little, wondering if friends were trying to text me, or ring to invite me out for coffee and cake. The laptop wasn’t far behind. Interestingly I didn’t mind as it quietly went to sleep. There was a certain relief at the thought of not being able to check my email, work on my current projects, or tinker with my blog design.

My iPad took a little longer to run out of power. I drew happily on it for a couple of days (and even managed to resist the temptation to surf the web and check emails). When it did finally run out of power my heart sank, but I reached for a Moleskine and pen and carried on drawing. I do prefer the ease of digital drawing, it is far more energy efficient for me in terms of how I can create and can use the images, but the process of drawing on paper is still a lovely one, and wonderful to revisit.

<Finally there was my Kindle. I actually kept reading on it all week, which was a joy. It’s possible to turn off the Internet connection and that means the power last even longer, so I found out who had poisoned the quiche and murdered the philandering Colonel Cummings-Browne.

A good idea?

So would I recommend unplugging for a week. No, at least not literally.

I realised the Interent wasn’t what I wanted a break from (it actually brings a huge number of the relaxing comforts into my life) and I certainly didn’t really want to be without all the devices in my life that in one way or another make use of the Internet. What I wanted was a simple break from work (and my laptop).

What this week has shown me is how much I appreciate what the Internet brings into my life.

I’m talking a little more about my unplugged week in today’s One Thing Today podcast. The podcast goes out free to Sustainably Creative members every weekday. You can find out more about becoming a member here.