Last week I announced I would do what YouTuber Luke Smith recommended to anybody: I didn‘t use the internet at home. This is what I discovered:
First I ran into trouble: How should I do daily blog posts about the experiment without the internet at home? I had two options: Write everything and upload it as soon as I would pass by a wifi hotspot or just wait for the week to end and post one article about the entire experience. I decided for the latter and discovered the following:
Productivity
I had an increase in productivity. Instead of mindless social media surfing, I actually invested the free time into following my passion of writing music and practising singing. Interestingly enough I barely practise when I do have access to the internet at home.
Social Benefits
Instead of staying at home and watching Netflix or YouTube (which does not work without the internet) I hung out with friends a lot more, especially on thursday, when I had a great Mario Kart evening with a good friend back from school who I did not see in ages.
Less Clutter
Minimalism is about getting rid of the clutter. This week I learned that this applies to cognitive clutter as well. I felt more relaxed and less stressed / unfocused. This proves to me that social media has less benefits and is more harming than I wish it was.
I Missed YouTube
It was kind of strange to not be able to watch the latest videos of people like Bryan Lunduke, Luke Smith, Break the Twitch and more than I can come up with. While it was a good thing to not binge watch whatever the algorithm throws my way, it would have been nice to have some sort of information about the latest events in the Minimalism or Computer sphere.
More Deliberation With Media Consumption
The last thing I learned was that limiting access to media forces me to be more deliberate about what I consume when and for how long. If I had watched every downloaded video in one sitting I wouldn‘t have anything left for the rest of the week.
After All I can highly recommend the experiment. It gives great insights into how independent we can live without the Internet, even in 2017. It might be a useful tool, but we should actually use it as such and not as a painkiller against boredom.
Writer's Funk 