The time was 8:37 p.m.
I remember it so clearly, almost as if someone announced it over the foghorn in a crowded room. 8:37 p.m.
Just a minute earlier, it had occurred to me that I must undertake this challenge. I’d read about it, toyed with the idea, wondered if I could actually do it and decided that plunging right in was the only way to really find out.
And so began my 24-hour challenge: The aim was to go for 24 hours without access to the Internet.
Almost instinctively, the two reactions that would go with this announcement are obvious: awe and disdain. The ones who are addicted to social media and gadgets will understand the former. The ones who consider themselves above the draw of the insidious internet will express the latter. And that’s fine. I’m just presenting the facts as I’ve seen them.
First, why 24 hours? Honestly, just a whim. It could just as easily have been 72. Also, why a challenge? Why not just switch off the Wi-Fi and be done with it?
Ah, that’s where the challenge bit comes in. I love challenges! I make myself accountable, mostly to myself and find that a part of me is driven to see it through, come what may. This has been true of my yelling-less challenges and my blogging challenges, not once but thrice.
Social media is an integral part of my life-personally and professionally. Denying it has been of little use and I’ve learnt to embrace it now with the satisfaction of doing things the way I like them. But there are times when I’ve felt overwhelmed by the constant pings on my device or the notifications tab on twitter and Facebook.
Reading many articles and a few books on mindfulness, purpose and happiness have re-affirmed what I’ve known all along: happiness lies in our hands. We need to carpe diem and ensure that we don’t let it slip out of our hands.
What did the challenge involve?
- Attempt to go 24 hours without logging on to the Internet
- Do not check any devices- phone/Tab/laptop for this period
- If you must use the phone, use it to make calls or send text messages
Sounds easy enough. How hard could that be?
What happened:
- I went 18 hours without touching my phone. (Had to log in after that to check an e-mail for an event)
- I did not open my laptop at all for 24 hours. (YAY!)
- I sent one text message and made/received 5 calls.
What else happened:
- I finished an entire book. You heard that right. I finished a 250-page book, cover to cover, in under 3 hours. It has been a LONG time since I’ve managed that and it was so gratifying!
- I did 3 loads of laundry and smiled as I watched the clean sheets fluttering in the afternoon sun.
- The maid was on leave so I managed to do some extra housework too with a song on my lips.
- I came back online after 18 hours to find 30 notifications, 4 messages and 5 e-mails waiting for me.
To put things in perspective, let’s just say it was one of the best Sundays of the past year. In all this time, there’s been a sense of urgency, a notion of unfinished business hanging around, the fact that things would stop moving if I wasn’t physically available or virtually so.
Guess what, the world continued on its journey. Nothing stopped. No cataclysmic event occurred and nobody was rendered helpless because of my ‘absence.’ Granted I didn’t manage the entire 24 hours (hey, I’m being honest here) but 18 hours is not too bad, if I do say so myself.
A challenge like this helps us do many things:
- It helps put our lives in perspective. We are not indispensable. Life will go on, come what may.
- Life online is wonderful and heartwarming, attested by the presence of fantastic people in my world, but they too have lives of their own.
- Taking a break is necessary for our souls. We need to get offline ever so often to savour what we used to do instinctively- read, walk, write by hand, cuddle with our loved ones or enjoy a meal without distraction.
- Time expands to welcome us if we can tear our eyes away from our screens. I’m amazed at the number of things (however small) that could be done in the space of time that was spent away from screens for just one day.
Now, the ultimate question:
Should you undertake the challenge?
Honestly, the only person who either needs to answer this question or even attempt the challenge is you. Each person has different needs and different reasons why they are connected to the Net. I am in no position to tell you how or if you should take this up.
The real question you should be asking yourself is:
Do I need this challenge?
If 24 hours seem too challenging for you, start small. Maybe two hours at a time. Build it up, little by little and see where it takes you. Perhaps you’ll find that it leads you back to a place of contentment deep within you.
*This is also my edition of Soulful Sundays this week. I can’t think of a more soulful way to begin the next 7 days. Can you?
I managed to do it sometimes, it gives me inner peace and its best thing is that it helps me to increase my productivity from the next day. and I think we need to it once or twice a month. Thanks for this amazing article mam
I do this every weekend. Then on Mondays, mind feels so fresh and ready to launch. Nice post Mam.
I do this every weekend. Then on Mondays, mind feels so fresh and ready to launch.
I was forced to go offline when I lost my old laptop, and looking at phone every 15 seconds was becoming irritating actually. So I stopped. And now it has become a habit to not bother about all this stuff for hours together, and get to it when I have the time. I haven’t tried this for 24 hours yet. Might do it soon.
I know! You’ve been missed and terribly so. I hope the work on the novel is finished and we get to read it soon 🙂 Good luck and stick around!
The only motivation I need to go off my phone for a really long time is when I’ve had a fight with my best friend, or when I want to write down a blog post and can’t handle the distractions!
I had been off Facebook and Twitter for almost two months while prepping for my Boards.. and to be honest, I hardly felt the need to go back there and read all the posts shared by my friends! The only thing I missed was the interaction with all you bloggers.. I reactivated Facebook the moment I finished boards! 😀
And yes, the Internet Monster gulps away all our time.. time which we could have spent fruitfully.. time which we could have spent talking to friends and watching them smile, in person! 🙂
Did you manage it, Meena ? 🙂
This sounds like a great idea, Shailaja. I want to try, but my sister, who lives in the US will miss me a lot. Perhaps, I should try this when I visit her this June. It will be a great chance for me to spend more time with my sister, and nephew.
By the way, I loved all the that you did when you chose to go offline. Finishing a book in three hours is such a lovely thing. Which book did you read?
Hey thanks Asha. It’s definitely helped now that I make a conscious effort to switch off regularly 🙂
We definitely need to do this time and again to have a peace of mind. Great job 🙂
Ditto on the spouse traveling during the week. I am hardly on whatsapp, mostly for work actually. The online world is fine if it can help keep you sane. Yes. 🙂
I agree about personal time. I am a lot less active on Twitter and Whatsapp on weekends when my spouse is at home. Other times, he travels quite a bit and the online world keeps me company and sane! 🙂 So, yeah! This works for me.
That sounds perfectly fine to me then Suman 🙂 As long as it doesn’t impinge on your personal space and you’re comfortable with it, that’s what matters. Ultimately you should do what makes you happy 🙂 All my work-related stuff happens online too but I need some time to myself and my family at least on the weekends, I find.
Just my take on this: I’ve personally never thought of going offline esp if it adds the inconvenience of doing without something that’s become a habit. I’ve been addicted to Twitter and have hated it in different phases and I’ve felt OK with it. I think it doesn’t bother me also because a lot of my work related stuff happens online, some of the much needed socialising happens online (since I work independently and have no colleagues) and I pretty much like having internet access and accessing the Internet and whenever I like 🙂
Shailaja I love the part where you describe awe and disdain because it is so true. Awe for addicts and disdain for rest.
I think I will take on this challenge once blogchatter reaches somewhere. Mental note right away 🙂
Why not this weekend! Am so itchin to try it
I love you, you know that already 😉 Yes, the company of good people can keep the Net far away from me, any day 🙂
You are really great, Anita! I doubt I can ever stay away from FB considering how much of my blog traffic comes from there plus the number of connections I have made.
Thank you so much Sreedhar! Life without internet is not completely viable these days but it does help to be off it once in a while 🙂
Good going Shailaja. I love how you keep challenging yourself. I could do it I think. With a good book in hand or in the company of people I enjoy – the Net can take a backseat fairly easily for me.
Great attempt Shaliaja! Have to stay away from the net when I am away from home & wifi connection 🙂
But have managed to stay away from my FB account all these years!
We truly experience a totally different world without active internet and once in a way it’s a blessing in disguise if Wi-Fi fails in total.. A timely and educative Post!
I know that. I will take that up when I’m at home. 🙂 Voluntarily. 😀 Time to find inner peace.
This has to be voluntary, staying offline, not forced by a power cut, although that obviously helps 🙂 I was at home for the most part of the day and resolutely stayed offline. For me, that was the cool part of the challenge. 🙂
I will take up this challenge, but on a day I take an off from work. When office is there, accessing the net is a given. 🙂
But even I “had” to stay off internet, pc, television when my part of the city went on a major power outage for almost a day and a half. I read two books, rearranged my bookshelf, spent time with my sister, exercised, listened to music and a lot of things I usually don’t do because I’m on social networks or internet etc. 🙂
Yes, you and Vidya are expert at this. Us mortals have to strive 😉 I am actually working on this angle for the memoir also so this was a good way to experiment and find out if it would work. Glad it did and I didn’t have any withdrawal pangs/symptoms. Now to do it more often 🙂
I know what you mean. “Internetless by intention” is such a lovely phrase! I just find more time to be with myself than anything else. I love my time with family, but I adore my me-time and it should be without gadgets 🙂
This is interesting. I go internet very often when I travel. On weekends many times I switch off the FB/Twitter/insta but haven’t gone completely internetless by intention at home. Hmmm.. Thinking if I should try it 🙂
Oh yes, I’ve done it on multiple occasions. *shameless bragging* There was a time when I didn’t log in for a week when on vacation. Wow! That felt awesome. These days, I would not be able to go a week without checking my email. But my presence on social media is really sporadic during weekends except for my work commitments on Saturday. I guess all of us who are attached to our gadgets do need to this off and on.
Ah I know what you mean 🙂 I deactivated FB on Saturday and then went cold turkey on the online time on Sunday, so two whole days to myself. Woo hoo!
Everything online IS staged and petty 😉 Don’t tell yourself otherwise. I had this very wise sounding status I wanted to put up and you’ve reminded me about it 😀
As for you, I think you handle social media admirably well, so if YOU need this then imagine how much more I do 😉
I think we are capable of far more than we give ourselves credit for 🙂 I never assumed I could do it either until I tried and realised I wasn’t worried at all about the notifications and the pings. It just happened. It’s also part of my experimentation as I work on a particular chapter for the memoir. So here’s hoping it helps 🙂
I know this is easy for you, Vidya 🙂 I think it’s far more difficult for more people though and I include myself in that list. Work demands that I be online 5 days a week and in real-time. I don’t have the luxury of switching off completely from social media or Wi-Fi at home. But Sunday is my day and I wanted to see if this was doable. I found that it was. Also, sleeping early and waking up early has been doing wonders for my peace of mind and health, so chalking that one up as a victory too 🙂
2 months ago, this would have been a challenge. Not anymore. I didn’t turn on the laptop over the weekend too. I am thankfully no longer anxious to receive messages. So, breathing easier now.
Good going Shailaja :)! Especially over the weekend, when time spent with family should be the priority, this sounds like a great challenge to take up. I go through these stages when everything online feels staged and petty, and I take a breather anyway thanks to that.
Nowadays I am not online as much as I used to be. I am hardly checking on my phone. It is not a challenge or anything, but it just happens that I am spending less time on the internet. I haven’t given much thought about how this is affecting me, that is whether I feel good or bad about it. I feel fine and I think that it is okay. 🙂 Glad to know that you deliberately stayed away for 24 hours from the net and successfully completed it, until you had to log back in. Good for you, Shailaja. I am not sure if I would be able to do that. 🙂
Hahahaha! Child’s play for me, Shailaja. Yes, I am bragging! Even though social media is part of my personal and professional life, I still take weekends off. Okay, managing it from a dashboard helps. But I play hooky once too often and love the offline time. I must of course mention the kindness of my Internet Service Provider who gives me a digital vacation on and off.
Kudos to you, though! Stay blessed – and let this challenge build into a habit. 🙂 Hugs!
That is so wonderful to hear, Gowri. I know what you mean. A part of me wondered if I could do it, but I was surprised by how easy it actually was to switch off and move away from the Net. Guess we never know until we try 🙂
Hi shailaja,
I take up such challenge every once in a while…its very calming for me to be off internet on some days…on such days I have actually just walked around my house and have admired my own home which otherwise I wouldn’t even notice….
Felt absolutely wonderful, didn’t it? I think we need to do it consciously and regularly and not wait for the phone to die on us 😉 So much reading that I was thrilled to bits!
I ‘HAD’ to stay off internet for a good three days when my phone decided to just go off. It had a mind of its own and I had no way of accessing internet. I realized I had enough and more time in hand and was on a reading spree. Read four books, re-decorated my room, did laundry, cooked, clicked pictures, exercised, sand, danced. Wow! It was actually incredible. So, yes, I should take up this challenge every now and then! 🙂