Ev BogueHow to use the Internet to get off the Internet
For as long as the Internet has existed, people have wanted to get off it.
As the Internet grows, so does the level of noise that we have to deal with every day. There are an estimated 1,970+ million people clicking around on the planet right now, and all of them probably wish they didn't have to check their email every fifteen minutes.
I'm usually not the kind of person who sets goals in life, but if I could set one goal, I think it'd be to turn off the Internet forever.
This is challenging, because I make my living over the Internet. Increasingly, many of us do.
Over the last few years, I've tried a number of radical experiments. I quit my job. I lived on less than $3,000 for three months. I reduced my possessions to less than 47 things. I lived in five different American cities. I built a zero-overhead online business that basically runs itself.
However, my favorite experiment to date was probably the most difficult. For the month of August 2010, I took a digital sabbatical.
I turned off comments on my blog, scheduled a few blog posts, and booked a ticket and disappeared into the north woods of Wisconsin. For one month I left my iPhone off. I didn't check my email. I didn't tweet. I just lived my life as if the Internet didn't exist.
When I came back, I discovered that my digital business was more profitable than when I left.
In many ways, taking a break from the Internet made it possible for me to re-focus my priorities, so I could focus on what was important in my work.
What was out? Checking email constantly. Blog comments. "The conversation". In: yoga, living in the world, focusing on the craft.
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In Augmented Humanity, I wrote that technology is growing strong enough to allow us to turn off the screens -- if we should choose.
I want to choose. I also want to show you how to choose.
This series will is on how to use the Internet to turn off the Internet.
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Living without the Internet isn't easy. When you don't have an iPhone to distract you all of the time, you have to take a look at yourself. Do you like what you see?
Distraction isn't just keeping busy, it's also stopping you from asking hard questions about yourself.
In order to work towards a place of no distraction, you have to peel back the layers of yourself in order to find the reasons why you're distraction yourself.
You can't just turn off the Internet. Believe me, I've tried to just flip the switch and be done with it. When you've trained yourself to keep clicking the refresh button on your gmail, suddenly cutting the cord creates a cognitive discrepancy.
Your mind will expect to be checking gmail, and when it can't plug in, it will miss the connection. If you're relying on the connection security, you'll feel insecure once it's gone.
This is why it's important to gradually work towards turning off the screens.
You could quit cold-turkey, but sometimes the shock of doing that will be too much. Especially if you're not ready.
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Personally, I'm working towards slowly winding down my involvement on the web. Instead of reacting to every single incoming message, I've slowly been choosing to ignore almost everyone.
Instead of tweeting about everything, I've chosen to only tweet about what I hope will really help people.
Instead of taking photos of everything and flooding my Flickr/Instagr.am, I've started curating only the most beautiful photos.
Instead of responding to every single incoming question, I've started working directly only with people who are paying to support my work in the world.
I've been asking this question about almost everything: is this absolutely essential?
Increasing, the answer has been no.
I hope that this site can help you learn to unplug as well.
Maybe that's just for five more minutes per day -- maybe it'll be for a lifetime.
Over the next month I'll be publishing on the essential information that you need to start reclaiming, unplugging, and finding your center once again.
In May 2011 I'm flying to Melbourne Australia where I'm speaking at This is Mindful, then I'm headed...?
Maybe I'll never come back...
I hope you'll join me in exploring how we can learn to use the Internet in a mindful way in order to eventually turn off our screens.