13 mar 11 Internet-free Sabbath

Back in November I decided that Sundays would be Internet-free, meaning that I wouldn't log on to the Internet. I've been trying not to get sucked into surfing and wondering where the hours have gone. I thought that applying the idea of the sabbath might help -- one day a week I'd minimize my use of technology and try to keep the focus on family, friends, and nature.

Lack of internet one day a week has not been as hard as I thought it might be. The hardest part is not checking email. Once I shut down on Saturday, I typically won't have a chance to log into personal email until Monday evening. So I'm really going 48 hours without email (gasp!). If I need to do any personal research on the weekend, I try to do it on Saturday. Otherwise it waits until Monday evening. I've found that Wikipedia is just as ready to answer my questions on Monday as it used to be on Sunday. And sometimes the question just doesn't seem that important if I have to wait.

I managed to stay offline on Sundays until last month. I returned from Hawaii on a Sunday morning and that evening I decided I'd sleep better if I had some idea of what to expect at work the next day. So I did a quick scan of emails and my calendar. Good for another month.

So you may have noticed that this post is dated on a Sunday. I hosted a planning meeting for the Alaska Dirt Divas this evening and we needed to check our website for some information. So I logged on instead of trying to say something sanctimonious about not getting online on Sunday. After Rose and Jo-Ann left, I found myself with several hours until having to pick Paul up at the airport. Nothing on TV interested me and I'm too tired to read the book I've got going. So I downloaded and edited the photos from my bike rides on Friday and today and decided that blogging doesn't require too much brain power and I could get caught up.

I'm going to continue to approach my Internet-free Sabbath like I would a diet -- don't stress over falling off the wagon -- enjoy the moment and try again.

Biking with my friends is definitely much more fun than sitting in front of a computer screen and healthier in so many ways.