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2/6/12

Off-the-grid Weekend

I am a tech head.  My phone is always at my side, I spend waaaay too much time on the internet, and I'm the personal 'geek squad' for my neighborhood and friends.

And for this past weekend, I was without all of it.

I was off the grid.

My girlfriend and I decided we were spending more time with our tech than we were with each other, so we decided to do a tech-free weekend.  No phones, no computers, no internet, just each other.

A good idea, in theory, but it was going to be rough.

We read books.  We cleaned the house.  We took a walk.  We did other things as well.  All without playing games on our phones, me checking my blog, or her chatting with her scrap-booky friends all over the world.

We had a productive weekend, and got a lot of things done.  It felt good.

Mostly.

This weekend showed me two things:

1 - If you cut out all the time you waste online or playing with your phone, you have a TON of free time to do productive things.  I scratched more off my 'to do' list this weekend than I have in the last three months.

2 - I'm addicted to my tech.  There were times at 2am where I wanted to sneak out to my laptop and check my facebook.  Or play Words With Friends.  It was hard to give up tech for a full 60 hours, but I did it.

Mostly.

She granted one pardon, for the Super Bowl.  Honestly, the game was less than spectacular and most of the commercials were 'meh.'  I could have probably gone without.

Have you ever gone 'off the grid' like this, just to see if you could, or to see what the result would be?

20 comments:

  1. Just Keepin It Real, Folks!2/6/12, 9:43 AM

    I'm a facebook whore, so I was thinking of giving up Facebook for Lent this year. I will probably go into DT's after the first 12 hours.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Julie Ferguson2/6/12, 9:54 AM

    I totally agree. The last few road trips I was on there was no internet service. It was great because we found so many other things to do. I try not to turn my computer or TV on Saturdays and take that day to do other things. I get so many things done I have been ignoring for a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Leanna2/6/12, 10:04 AM

    I've just gone off the grid this past Thursday. I was suffering from depression but I feel much better. David and I took a ride to Austin Friday night and we didn't come back til Sunday morning. He has to stay connected to the office because of his position in the company but until Sunday night I had NOTHING to do with phones, internet, etc. I guess I need to do this more often because I feel great.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Monkey Butt2/6/12, 10:07 AM

    lolz... There was a time during the summer when I was hating everyone and everthing on the interwebs. Mainly just men and people that bug me A LOT. SO I took a vacation from the interwebs and my phone. It was...nice :) Was hard to be without myphone though. Mind you the only thing my phone does is text and ring. I've no smart gadget or anything like that! lolz

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous2/6/12, 10:23 AM

    Not for an entire weekend, but bits and pieces. I don't ever use FB on the computer anymore unless I have to block game requests or the like. It's on my phone and I check it maybe 1-2x a day. Twitter on the other hand... I'm past addiction.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sub Radar (Mike)2/6/12, 11:34 AM

    I go "off grid" when I go camping (well, I have a radio for emergencies), very relaxing to escape the digital overload. Always nice to come back to it all, however.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Masshole Mommy2/6/12, 12:11 PM

    You are a brave man. When we all went to Disney World in November, there was a day in which I accidentally left my phone in the room. I didn't realize it until we were already at the park. I made my husband help me drag the kids back to the room to get it because I was starting to lose my cool. Hardcore.

    ReplyDelete
  8. D42/6/12, 12:43 PM

    I'm only ever off during long weekends. My cellphone isn't much of a big deal to me, but the lack of internet gets to me after a while.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Alex D.2/6/12, 4:05 PM

    I'm the first to admit I'm a tech head (I want to be a Sysadmin after all), and I spend too much time on my computer, but I get out a lot, since most of my hobbies involve being outdoors.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Chess2/6/12, 4:05 PM

    I banned myself from Facebook and Twitter for the last few days of January and the entire month of February, including removing the apps from my phone. Now, I have plenty of time to go running. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. G2/6/12, 5:38 PM

    I've not been 'off the grid' since i was about 10...the idea scares me. Even when I'm out running or on the bike I'm wired into as much tech as I can get...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Vicky2/6/12, 6:13 PM

    I am thinking of starting off small and banning myself from Facebook Monday - Wednesday and see how I go. I only play stupid bloody games on there anyway!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Pickleope2/6/12, 7:55 PM

    Whoa, I have to deal with one addiction at a time. First it's huffing computer cleaner, then I'll deal with Nicholas Cage addiction, then it's on to artisan cheese, next I'll solve my addiction to fetish hoarding (but I just found out about Woolies and you KNOW I gotta catch 'em all), then the heroin, and THEN I'll deal with the tech addiction.

    ReplyDelete
  14. aamedor2/6/12, 8:40 PM

    Wow, I really admire this, but I know that I could never do it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Pish Posh2/6/12, 8:52 PM

    Productive things like sexy-time with cats? Feline satiation? Kitty can't get no satisfaction?

    Okay enough of that. Yes I want to go off the grid very much, but its so hard, you just do a little and then all of a sudden you're in a full-blown tech gadget meltdown time-suck.

    In fact, I actually thought you wrote "meth" at first, and then I saw it was "tech".

    I wrote a lil post about what happens to my mind when I stay on gadgets too much. Here's the link http://the-pish-posh.blogspot.com/2012/01/abort-retry-fail.html - if that's not okay to link feel free to delete me, I know it annoys some people

    ReplyDelete
  16. Q2/6/12, 9:07 PM

    I'll never give up my phone or laptop. If you try to make me, I'll kill you! I'll kill you, I say!

    ReplyDelete
  17. JanandJill.com2/7/12, 1:06 AM

    Haha...good thing you got that pardon. That would have been rough, you're so right about accomplishing things when you're off the grid. And I have to applaud this because I understand if you're on a vacay where you don't get internet service, but to be around your house near your computer and phone and still abstain is very impressive! Nice work

    ~Dale

    ReplyDelete
  18. not displayed2/7/12, 2:50 AM

    I have done no laptop/internet for a day or two. Not good at it though. I fret if I leave my phone at home.

    I am actually working on being offline more. love my online adventures but if you want to go online at 3 in the morning just because something has woken you up, well mybe it is time to reassess

    ReplyDelete
  19. Zombie2/7/12, 7:28 AM

    There is no such thing as too much time on the internet good sir, now if you will excuse me, I gotta check my email and watch a cat video...

    ReplyDelete
  20. JiRa2/7/12, 7:33 PM

    My off the grid moments are usually by accident or because the internet goes down. I sit and ponder just what on earth I did before internet and cell phones, which didn't come around for me until after I went through school, got married, had a kid, got divorced and started over again.

    I think I used to spend a lot of time getting stuff done... now I have to find the time to break free from posting comments on line in order to remember to go to bed at night.

    ReplyDelete

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