Why Disconnecting From the Internet Improves Your Focus

[TheMountain]

Why Disconnecting From the Internet Improves Your Focus

 

Life in 2016 is pretty good. You’re always connected to the internet, inside your home, and outside of it.

With your smartphone, you have the world at your fingertips. Sounds great, right? NOT.

Most people don’t use technology but are rather used BY technology.

Apps, games, videos, articles, commercials, TV-shows, are all designed to keep your attention. So without you knowing it, you waste countless of hours every single week. Your attention is all over the place, but not at the right place.

“To be everywhere is to be nowhere.”— Seneca

Why do you think Netflix automatically starts the next episode in three, two, one seconds? When that happens, you think: “Screw it, let’s watch another episode.”

The same goes for YouTube. Why do you think their suggestions are so good? They keep you locked in. And this applies to all content. There is ALWAYS a “next” video, episode, article, game, round, movie; you name it.

Funnily enough, most people who read these type of articles know that a lack of focus is bad. And in recent years, a large number of research papers and books have appeared about the harmful effects of distractions.

Specifically, research by Gloria Mark and co-authors, shows that distractions are associated with more stress, and higher frustration, time pressure, and effort.

Doing focused work is HARD. We’re always distracted.

And it’s not your fault. Most technology taps into your lizard brain and locks you in — it turns you into a consumer.

So don’t even think about resisting the internet or technology. I bet you’ve tried it in the past. “I’m never going to browse mindlessly for hours.” Yeah, right!

What will work? Recently, I wrote about how I beat procrastination by creating a system. Well, one of the most critical parts of that system is this:

DISCONNECT FROM THE INTERNET.

And there’s only one reason to do that: Too much of anything is a bad thing. Even good things.

• Too much exercise? You will get overtrained.
• Too much love? You will smother people.
• Too much work? You will burn out.
• Too much food? You will get fat.
• Too much water? You will die.

So why do you consume so much internet? I asked myself that question 2 years ago. I had no answer. So I thought; I do everything else in moderation, why not the internet?

Soon I found out that there’s no moderation with internet usage. It’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet. You’re already full, but you still keep eating. And after you’ve stuffed yourself, the regret will eat you up alive.

And that’s the same with internet usage. It’s so tempting and satisfying, and available EVERYWHERE. So you go all out with it. YouTube, Whatsapp, Facebook, Snapchat, etc.

I’m all about eliminating distracting stuff. However, I also don’t want to live my life as a recluse. So I had to find a middle ground that worked.

I’ve found that a simple tweak in my attitude towards the internet did the trick.

I went from “Always Connected” to “Always Disconnected.”

In practice, it works like this:

• On my phone, wifi and mobile data are standard off. I only turn it on when I need it.
• On my laptop, I use an app called SelfControl (Mac only) during the times I work (try FocusMe for Windows). The app blocks distracting sites. The advantage is that my apps like Evernote, DayOne, Office 365 remain connected so I can save my work in the cloud.

“Always connected,” isn’t a good thing for your focus and productivity.

It’s the same as going to the gym. Or having dinner. Or having a romantic evening with your partner. You don’t do those things for 24 hours a day. You do them for thirty minutes, an hour, or a few hours. Too much of those things is simply not effective.

Being disconnected from the internet has worked wonders for me. I don’t feel the urge to check my smartphone, email, or the news 500 times a day anymore.

And after a while, you feel like you’re not missing out on anything. That brings a sense of calmness to your life.

I also get more out of my days; I achieved more things than ever, feel less distracted, and have more time to spend on the things that make me happy.

At the end of the day, the internet is just a tool. However, some of us think it’s everything. But I’m pretty confident that, in years from now, I will not look back and regret that I didn’t spend enough time on the internet.

Can you imagine? You’re on your deathbed, and you’re saying this to your family: “I’m glad I watched so many FAIL compilations on YouTube.”

Nope. You’ll probably look back and reflect on the time you spent with your family or friends. Or the memories you made when you were traveling. Or how much you enjoyed your work.

So cut the crap with the internet. It’s not giving you anything but frustration.

And after reading this article; disconnect.

You will get some withdrawal symptoms like grabbing your phone 100 times. Or hitting the F key on your keyboard (for Facebook) all the time.

But I’ll promise you this: Disconnecting will help you DO more. And that’s what life is about.

 

[Sylence]

what should the people whose works and jobs are related to Internet do then? 

this method here is the easiest and the most inefficient way. nothing easy is good, that's a fact

[TheMountain]

The current situation at home sometimes forces me to disconnect from the internet. 

[vitorio]

Agree with you in this one. I always turn off my phone unless I am expecting a call while in home.

[TheMountain]

I was in my twenties before the internet was publicly available to everyone. 

 

So, I already knew the disconnecting from the 'net feeling.  

[davmil]

The problem is, like any junkie, when you confront them with an article such as yours, they go into immediate denial; even attack mode citing you as the 'out of touch' person.  And like a junkie, there's little you can do until they hit rock bottom (like a setting sun, the damage spreads to everyone (Neil Young).  Sadly, in cases like my daughter, years & years of time will have been wasted looking at the most trivial content imaginable just to be stylish.  Virtual friends/relationships - that's for work, not real life... at least not as a wholesale substitute.

[CODYQX4]

.

[humble3d]

What is NOT funny are  the people who operate motor vehicles

believing their cell phones

are more important than the public health and safety...

[mona]

On 2 lipiec 2016 at 1:24 PM, TheMountain said:

Why Disconnecting From the Internet Improves Your Focus

 

 

@davmil  and others :

I have a perfect little tool that would help you to achieve this goal .....    You can find it HERE. 

 

[davmil]

On 7/3/2016 at 2:26 AM, CODYQX4 said:

Exactly.

 

It's funny when people say the internet isn't that important.

 

Not only would I be out of a job, my career choice and most of the job skills I've focused on for most of my life become next to worthless if the internet goes away.

 

Hell, a huge portion of the economy would burn to ash and take the rest down without the internet.

<Hell, a huge portion of the economy would burn to ash and take the rest down without the internet. >  Doubt it.  I remember life before the internet and the economy worked just fine; albeit slower.  Mistakes took longer to make - that balanced it out too.

 

[CODYQX4]

.

[ck_kent]

Just like everything else, all in moderation.  You don't need to be totally disconnected to the internet.  All this social media happening today is what's keeping most people out of focus.

[davmil]

10 hours ago, CODYQX4 said:

We also have a lot more people and are accustomed to doing things with current tech. Some major infrastructure relies on internet access. Enough businesses would fold to tank the economy.
 

It doesn't really matter how it was done before. People used to live without electricity or modern medicine, doesn't mean it wouldn't collapse society if we lost those.

Be brave young man.  you have a long way to go.