Every year since 2012, I’ve taken an Internet break for the month of July. I won’t be here or on social media. This practice leaves me refreshed, even when I don’t realize I need time away.

I’ve come to see July as a gift.

Usually I set up posts to rerun once a week, but I’m not doing that this year. If you’re interested in reading here next month, I invite you to explore the 1,200+ posts I’ve published since 2009. There’s a lot to keep you engaged and occupied.

But I also invite to to take your own break. There’s nothing you’ll miss on the blog. And honestly, there’s not much you’ll miss in a broader sense, if you decide to set more of the Internet aside.

Have a fabulous month. I’ll see you in August, friends!

We are so overwhelmed with things these days that our lives are all, more or less, cluttered. I believe it is this, rather than a shortness of time, that gives us that feeling of hurry and almost of helplessness. Everyone is hurrying and usually just a little late. Notice the faces of the people who rush past on the streets or on our country roads! They nearly all have a strained, harassed look, and anyone you met will tell you there is no time for anything anymore.

— Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1924

Last month, I attended a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit that is currently here in town. It was an incredible look at Da Vinci’s work, from his art (did you know there are three other paintings underneath the Mona Lisa??) to his scientific / mechanical / anatomical / discoveries and inventions. What an amazing human being he was!

I left the exhibit inspired to live a big life. By that I don’t mean I want attention or fame. I want to be certain not to fritter my life away. I want to be sure to be faithful to the opportunities before me, big and small, in my career and personal life. I want to be present and soak it all in.

It was so interesting for me to contrast Da Vinci’s remarkable mind with some things I’ve been thinking about of late, namely the influence of the Internet in our everyday lives and the role social media plays in distracting, discouraging, and diminishing our focus, our sense of self, and our connection.

Here are a few articles I’ve been mulling over:

On Analog Social Media :: Cal Newport

“When it comes to tools like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram: don’t let the fear of missing out dictate how you live your life. The most productive and fulfilled people I know often got where they are by doubling down on the activities that return them huge benefits, while happily ignoring everything else.”

Social Internetting :: Tsh Oxenreider

“Eight years ago, I wanted something different in my work than I do now — I don’t have a burning desire to build an online empire or recognizable brand. All I mostly care about at this point is creating work that matters, that sticks with people for a long time, and that changes their lives for the better, even in small ways.”

Your smartphone is making you stupid, antisocial and unhealthy. So why can’t you put it down? :: The Globe and Mail

“Ten years into the smartphone experiment, we may be reaching a tipping point. Buoyed by mounting evidence and a growing chorus of tech-world Jeremiahs, smartphone users are beginning to recognize the downside of the convenient little mini-computer we keep pressed against our thigh or cradled in our palm, not to mention buzzing on our bedside table while we sleep.”

How to Regain Your Concentration :: Nathan Bransford

“The last ten years have been an incredible digital ride and the Internet has given us a lot of wonderful things. Now it’s probably time for a break.”

How would Leonardo Da Vinci’s legacy have been different if the Internet had been around during the Renaissance? Who knows? I can’t claim to be a person as prolific, disciplined, and driven as Da Vinci (will there ever be anyone else like him?) but I know this: I don’t want my life to be ultimately shaped by distractions.

I’ll still be around social media, but on my own terms. I want to be present in this life I’ve been given.

 

Last month I participated in a Digital Declutter. I committed to cutting back on email checking, staying off social media, giving up audiobooks, skipping blogs, avoiding book stats, and getting my news from the TV and paper only.

It was a good, good month. In a lot of ways, I feel like I was waiting for this and just didn’t know it. My overall visceral response to the experiment was relief.

That alone is telling.

The guidelines “protected” me from wasting time and letting my mind feel scattered. My online sessions were quite brief without blogs, social media, or tracking book information. I deleted many more emails than I read (leading me to unsubscribe from a handful of industry reads and blogs I realized I didn’t miss). I had large pockets of time for thinking and for not thinking at all, for just being. I’m the sort of person who craves silence in my daily life, but I discovered last month I’m often quick to drown it out. As much as I missed my audiobooks, the stillness felt like a reintroduction to an old friend.

Did I hold to everything perfectly? Here are some specifics:

social media: Having the apps off my phone was hugely helpful. I’ve gone back to the Instagram app, but have only visited once. I have no need to reinstate Twitter and Facebook. Looking at them occasionally on my computer will be more than enough.

It was tricky when I got an email saying someone tagged me in a photo. I wanted to see! But I stayed away, logging into Facebook once to download something and another time just to see how many notifications I had. (It was a lot. Further confession: I checked my Twitter numbers once, too). Still, I received several FB group discussion emails, where I could read the discussion starter. I probably deleted 2/3s of these emails and read the rest.

Social media sites are very sly (read manipulative) when your visits slow down. I got numerous emails inviting me to see the notifications I’d missed or asking if I needed help logging back on.

online news: More than once I started reading a story only to realize what I was doing. That’s precisely the point of an experiment like this! I saw how quickly mindlessness can take over. I want to be able to consciously make my own choices online and not feel lured in. Being aware of the autopilot tendency is a good thing. I did allow myself to read a few articles that were industry / work related (like this exciting story!)

email: This was by far the hardest. I had committed to checking three times a day but rarely held to it. More typical was four or five times. Admittedly, this was far less often than usual. I really would like to continue aiming for the three-a-day check, even if I don’t hit the mark. Those messages can wait, and so can I.

audiobooks: I was shocked how little I missed these, as they make up a huge part of my day. Maybe it was knowing I could go back to them this month, but I’m pretty convinced it was the quiet that I needed and appreciated. It was brain rest and brain food. I’d like to keep one walk a day audiobook-free.

book stats: I checked my Amazon and Penguin Random House Author Portal numbers twice. It did nothing positive for me. I know (and have known for a long time) how this information is the opposite of helpful most of the time. My goal is to check in once a month, just to get a sense of where things are. These numbers are never the full picture, anyway. They should have no place in my life other than as an occasional tidbit of information.

blogs: I let myself read 3-4 posts that were book / writing related. I really didn’t miss blogs I regularly read, apart from this one, which, I confess, I overindulged on in my first few days out of the declutter.

Moving forward

My biggest takeaway from this experiment is how much influence my digital activities have on my mental state. I have no desire to return to feeling scattered and harried, if I can help it — and I can help it, at least when it comes to my technological choices.

I also want to stay present while I’m online. Too many times I’ve found myself unsure how I’ve gotten to a particular site or why I’m even there.

Finally I want to be sure to allow myself time for quiet, even if I don’t feel I want or need it. This month has shown me I definitely do.

Here’s to more purposeful digital choices — ones that enhance life, not hinder it.