<story><title>What I learned during my three days offline</title><url>https://www.raptitude.com/2022/02/what-i-learned-during-my-three-days-offline/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jdpigeon</author><text>Speak for yourself, man, cause it can get bad. During the work week I can sometimes go from unconsciousness to TikTok to podcasts to web development to Zoom to Twitter to Spotify to YouTube and back to TikTok and then to sleep without any real breaks in between. One can get into this habit of exhausted yet nervous information seeking -- &amp;quot;doing without doing&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;I think three days off might be just what I need.</text></item><item><author>cindarin</author><text>I feel like I have read this same article two dozen times, each by a different author.&lt;p&gt;The internet and I grew up together; it&amp;#x27;s nearly always been a part of my life.  I use the internet every day for several hours.  My career involves constant use and access to the internet.  I also get my news and communicate with friends via the internet.&lt;p&gt;All that said, I spend time away from the internet every day and not as some forced action to distance myself from it.  I don&amp;#x27;t see the internet as some perverse addiction that I need to break.  If I&amp;#x27;m not working for a stretch of days, there&amp;#x27;s a good chance that I will not use the internet simply because no situation comes up that calls for it.&lt;p&gt;The idea that 3 days away is life and mind altering is deeply concerning to me.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cindarin</author><text>I am speaking for myself.&lt;p&gt;My concern is that when I read these articles, the authors often seem to be speaking for more than themselves.  It seems as though they are projecting an unhealthy addiction on all members of society.  I see that as likely incorrect and potentially harmful.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m not certain what&amp;#x27;s unhealthy about what you listed other than the self-imposed exhaustion. Humans have been exhausting themselves unhealthily long before the internet came about.  If you feel you&amp;#x27;re doing so, by all means, find the way to give yourself the rest you need.</text></comment>
<story><title>What I learned during my three days offline</title><url>https://www.raptitude.com/2022/02/what-i-learned-during-my-three-days-offline/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jdpigeon</author><text>Speak for yourself, man, cause it can get bad. During the work week I can sometimes go from unconsciousness to TikTok to podcasts to web development to Zoom to Twitter to Spotify to YouTube and back to TikTok and then to sleep without any real breaks in between. One can get into this habit of exhausted yet nervous information seeking -- &amp;quot;doing without doing&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;I think three days off might be just what I need.</text></item><item><author>cindarin</author><text>I feel like I have read this same article two dozen times, each by a different author.&lt;p&gt;The internet and I grew up together; it&amp;#x27;s nearly always been a part of my life.  I use the internet every day for several hours.  My career involves constant use and access to the internet.  I also get my news and communicate with friends via the internet.&lt;p&gt;All that said, I spend time away from the internet every day and not as some forced action to distance myself from it.  I don&amp;#x27;t see the internet as some perverse addiction that I need to break.  If I&amp;#x27;m not working for a stretch of days, there&amp;#x27;s a good chance that I will not use the internet simply because no situation comes up that calls for it.&lt;p&gt;The idea that 3 days away is life and mind altering is deeply concerning to me.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mgkimsal</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s some distinction between &amp;#x27;using the internet&amp;#x27; and &amp;#x27;social media&amp;#x27; (which is a somewhat nebulous term, possibly).&lt;p&gt;Could I go 3 days without &amp;#x27;social media&amp;#x27; or &amp;#x27;socializing online&amp;#x27;?  Yeah - it might be a bit tough as it&amp;#x27;s definitely a habit, but... it&amp;#x27;s not &amp;#x27;vital&amp;#x27;.  I went to the beach last year and ... just sat and read a book.  Got a phone call from my wife, which ... perhaps that&amp;#x27;s &amp;#x27;social media&amp;#x27; in some sense?  But I had a bit of time away from the standard online social places (including HN) and it was definitely doable.&lt;p&gt;Three days without &amp;#x27;internet access&amp;#x27;... including driving navigation, banking, access to my health information, etc?  That would be harder.  Doable, but would definitely be a lot more noticeable.  Would ideally plan for it a bit in advance :)</text></comment>