Brandon Moon

Well, I’m nearing the end of my thirty day challenge. It’s been an interesting adventure, and I’ll have more to say tomorrow (the last post of the challenge), but I wanted to discuss my plans for the week after I finish.

I’ve always heard of people doing such things as a “Facebook fast” or “Internet fast” and always thought that a little strange. I guess I assumed I was good enough at managing my online life that I didn’t need something like that. Since starting this thirty day challenge, I’ve reconsidered. I still think I’m capable of managing my online life, but I can see some positive benefits from being offline.

First of all, computers have made it so easy to distract ourselves. The Internet is so gosh darn ubiquitous nowadays. The recent trend of “apps” has made it even worse. Now not only is there more content out there than we can possibly consume, but we also have so many different ways of consuming it! “Should I check Twitter through my phone or my computer? The website or a different app that also brings in Facebook and Foursquare and LinkedIn? Oh my goodness, there’s a new Twitter app out there. Is it better than my current app? I’ll have to try it.” We almost can’t help ourselves.

My friend wrote a rather cool blog post about how enabling the Internet is. Specialists have been brought down a peg, due to the vast amount of knowledge available—free of charge—on the Internet. We will never be held back for lack of knowledge. We assume, however, that knowledge and wisdom are the same thing. While knowledge can be enabling, it can also be encumbering. It seems that with so much information out there, we end up losing our passions. We hop from one idea to the next, never really delving deep into any one, and consequently not benefiting that much. I myself am guilty of this all the time.

I’m not sure how or when it happened, but somehow I put more importance on the Internet and social networking and “cool things” that I have missed out on some of the things I’m most interested in. Guitar, piano, hiking, building stuff with my hands, enjoying the people I’m with, and most of all… being satisfied with where I am. The incredibly fast pace of the Internet has me always feeling antsy, like I’ve got to get on to the next big thing. I want to enjoy now.

And so, I’ve decided that next week I will take an “Internet fast.” I will turn of data on my phone (my phone becomes surprisingly boring without data), I will restrict myself to work related browsing while at work (something I should be doing more of anyways), and I will stay offline wherever else I am. I will find other ways to enjoy my time, and I will catch up on the things I should be paying more attention to.

I’m excited!

(Don’t worry though, I’ll be back to post more. Maybe not as much, but I’ll be here.)