Itās said that moving ā along with getting divorced, or contracting a life-threatening illness ā is one of the most stressful events youāre likely to experience in your lifetime. Two weeks into my move, Iām starting to feel the pressure.
No, Iām not talking about the boxes piled up around my ankles. The fact that I still havenāt found my cutlery and thus have been using and re-washing the same knife and fork isnāt causing me anxiety. Iām talking about the Internet.
Iām a journalist. My wife is a publicist. We both work from home and depend wholly on the Internet to do our jobs. And yet, itāll take a good month for our chosen ISP to send out an engineer to install a broadband connection.
As an interim measure, weāve been forced to grab a 4G router and an all-you-can-eat data SIM card. The latter comes with a pretty big caveat: the first 20GB comes at full 4G speed, but after that, youāre throttled to a measly 384 Kbps. Thatās better than dial-up, but only barely.
20GB isnāt a lot, especially when shared between two people over the course of a month. Consequently, weāre forced to be a lot more conservative with how we use the Internet.
That sounds pretty hellish, especially in 2019, where the Internet is ubiquitous and almost essential. Since 2009, the amount of time we spend online each day has almost doubled from 3 hours a day to 5.9 hours. Cutting down, therefore, feels a bit like going back in time.
But honestly? Itās actually pretty nice. Thereās a lot to be said about going on an involuntary digital detox.
Iām more mindful about how I actually use the Internet, and tend to browse with a greater sense of consciousness than I otherwise would. This newfound online thriftiness means Iām more focused. Iām less prone to go down a YouTube rabbit hole, for example, that would see me aimlessly clicking on suggested video after suggested video.
An unexpected bonus is that being forced to unplug has really been beneficial for our relationship. We spend more time together doing stuff that doesnāt involve the Internet, like sitting on the couch to watch a Blu-Ray movie over a bottle of red wine. Last night, we watched The Five Year Engagement. Tonight itāll be the first Inbetweeners movie.
Interestingly enough, A 2014 Pew survey found that 18 percent of US adults felt the Internet was responsible for weakening relationships. While I wouldnāt go that far, Iād certainly suggest that itās gradually eroded barriers between home and work lives, and that certainly isnāt a good thing in a marriage. Being forced to unplug from work is hugely beneficial.
Iād like to pretend that this is some kind of newfound revelation, but itās not. Plenty of people have discovered the benefits of a more limited relationship with the Internet long before I did.
Some of my friends are observant Orthodox Jews. The Torah prohibits 39 activities during the holy day of rest, among them are āwritingā and āerasing.ā Try using the Internet without doing either.
During the Sabbath, they āgo dark,ā disconnecting themselves from almost all forms of technology. Instead, they spend time with their families and loved ones. Iām not Jewish, but from an outsiderās perspective, the whole experience seems really wholesome and lovely.
Of course, I know that when my Internet eventually gets hooked up, Iāll go back to my old habits. Reasserting my relationship with the Internet has been wonderful, but I know that itās something I donāt have the willpower to do long-term. And I donāt know if that says something about me, or the fundamentally addictive nature of the Internet.
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