I did another Digital Detox yesterday. It was the same setup, in terms of what I do/don't do, as last time (#857395). I'm really hoping to make this something I do, every Sunday.
My big realization today was...holy smokes, I can be far more productive on a digital detox day, even on a project where you'd think you really need internet connectivity.
Let me explain. I'm working on a big writing project, and lots of research is involved. But what's ended up happening is that I have a huge jumble of notes, things I've collected while researching. I'm constantly exposed to new material, and I have an urge to collect, and collect, and collect some more.
But I haven't as good at reviewing and evaluating. And that's the part that provides value. Without it, you're not actually producing anything. Gathering material is necessary but not sufficient, you also need to sit calmly, and consolidate your notes. You need to review them, and actually think.
That takes much more presence of mind than research does. It takes a lot of calmness, and lack of distraction. And after I do a digital detox day, it really hits home, how much distraction a normal day holds for me.
If I'm online, it's as though every 10 minutes or so, a mini whirlwind goes through my brain, and I lose focus. I then check certain websites, for the latest news and information. Almost all of that is not valuable. And it breaks my flow and disrupts my thoughts.
And then I abandon, for a while anyway, the the long term project that I really want to do. Just for a temporary dopamine hit of the latest news, or what have you. Internet connectivity really does have all the hallmarks of addiction, for me.
I'm trying to think of various ways that I could have my cake and eat it too. Because, of course, I do actually need connectivity for many aspects of my project.
I'm thinking I may experiment with setting up an old laptop as the 'junk' laptop, anything goes on it. HOWEVER it would be a slow, old clunky laptop, and not my regular computer. And it wouldn't be in my office, but in another room, AND it would not be moveable.
On my regular computer, I'd block all distracting websites. (That's hard, though, because honestly I love Stacker.news, but it's one of the websites that's very distracting!)
Or if there were somehow a cost associated with opening a tab, or switching websites. Like - you need to solve a really annoying captcha or something, or solve an arithmetic problem. Then I wouldn't constantly be tempted to open new tabs.
I'm open for ideas!
FYI here's some of my earlier posts on digital detox: