What I Learned Quitting the Internet for 3 Days.

byKyle

2.4M followers

Updated 7 years ago

I left the Internet. It wasn't for long, but it felt like an absolute eternity.

I was away this past week on a destination wedding to the northern part of British Columbia, Canada and we stayed at a lodge on Emerald Lake that didn't have Internet in the rooms, and the Internet that was in the lobby was so slow that I gave up even trying to use it.

Here is a shot of me walking the trails with our daughter Millie (in the stroller).

I wasn't aware that there wouldn't be Internet, I of course had my laptop, my iPad and my phone with me and I definitely wasn't aware there wouldn't be a good internet connection available to me. I just assumed there would be.

When I travel, regardless of the location in the world, I am always very much connected. In fact, 100% of the time unless I am swimming in an ocean somewhere, I always have my phone with me, I am always connecting with folks that are part of the WA, either team members or people within the community, I am constantly checking email, occasionally social, and consuming information throughout the day.

Something Interesting Happened With No Internet.

I ended up enjoying myself much more when away from the Internet. There was no obligation to anyone or anything, other than the people those people in my immediate presence (family and friends). I was forced to communicate through verbal interaction, rather than texting the person in the room next to me. If someone wasn't in their room, then I wasn't able to connect with them and it was kind of exciting to think that I might be able to bump into them somewhere on the property (versus knowing exactly where everyone is at every moment).

It felt old school, but there was something really empowering about the removal of the Internet. My mind began to wander. I began to think in much more creative ways, ways in which I hadn't experienced for some time because I have been SO connected and I haven't really had a moment to sustain or establish more creative thoughts because of constant distractions (not to say I am not always coming up with ideas).

I also feel a lot of enjoyment can come out of life. Not your next status update on Facebook, not your next like, not checking your email 50 times per day. The small things in life still matter. Appreciating nature. Small interactions with people that you don't know, and spending more time with people that you do know.

Happiness is hardly being connected for every second of every day.

What My Typical Day Looks Like.

People often wonder what my typical day looks like.

One thing that is important is that you should not try to emulate my day and how it looks to become successful. You perhaps might want to emulate some of my habits and work ethic, but your life is likely much different from mine, you have different obligations and you have different people that demand and need your attention on a daily basis (spouse, parents, kids, employers/employees, etc).

So what does my work day look like?

Well I don't have a structured or a set schedule. Every day is different, I might be at home all day, I might not be. I might spend some time in a coffee shop, I might run errands mid day, I might play with my kids, be at the park or taking a walk.

I live life, I set my schedule according to what the day demands. That is the life of an Internet entrepreneur and it is what I love to do.

But I am always connected, I am almost certainly thinking about some aspect of business, and when I am away from my computer, I am always communicating through other means (phone, text, messaging) in respect to various aspects of business.

I never disconnect. I never unplug. Even when I go to the gym, I end up working the entire time that I am on the treadmill.

So my day typically starts at 7am, and ends at 1am. But during this period the Internet has taken me hostage in a sense, it drives my livelihood and it is something that facilitates just about everything I do, but it is not required to be so prominent every-second-of-every-day for me to be fulfilled.

Disconnecting is Tough, But I Believe is Imperative.

I want you to try something for me, perhaps not today, but at some point in the next month. Try disconnecting for a 24-hour period.

Take your phone and put it in airplane mode. Take all of your other devices, and put them away. And don't open the lid of your laptop or jump onto your desktop.

And then divert your attention to other things. The other "non technology" aspects of your life. Do some creative thinking? Go for a walk or a run? Spend some time just getting out of your house and socializing without standing in the bank line or at the grocery store glued to your phone (avoiding all forms of personal human interaction).

Go for a canoe ride. (see my pic below on a Canoe ride at Emerald Lake).

I think you are going to get the same empowering sensation, in particular if you are like me being so glued to technology on a day to day basis, 365 days per year. I would love you to drop your feedback about your experience within the comments of this post if, and when, you disconnect.

I Miss What I Do When I Am Not Doing It!

I have no plans on leaving the Internet. Although I took a short break from it and I do feel there are definitely some drawbacks with the overuse of the Internet in our day to day lives, there are some incredible benefits that we get from the Internet.

I love what I do and I miss what I do when I am not doing it.

The old saying goes that if you enjoy what you do, you will never have to work a day in your life. That is truly how I feel, I love everything about the affiliate marketing space (while almost everything). I love working on new concepts and ideas as to how we can improve the platform here at Wealthy Affiliate 12 years on after our initial inception. And there is nothing more gratifying and that I love more than helping people.

So leaving the Internet would make no sense, but taking the odd break from it is something that I think I will be instituting breaks a little more.

Take a break from the Internet. You need it. You deserve it.

PS. I will leave you today with a picture of our youngest daughter Millie, she is 8 months and is crawling around like crazy, cute as ever and is definitely a happy little gal!