24 Hours Without TV and Internet CAN Be Done!

I have something shocking to tell you:

I just went a full 24 hours without Internet or TV.

I know it is hard to believe – impossible, even – but it is easy to go twenty-four hours without checking your email, refreshing your Facebook home page to see if there are any new updates from your friends and watching old re-runs of True-Life, I’m Moving to New York.

Unfortunately, I have become one of those girls who, in her downtime, sits with her laptop, refreshing Facebook every twenty seconds (just in case someone changes their status!) while watching reruns of Beverly Hills 90210 on the Soap Network. Did my ex-boyfriend break up with that tramp he’s been dating? Did my best friend add a new band to her favorite music? And did that person that I met once (and therefore HAD to add as a friend) add a new application?

Sad? Absolutely. Addicting? You bet.

In an effort to get my life back, I decided to throw caution to the wind and step away from technology. In order to to that, I spent my twenty-four hours being away from my house. I made a day trip into DC to visit friends and hang out in a city that fascinates me. (I live about twenty minutes from DC but hardly ever travel in to the city due to tourists… or lack of motivation.) But my friend lives there and constantly wants me to come visit, so I went in for a day to keep my mind off of the fact that I was cut off from the technological world.

Time was spent going to grocery stores (which I absolutely love doing), catching up, grabbing coffee (another favorite activity) and seeing a movie with two of our other friends (which, after much debate, was determined to be within the rules, as it wasn’t TV). There were ways to occupy my time; I just needed the activity.

When you sit at home, it’s easy to spend hours searching the Internet or being a couch potato. (Editor’s Note: Especially when you have the entertainment of CollegeCandy at your fingertips!) It takes more effort to get out there and spend time in the outside world. But the effort is well worth it.

Spending twenty-four hours away wasn’t difficult; I wasn’t even going through withdrawal. It wasn’t painful for me not to check my email constantly, or to update myself on the happenings of my friends via Facebook. I was with my friends and actually taking part in those happenings. In fact, it was liberating to realize that I didn’t need to waste my time being lazy.

I am really glad I made an effort. Maybe next time I’ll give up the cell phone too; I like to live on the edge.

[Photo courtesy of theultimatemoneypackage.com]