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Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done

theminimalists.com

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Re: Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done

#61

his suggestion to hide my modem would just drive my phone data use through the roof :( I remember the days before the internet and mobile phones. They weren't better (well, apart from being young and fit and knowing I was immortal, obviously). We like these things for a reason.

I used to watch a lot more tv before I had 24/7 Internet access.

Re: Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done

#62
post #20

Oh man, oh man, this is so close to my experience. I went lo-fi since the beginning of 2017. Real testimonials of a drug/facebook/internet addict who has the problem out of control here. I killed my Facebook account 3 months ago, and switched to a dumb phone (from a Pixel phone ;-) since the beginning of the year. Now I'm rocking a webOS phone and no IM account except for hangouts which I check on my computer when I…

Sometimes things just get ingrained as impulse and habit. I tried a lot of things before finally deactivating Facebook. Downgraded to a dumbphone briefly but it just wasn't feasible with work - especially the hotspot for when I'm on call. Tried scheduled site blockers like Freedom.io but the problem is I know how they all work so it was easy enough for me to disable them for a second. Tried blocking news sources that…

>The Undoing Project

I heard about it on Freakonomics. I will check it out as I have time now ;-)

Re: Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done

#63
post #40

> I need the Internet for ...workwork... > You probably don’t, and maybe it’s time to look in the mirror and be honest with yourself. That's where I stopped reading as obviously this article is not directed at me. Unless there is a way to troubleshoot and fix remote servers in the middle of the night without internet.

Yes I agree with you and I think, for people with our type of needs, a more sensible approach would be to switch from smart to dumb phone, in fact I have been thinking about that for a while now.

Sorry that doesn't sound sensible to me at all. How about we keep the tools and learn to discipline ourselves better?

Re: Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done

#64

> I need the Internet for ...workwork... > You probably don’t, and maybe it’s time to look in the mirror and be honest with yourself. That's where I stopped reading as obviously this article is not directed at me. Unless there is a way to troubleshoot and fix remote servers in the middle of the night without internet.

[deleted]

Re: Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done

#65

Some people are alcoholics. They can't exist near an open can of beer without their life going to shambles. But most people aren't and don't have the urge to binge drink. I'm not sure how this is any different. The author of this article is an Internetaholic, therefore I should cut my tether to the Internet? And what of my LTE connection?

Just an observation, shouldn't it be Internetic, even though it sounds wrong:

Alcohol-ic so Internet-ic

Re: Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done

#67

Interesting how I never considered this option. It never even hit my horizon. I'm actually in the process of increasing speed since faster speed equals faster access and better productivity. Right? After reading this article, I suspect I'm wrong. Thinking about how easy it is to get distracted when I'm online 100% of the time, no access is probably a good choice. It's going to hurt but this is something I'm going to…

But if you cut off your internet access, how do you keep in touch with your coworkers after hours?

I've found that it was too easy for my co-workers to ping me on things that can wait until the next day or stuff I can't do anything about until I get to work. I've asked them to call me if there's an issue that I have to fix. So far I've gotten zero calls and it's been over a year. If ever it becomes an issue I've got internet access within 5 mins from me. I suspect it's the same situation for most people.

Re: Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done

#68
post #55
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this blog post is entirely too idealistic about the benefits of turning off the Internet, but I don't think comparing excessive Internet use and Alcoholism is appropriate. Having personally been on the fringe of "high functioning" alcoholism on a few occasions, I don't think the comparison works. Alcoholism is inherently negative. Drinking alcohol in moderation may not be extremely harmful, but is still not n…

> Drinking alcohol in moderation may not be extremely harmful, but is still not necessarily great. While I certainly won't tell anyone how to live their life, cutting out alcohol use is still a "good" thing. Even if it's not a problem for you. I just don't know about that, even though I know you're trying to be fair and reasonable. Even ignoring the reported possible health benefits of alcohol in moderation, if it's…

My point is mostly focused on the extremes. I realize that I brought up the moderation bit and the true benefit/harm of moderate alcohol use is up for debate.

But if you look at extreme overuse of alcohol, there is nothing good about it. Pretty cut and dry.

Extreme "overuse" of the Internet - may have negatives attached, but is still in that "debatable" territory. True impact (positive or negative) depends on what the person is spending their time on, depends on the nature of their work and personal relationships, depends on what they have access to away from home, etc. etc. Even the definition of "extreme" or "overuse" is entirely relative and depends on the specifics of the situation.

Re: Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done

#69

I get this, I really do. I wish I could dump the Internet for some of my home life. But unfortunately my home life is polluted by work. I'm a web developer who maintains an entity with multiple domains. One of them is a 24/7 uptime service. So I'd love to follow this advice, but I don't think it is applicable to many viewers at HN, as many of us need to follow our job. What good advice would any viewer give to a life…

Have two dev leaders.

Also, more/better automation and fallbacks, an employee to cover all these extra shifts you're working, or trade out time with a colleague where you cover for each other which brings you back to having two dev leaders.

Either the business is successful and you can hire another 2nd leader; or can merge with a competitor to gain the 2nd leader and more resources of some sort (you have too many customers too little infra, so look for a company with underutilized infra). Or it's actually not that successful and is using your life 24/7 as life support for itself and it's past time to cut it loose.

Re: Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done

#70
post #63
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I agree with you and I think, for people with our type of needs, a more sensible approach would be to switch from smart to dumb phone, in fact I have been thinking about that for a while now.

Sorry that doesn't sound sensible to me at all. How about we keep the tools and learn to discipline ourselves better?

Part of learning self-discipline is learning what triggers or facilitates undesired behavior and modifying one's environment to increase desired behavior. This can include limiting internet access, such as removing home internet, or switching to a dumb phone. This isn't weakness; it's learning about oneself and working with what you have. Certainly, there are ways to increase will-power, but relying purely on will-power can be difficult for many people.
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