
Removing Home Internet Is the Most Productive Thing I've Done - osdiab
http://www.theminimalists.com/internet/
======
JacobJans
I haven't dealt with my laptop based computer addiction, but I have solved my
cell phone addiction.

It's important to understand how much behavior around technology is based on
ingrained habits. My goal with dealing with my phone was to "short-circuit"
the habitual/addictive behavior.

To do this, I did two things.

1\. I turned off all automatic notifications on my phone, as well as all
background updates of apps/email/etc.

2\. I created a simple rule: I can use my phone whenever I want, but I have to
wait five minutes after 'thinking of using it.'

Combined, these two rules have been effective in short-circuiting the
addictive properties of my cell phone. The five minute wait time gives me the
chance to have deliberate/conscious thought about my phone use. The lack of
automatic updates happening in the background gives me a chance to catch
myself, if I unconsciously start using my phone. For example, it takes 20-30
seconds to load email. If I unconsciously open the email app, nothing has
changed. Sure, I can tell it to load the email, but the time it takes to load
the email gives me the chance to realize I'm breaking my five minute rule.

I feel like I'm able to use my phone as a tool again. After around a month of
this, I'm no longer scared of my phone's power over me.

Sadly, I haven't figured out an effective system for my computer yet.

~~~
hbosch
The "set Do Not Disturb for 12:00AM - 11:59PM" trick has been amazing for me
the past month or so I started the experiment. I set it to allow texts and
calls from my Favorites through (e.g. wife, mom, dad) -- but essentially every
other type of notification is non-urgent and likely even non-important.

By far the best app to silence has been my email. I consider it a luxury that
I can come home and not worry about it. I highly suggest it to anyone who
thinks they have a screen addiction.

~~~
StavrosK
I have my Android set as "Do not Disturb: forever", while allowing calls to
still ring. Since people don't call me unless it's something urgentish, it
works well, and notifications never distract me when I'm with others any more.

~~~
viktorbenei
I do the same, and in addition the phone sits face down on my desk, to prevent
me getting distracted by the notification led.

------
jimmies
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 want. I no longer reach my pocket to check for message or anything when I
enjoy my meal or go travel somewhere. There is no push or anything I can play
when I wake up in the middle of the night to keep me up. Also, looking up and
navigating to places by instinct sucks, and is fun at the same time. I no
longer have any idea how highly rated any place is before I walk in, and I had
plenty of surprises since then. Just last weekend I traveled somewhere and
interacted with the locals because the only place in town was closed - I
wouldn't have if I had a smartphone to "OK Google." Without the smartphone, I
now carry a big, beaten up mirrorless camera in by bag, so I am more or less
have to do more "proper" photography now, instead of disposable instagram
stuff to get likes (this I have to credit the Pixel, it was an incredible
camera for how thin it is). Learning photography with a camera is super fun,
although the end result seems to be the same.

I'm an immigrant. Other than the Trump stuff my liberal friends were talking
about here, there was another alternative flow of stressful/irrelevant
celebrities news from my home country. I realized that without Facebook, I
actually extremely rarely check or care what's going on, about who is fucking
who and who is getting fat. The amount of stuff getting in my brain is
dramatically reduced. I thought I would miss Facebook, and it turned out I
don't. The benefits far, far exceeded the negatives.

Without Facebook and a constant smartphone influence to consume, I write way
more, about what I like and what actually matters to me, not to get likes from
my friends and to appear intelligent. I get downvotes from Hacker News when I
say something stupid, which I don't get from Facebook. It's alright :) I
honestly feel I learn everyday.

I get so much better sleep, way less stress and I have so much free time since
then. It was like an enlightenment for me to be taking control of my life. I
will try to cut back the internet also as the author suggested. Now excuse me,
I have to get back to work on my writing.

~~~
brightball
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 were usually associated with political-rant-
shares but the algorithm just keeps roping you back in.

I generally try to stay off the web after work unless there's something I NEED
to do after hours (right now I'm just finishing a database upgrade) and that
easy enough. Killing Facebook ended up being the real cure for me. Any other
sites I check I'm generally done after about 15 minutes...for the day.
Facebook is just constant though. It's just such an easy go-to. Like the
author of this post, I find myself reading books a lot more (for a really
interesting read, check out The Undoing Project btw).

I see some other comments on here being critical of the decision but the real
key is just identifying an acknowledging when you have a real, legitimate time
sink problem. When you do and you can get to the bottom of it, it's like a
weight off of your shoulders. Some people are better at moderation than
others. Others are much better at quitting cold turkey.

When you really identify how much time you're wasting per day / week of
something that's in short supply, especially when there are things you keep
wishing you could find time for...the decision to do something like this gets
really...really easy.

And once you do it, it feels pretty great.

~~~
jimmies
>The Undoing Project

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

------
brian-armstrong
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?

~~~
Trundle
I see it a lot particularly with regard to facebook. People take "I have a
problem" and turn it in to "this thing is a problem".

~~~
wpietri
One big difference is that alcohol was not engineered to be addictive. Whereas
at Facebook and many other companies there are a lot of smart people
continuously trying to improve metrics like DAU, UAM, response frequency, etc.
And they do it with no apparent regard for the impact on users' lives. Heck,
many game companies proudly advertise how they are the most addictive thing
you can get right now.

~~~
diminoten
Well okay sure, but engineered or not, alcohol is _very_ addictive. There are
probably more addictive substances, but alcohol really is up there on that
list. You could probably engineer a better addictive substance, but not one
nearly as pervasive in global culture.

There's something truly unique about alcohol that isn't true of any other
addictive substance on the planet.

~~~
croon
> There's something truly unique about alcohol that isn't true of any other
> addictive substance on the planet.

Except nicotine, sugar, caffeine, etc.

Honestly I'd say your argument is a much better fit for sugar.

I'm saying this as someone who went off it for a few years, and now back on
it, trying to quit.

Tremendously addictive, and it's EVERYWHERE.

Birthday? Cake. Meeting up with friends? Drinks. Easter? Candy. Date?
Chocolate. Did something good? Reward with cookies.

I sound like I'm on some bandwagon, but I'm not trying to argue that honey or
agave or anything else is better, but there's very little sugar naturally in
any real food, and we can't escape it.

Alcohol is at most gatherings, but it really isn't nearly as pervasive.

~~~
pas
Aren't fruits full of sugar?

~~~
Programmatic
The problem with sugar is, IMO, glycemic index. With glucose being an index of
100, no sugar being an index of 0, and something that takes a moderate amount
of time to convert from starches/etc to sugar being 50, things that are higher
than 50-60 tend to spike your blood sugar and cause insulin to scavenge the
sugar out and store it in fat. Doing that often causes things like insulin
resistance and obesity as you get hungry again when your blood sugar drops.

Fruits have a surprisingly low glycemic index because they aren't processed
and you have to get through fiber and digest the cells before having access to
all of the sugar. I've changed my diet to avoid sugar and notice that I very
rarely feel actively hungry/crashy vs. before, and most fruit is just fine.

[http://www.glycemicedge.com/glycemic-index-
chart/](http://www.glycemicedge.com/glycemic-index-chart/)

~~~
soreal
I checked the table you linked and:

Apple: 38 Banana: 51 Pineapple: 66 Watermelon: 72

vs.

Ice Cream (premium): 37 Sponge Cake: 46 Frosted Flakes: 55 Snicker's Bar: 55

Fruits really are very high GI compared to regular snack foods. They're
relatively healthy for other reasons though.

~~~
wpietri
A perhaps better measure is glycemic load, which takes mass into account. 400
calories of frosted flakes is about 100g. 400 calories of watermelon is 1.3kg.
Watermelon's glycemic index is worse, but at reasonable serving sizes, fruits
generally end up being way better.

------
dplgk
A less extreme idea embedded in here, that I'd like to try, is writing things
down that you'd like research instead of impulsively Googling stuff. I think
this wil have at least two benefits. 1. This will prevent you from impulsively
interrupting what you're doing (like work or eating dinner) 2\. Will filter
out things you don't actually care about. When you sit down to go through your
research list, you might discover you don't actually care about half of them
thus saving you time and effort.

~~~
Hasknewbie
I really wish I could do that, but the problem is that note-taking/text-entry
on current smartphones (i.e. the only item you're likely to have with you at
all time) is such a dreg.

How do you solve that, by carrying a notebook and pen with you everywhere?

~~~
Gormisdomai
Have you tried Google Keep? If not I would definitely recommend it vs built in
notes apps.

~~~
Hasknewbie
I know Google Keep and use it, but I'm talking about physical text input.
Virtual keyboards for non-daily-vocab are awful, and devices with physical
keyboards are getting rare, plus they're not getting better -- I've tried
multiple Blackberry models, what a disapointment, it's hard to believe they
had such a following for so long. I miss my Nokia E70 and Droid 3 :-/

And before someone weighs in with the inevitable "but virtual keyboards are
totally cool, bro": I get it, they can be quick, but no they're not. Not when
you switch between languages, not when you use a lot of technical or uncommon
terms, and not when you appreciate a low typo-oops-correction rate.

------
WheelsAtLarge
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 try. Good article.

~~~
brandon272
But if you cut off your internet access, how do you keep in touch with your
coworkers after hours?

~~~
magic_beans
What do you mean? If they are your friends, they can call you. If they need to
talk to you about work... well that's not what "after hours" are for!

~~~
brandon272
Sorry, I forgot to append /s.

------
daxfohl
Cute. Kind of like a paleo diet. Check back in in 2018, let me know how that's
going for you.

I mean, I get it, you have to rebalance, which sometimes calls for going
overboard. Just don't get too excited about it being the One True Way. 50
years from now?

~~~
ergl
Just so you know, this was written in 2011.

------
spenvo
In college I had tried to get into programming (including taking a CS class)
and had, each time, bounced off (not because I couldn't get it, but tutorials
seemed boring and a passion wasn't ignited).

Fast forward to after college, I found myself at a career-y job I disliked.
Each lunch break I loaded up my (shiny new 2011) Macbook Air with a few tabs-
worth of chapters of How to Think Like a Computer Scientist [0] and headed to
a Wendy's that didn't have an internet connection. So, for 45 minutes I could
eat my spicy chicken nuggets and apply what I was learning from the book in
console at a Python command line. It was so simple and fun, I was hooked.
Within a month I was taking on programming-related responsibilities at work,
soon thereafter auditing a class at Uni (I specifically chose cause it
interested me), and within 4-5 months was being paid by my professor (from
audited class) for web dev grant work, and a few more months and I was being
paid as a developer by the University directly. The rest is history.

I think one key part of why it stuck the _fourth_ time was because my routine
allowed for 45+ minutes of time away from the internet _each day_ with
learning materials. The satisfaction of learning is incredible but more of a
"slow drip" compared to the kind of instant satisfaction one can get by
opening Netflix, Facebook, or whatever. Going without the latter during a key
period I think changed my life.

[0] -
[http://openbookproject.net/thinkcs/python/english3e/](http://openbookproject.net/thinkcs/python/english3e/)

~~~
hyperpallium
> tutorials seemed boring and a passion wasn't ignited

> job I disliked ... How to Think Like a Computer Scientist [0] ... and apply
> what I was learning from the book in console at a Python command line. It
> was so simple and fun

I'm struck by how the right guidance was also helpful. Actually making
something new happen is rewarding (py console), you _experience_ your
progress. But it can be tricky to divide a topic into bite-sized things, that
_can_ be experienced. That's where guidance helps.

Unfortunately, some topics have so many layers, they're difficult to break
down into these learnable, rewarding chunks (e.g. computational fluid
dynamics).

So (if you don't mind a reframing) while the slow drip of a consistent routine
over a long period was crucial, each drop gave fairly quick (though not
immediate) gratification.

------
nicklaf
May I suggest that the problem is one of quality much more so than of
quantity, and that a solution that takes a more fine-grained approach than
just shutting off your ISP altogether can give you the best of both worlds?

"How Technology is Hijacking Your Mind — from a Magician and Google Design
Ethicist"

[https://journal.thriveglobal.com/how-technology-hijacks-
peop...](https://journal.thriveglobal.com/how-technology-hijacks-peoples-
minds-from-a-magician-and-google-s-design-ethicist-56d62ef5edf3)

Once you see how subtly dark patterns borrowed from advertising and casinos
tap deeply into your subconscious impulses without your knowledge, you will
likely jettison any cavalier conception of things like Facebook, smartphone
notifications, etc., and begin to treat them like the subversive, profit
driven intrusions that they are.

Let's as well not forget that just about 100% of the web used to look like it
would today if you disabled all Javascript and CSS. The change is not a
coincidence, and it's important to recognize who benefits from the intrusive
web, and what we lose when our scenic view of the historic part of town has
been blocked by the new casino development.

~~~
jackiebrowne
A really good comment.

------
jghefner
> 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.

~~~
mastazi
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.

~~~
flukus
That would be throwing out the good with the bad. The phone isn't just an
internet portal, it's a music player, a navigation system, an audiobook
player, a book reader, etc.

~~~
therealdrag0
Yep. I've deleted Facebook and it's reduced my time wasting. I still pull my
phone out, swipe left, swipe right, realize there's nothing for me to do and
then put my phone away. (I have most notifications turned to minimal/off)

But LOVE my audio books and podcasts and google maps and digital note pad and
dictionary and wikipedia... And never feel guilty about those things.

------
mcv
But... but... I need the internet for online gaming and aimless browsing!

It's true. This stuff is addictive, and I've known that for over two decades
now. And I've been addicted ever since my older brother told me about the
Internet when he went to university. I don't fool myself that I can stop
anytime; I clearly can't. I don't want to. But it's true that it's sucking up
way too much time.

I don't read books anymore because I read HN and Google+. I have trouble of
focusing on boring administrative chores because there's always this info-
driven dopamine boost within reach.

------
sigi45
That's what i don't like from theminimalists.

I'm a minimalist but it doesn't mean that i have nothing in my flat. I enjoy
watching stuff on netflix or playing computer games.

Being a minimalist and have basically nothing is just another form of 'hi i'm
peter and i did something to an unnecessary extreme, please look at me'.

No internet at home no one will do this. Lots of people will try it but will
stop doing it and haven't learnt anything from it.

Being a minimalist means having that mindset and evaluating all the time but
being content with the status quo. If you have the feeling that you are using
the internet too much, reduce it somehow but not by removing it completely.

It is the same with diet: No one will keep there weight when dieting. Change
your eating habbits instead.

------
mikenew
I wish there were better ways to regulate your own access. It's easy enough to
make good decisions about where you spend your time when you're in a good
frame of mind, but it's almost impossible to do that every minute of every
day. It's a bit like eating I think. It's not too hard to buy healthy food
when you're at the grocery store, but it's hard to say no to a plate of
cookies every time you walk past when they're sitting on your table.

I wish there were good software solutions, like a way to schedule a blacklist
of websites on your phone and computer that you simply couldn't get around.
Almost everything I've seen is set up to block access for children, or is
easily bypassed. I feel like it's an area that could be a huge benefit to a
lot of people.

Completely killing your home internet is extreme. I'd have to change careers,
hobbies, and it would even interfere with friendships. But there's no reason
why it has to be all or nothing.

~~~
Arete3141
I tried living totally without internet access, and while I felt a lot better
overall, I eventually had to give in. Nowadays phone books aren't usually
delivered to homes anymore, so if you want to get in touch with a store or
find a doctor's office, you need internet to search for it. Since I wasn't
driving at the time, I couldn't just head out to an internet cafe when it was
something important.

For similar reasons, I've had trouble detangling from Facebook. 10 years ago,
if a friend was getting married they'd send out announcements -- now they just
"announce" it on Facebook, and if you don't log in that week, you don't find
out about it.

So part of the reason it's hard to disconnect is because the previous methods
of staying in touch have atrophied in favor of these new, more toxic systems.

Nevertheless, I'm trying a couple of things (with varied success -- I really
do much better cold turkey):

\- Trying to reward myself with internet time after I score enough points in
Habitica (aka HabitRPG)

\- Trying to turn off the modem at a certain time of night like 10 pm (I find
I sleep better too -- might be coincidence but I've noticed the difference
many times)

Ultimately what would help me would be a pay-per-use internet plan versus an
"always on" internet plan. If I know that my plan fee increased after 20 hours
/ month, I'd have access when I needed it, but then I'd have to "save up" for
special occasions like streaming a show. As of yet I haven't found an external
limit that doesn't also make life too logistically challenging.

~~~
mikenew
I lived without internet for a while too and had the same experience. There's
benefits, but it's not practical long term.

Pay-per-use would is an interesting idea, but if you live with other people it
gets a little more complicated.

The best tool I've found is an app called Self Control. It puts rules into
your hosts file and either blacklists certain websites or blocks all of them
and whitelists the ones you want. It uses an external timeserver so you can't
get around it by changing your computer clock, and it runs regular checks to
make sure you don't just edit your hosts file yourself. It's really pretty
good. And in theory you could set up scripts that would start up certain
blocks at a scheduled time every day. The one huge problem though is that it's
Mac only.

I don't think there's a way to completely fix the issue externally, but having
some powerful tools for limiting yourself would go a long way in making it
easier.

------
vans
It's so sad to see such techniques just because people can control themselves.
Ok, a life with a full list of friends on facebook is fake, but the opposite
is fake too. It's just another hypster minimalist move. Some tortured guy
looking for meaning in his life, as all of us, but with enough paternalistic
arrogance to pretend he knows better than us what's good for us, usual story.

------
multani
People of my generation around me, myself included, tend or tended to boast
how we are living without any TV at home compared to our parents or the time
we spent watching TV when we were younger. Now, people in my flat sharing were
watching series on their own laptops most of the evenings, otherwise spending
their time on internet.

In retrospective, I wonder if we will have the same "relationship" with
Internet our parents have with the TV, and if our children will behave the
same with Internet as we do now regarding our pride not to use a TV anymore.

~~~
Latty
If something better comes along, sure.

This is hardly new. People complained about individuals wasting their lives
reading books all day too.

------
reacharavindh
I think I should do something similar to my addiction to HN. I find myself
glancing HN feed several times in the day with insatiable need to know the
shiny new things. I'm going to try to restrict myself to one time a day visit
to HN. Lets see if that can get my lazy ass to finally make more contributions
in GitHub and do something more productive.

~~~
shakna
Check noprocrast in your profile.

From the FAQ:

In my profile, what is noprocrast?

It's a way to help you prevent yourself from spending too much time on HN. If
you turn it on you'll only be allowed to visit the site for maxvisit minutes
at a time, with gaps of minaway minutes in between. The defaults are 20 and
180, which would let you view the site for 20 minutes at a time, and then not
allow you back in for 3 hours. You can override noprocrast if you want, in
which case your visit clock starts over at zero.

~~~
reacharavindh
Ah cool. I updated my profile with noprocrast. Now going to check back again
after a while to see if it works ;-)

Thanks for the tip.

------
mattlondon
Hmm.

Not sure I agree with this entirely.

Sure, facebook/twitter/social media et al are obviously utter dross, but why
cut yourself off from learning & knowledge like some sort of troglodyte?

People say books are great - and sure they are, but I have yet to find a book
that 100% answers every question I have right there on the page as I am
reading it. I frequently find myself thinking "hmm interesting - I wonder...."
and look up stuff on the internet for more
background/context/history/examples/whatever.

In my opinion curiosity is something that should be encouraged and not put on
a rationed list of "things to do later, if you have the time"

My advice would be: \- delete all social apps \- star your immediate family
contacts so that all other calls/notifications etc are silent \- stay
observant and curious, and embrace the pursuit of knowledge & learning

~~~
laughingman2
Exactly, I have vast wealth of contextual knowledge because of browsing
Internet regarding multiple stuff from philosophy, computer science, history
etc.

This has resulted me to find and appreciate connections between various stuff,
things I never would have in a analog fashion of only reading books(which I do
as that deepens the knowledge).

The internet expands and augments our perspective with that of so many others
in a searchable fashion with element of serendipity & discovery to it.

Social media may contain lots of irrelevant noise, but that doesn't define the
internet, like reality shows don't define existence.Te web in general has been
a extremely positive gift to me, and to spurn it is not a option for me at
least.

------
a_c
I total agree with the sentiment. I stopped using facebook for about 3 years.
It was almost instantly obvious how much time was wasted on people's whining,
fake news and dog photos. It is easier to do when it only affects yourself.

However it is a whole different story when things, like a cable tv, affects
every member of your family. I was faced with fierce objection when I brought
out the idea to cut out cable tv, and removing all TV from home.

It seems to me that the market value of "media" is how much time people are
willing to waste instead of doing other stuff. For instance facebook now worth
about 400B. What happens to global economy if facebook doesn't exist and
people divert their attention to do whatever they interested in?

------
vcool07
I don't think this is the correct solution. It's like chopping off your nose
to avoid cold. Rather, try more self restraint or self control.

\- Install a nanny software to block time-sink sites at specific time (chrome
nanny was an awesome tool)

\- Schedule appointments in advance with your friends/relatives to keep the
relationships active

\- Enroll in social events to be around with people and work for a cause you
care

\- Go for group studies/writing workshops/book clubs etc to rekindle your
passion of reading/writing

There're a hundred other hacks which you can use to ensure you're
productive/social !

~~~
thr0waway1239
A famous author once made the following observation - When faced with the
option of either doing more exercise or less eating for losing weight, take
the option which requires you to a) spend less time and b) not add anything
new to your life (i.e. the cognitive overhead).

Apparently, people who tried to eat less were also more successful in losing
weight.

Cutting off home internet is the option of less eating. Seems more drastic,
but is actually more tuned to how our brains work.

Your suggestion is similar to doing more exercise. It can also work, but it is
just a whole lot more work and cognitive overhead.

Besides, its not like the author is asking people to go off the grid.

~~~
osdiab
To be fair, the amount of exercise you need to overcome even small amounts of
excessive eating can be disproportionately difficult and time consuming—but
while the example may have some logistic holes, I still generally agree with
your idea :)

------
janwillemb
I really like the idea. But I think the author needs to be super transparent
to his audience and be honest about when he re-enables his internet
connection. Otherwise it is just socialmediaing the audience with nice
pictures of his "life", building a façade that is not truthful.

------
RoboTeddy
I keep my internet off most of the day (via kernel firewall). Have a command
that gives me a few minutes of internet so I can look up docs, then shuts
everything back down.

~~~
retreatguru
Can you say more about how you set it up? This sounds like a balanced
solution: you avoid the long time sucks but can still look up needed info.

~~~
chrisper
Sounds like a script with iptables. I believe many consumer routers also
support time based internet access

------
nabilt
Implementing this exact solution probably won't work for most people, but I
found the idea of digital fasting a productive one. Try some less extreme
variation of this like getting a dumb phone or switching to a paper magazine
for your general interest reading for sometime. I found I built better habits
offline that also translated online.

------
laughfactory
I just wish our devices were designed with the recognition that we users of
them, yes, even adults, may want some help limiting our usage of them.
Something like granular parental controls, but for the average adult user. I'd
love to be able to set a time limit, at the system level, on my ability to use
my phone or computer. Or limit what apps and programs and sites I have access
to. I.e., I want my computers, tablets, and phones to be mostly TOOLS, with
reliable limits on how addicted I can get to 1) reading news, 2) watching
YouTube, 3) watching Netflix/Prime, 4) browsing the web. Of course this is not
going to happen because there's a lot of money in peddling addiction. Apple
and Google make a lot of money serving ads, selling games and content, etc. So
we really need another option who builds a really good TOOL which has limited
entertainment potential.

------
DandyDev
I have an unpopular opinion about this, but here it goes: I think the whole
article is based on false premises. Mostly two of them:

    
    
      - Productivity is the be all, end all of life
      - It's somehow wrong to "waste your time" with things like Netflix, Gaming, etc.
    

What does "productivity" even mean? To be able to work more? I don't want to
work more. And what is wrong with gaming, or watching TV shows on Netflix? I
would consider some games and TV shows as works of art, and to me there's
nothing wrong with experiencing more art in one's life.

I do agree with some of the less extreme sentiments here on HN that it's good
to be more conscious about how you use your "internet time". I quit Facebook,
and it has gained me more time to use for other stuff, and it strengthened the
most important relationships in my life.

------
daylightyotei
I did something similar when I was in college to fix my bad grades - I didn't
have a laptop or a computer at home, and didn't own a smartphone. I did all my
school related work at labs in college, and this made me much more productive
at home - instead of mindlessly surfing the internet, I actually did the
school work. As a result, my grades shot up to summa cum laude levels and
there is a distinct step function between my freshman/sophomore year grades
and the junior/senior year grades. Unfortunately, living with a girlfriend who
adores Netflix, I am back into my procrastinating self when I am at home.

~~~
osdiab
If your girlfriend is at all receptive to it, maybe you can try to move things
in that direction—sounds like you appreciated a bunch of aspects of that
lifestyle!

------
randoaccount108
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 I just described? How could
anyone (I) separate the Internet from a home life when being off that grid for
a weekend could cause catastrophic failure without the dev leader their to fix
it?

~~~
Ductapemaster
I struggle with some demons when it comes to the internet, mostly in terms of
distractions and time wasting. Alcohol problems run in my family, and while I
have no problems with it now or in the past, I find my addictive tendencies
come out in regards to the internet and its content.

I've learned that I am very sensitive to physical spaces in my life, and I
have made an effort to set "space boundaries" for myself to help with my
tendencies. For example, I got rid of my desktop computer, replaced it with a
laptop, and got rid of my desk in my room. It was calling me every day to sit
down and use my computer for hours on end. It's been that way since childhood
- the habit is deeply ingrained.

Now, I use my room for relaxation and I try to keep it that way. I'm not
perfect, but when I have to work from home I make sure I don't do it in my
room. I sit at the dining room table most times, and that has become a "work
space" for me. I've trained myself to not work in my room, and, while I still
use my computer and the internet in there, I only use it for personal things.

This solution is still in flux for me. So far it has been successful in
turning my room into a relaxation space, which was a real lack in my life
before. I hope that helps!

------
macawfish
I did this last year and it was amazing. I got so much done. I became way more
fluent in git, started using syncthing to back stuff up, and began printing
things I wanted to read.

~~~
therealdrag0
Are you still doing it, or?

~~~
always_good
Aside, you don't need to end a question with "or". It's assumed.

It's a non-committal way of writing that I've been seeing lately. As if you
need to pre-empt and soften the possible "no" answer to your yes or no
question.

~~~
therealdrag0
Actually, it's more of saying "This is NOT a yes/no question, if it's "no", I
want you to elaborate." Think of it as "..., or what happened?"

------
marcus_holmes
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.

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

------
Aeolun
The votes indicate that people like this idea, it's just that it's impractical
for most people whom like it.

------
veddox
> Earlier this year I made the conscious decision to remove all Internet
> service from my home. It ended up being the best productivity decision I’ve
> ever made.

Yep, can confirm that. I haven't had any Internet in my student flat in the
past 1 1/2 years and am thriving on it :-) I have Internet at university and
when I go home for the weekends, so I'm not cut off from the world; but I do
need to much more deliberate in how I spend my time online.

One of the biggest advantages: I have time to read books again. As a kid I was
a voracious reader, but that decreased in high school, partly because I was
spending the time on the web instead. Giving myself the opportunity to go back
to books has been tremendously satisfying. (HN and the Internet is great, but
you learn so much more through books.)

------
franciscop
I recently (2 months already!) closed my FB account and I have a mixed feeling
about it. Part of the time I spent on facebook now I spend on things I want to
do, but other part now I'm using HN and Twitter more, so maybe declaring
internet-free time would be a good idea for me too.

------
peterburkimsher
My ISP (Chunghwa telecom) delivers such terrible service that my life
basically works this way.

I spend much more time in the office, because the Internet connection works.
But that makes me use office time to live my online life, instead of doing
company work.

------
jordache
dude is milking the minimalist marketing.. there is only so much stuff one can
eliminate..

killing the home internet is an obvious click bait.

~~~
doctorshady
I don't have a source for it - if you're interested enough, you're welcome to
verify it independently, but supposedly a fifth of the country no longer has
wired internet anymore.

~~~
magic_beans
"No longer" or "never had"? Because I can certainly believe that a fifth of
the country simply never had wired internet to begin with.

------
stagbeetle
What the author suggests is highly impractical, and makes adopting this way of
life all the more challenging.

I suggest for people who have a serious problem, to try out time-managers and
site-blockers.

When I was going through a highly unproductive phase, I used ColdTurkey. The
software's not too good and if you're really craving for a fix, you'll find a
way to get past it. But, for the regular procrastinator it does wonders for
productivity.

Don't be rash and cut out one of the most important utilities there is just
because you're having _some_ issues.

Do be intelligent and work around the issue.

~~~
mbrock
The author suggests that if you assume that not having an internet connection
at home is highly impractical, you should take a moment to really think about
whether you're assuming too much.

I agree. As for me, I'm a remote worker but I rent a desk in a coworking
space, which means I can use their high speed internet for hours every day.
That's a lot of time to acquire information and do chores.

So the consequence of not having internet at home would be, basically, that
I'm offline between 7 PM and 9 AM, or whatever. When I've lived without
internet before, I've spent a couple of hours on weekend days in cafes
checking my websites.

It's not necessarily a horrible austerity. For me, I've always experienced an
offline home as very relaxing, nice, and peaceful. (Of course there are many
factors which can make it impractical, e.g. family.)

~~~
stagbeetle
> The author suggests that if you assume that not having an internet
> connection at home is highly impractical, you should take a moment to really
> think about whether you're assuming too much.

Perhaps it is my young age, but all the people I know are effectively lepers
if they're not, atleast, connected to the internet.

 _I_ was rash in assuming everyone was similar. Now that I think of it, there
are older people that wouldn't miss a beat if they took time away from the
internet.

~~~
mbrock
Maybe being a bit of a leper wouldn't be too bad.

------
toast42
I'm having a similar experience travelling through Melbourne as almost all of
my internet access is metered. My mobile plan has 3GB/month and is almost my
sole source of internet.

I just discovered the public library which is great for getting work done, but
I have to leave my room to get there. Most cafes either don't have wifi or
impose a time limit w/ a user/pass login (so changing mac address won't defeat
it).

I'm mostly finding it makes me more productive, though it's sometimes
frustrating if I need to search for a quick Stack Overflow answer.

------
adamconroy
I scratch around passing time on the internet, but then if I'm not doing that
I'm passing time watching cable tv, passing time playing chess, passing time
smoking pot, passing time reading novels, passing time playing golf, passing
time laughing frivolously, passing time sleeping, passing time day dreaming,
passing time eating, passing time shopping, passing time chatting on the
phone......

Basically, I pass my days in my idle ways, and I don't think it matters what
the medium. I can say that I don't pass my days on social media, its tedious.

------
sunilkumarc
This definitely will not work for Software Engineers, especially developers.
We constantly go online looking for solutions to problems we face in everyday
work.

------
kneel
I watched the documentary on these guys; my takeaway is that they have some
sort of environment control OCD issue. Their minimalist tendencies are
extreme.

------
wonderwonder
If you have kids and ever go to some sort of school function like a play etc.
Look around at all the parents watching the play through the phone screen
recording instead of just putting it down and looking at their kids as they
perform.

I noticed I did that and decided to just leave my phone in my pocket and watch
it directly with my eyes. You feel so much more connected with the moment and
your kids value the eye contact.

~~~
kerbalspacepro
Next time strap a go pro to your head and you'll be able to record it while
you watch it. The fish eye lens will also let you record other people watching
it through their phones, and you can feel even better about being more
connected in the future too.

~~~
wonderwonder
Only problem with that is that after that my kids wont want to talk to the
strange guy at their play with a camera strapped to their head :)

------
97s
I have recently stopped playing video games. Uninstalled them all. I also cut
off netflix, hbo, and tv in general. It was hard at first, but I am so much
more productive. Creating things is so much more satisfying than consuming
them. I am also getting healthier/working out and cooking better food.

I was thinking about cutting off internet, but the other members of my family
would go bonkers.

------
zepolen
Sure let's go back to the dark ages because we lack the self control to do
things in moderation.

No thanks. Removing internet from my home won't make me more productive, in
fact it will make me less productive, as I won't be able to get information
instantly, like a recipe for the things that are soon about to go off in my
fridge.

~~~
chrisper
I have to agree with you. Why don't we just lock ourselves away to become
productive. At one point or another every little thing becomes distraction and
harming productivity.

At what point becomes productivity and efficiency an addiction as well? Don't
we already call those people workaholics?

------
cponeill
I haven't had home internet in well over five years and it is absolutely
fantastic. I did it while in school so I could focus on getting reading and
homework done and found that I really enjoyed it. I still use a smartphone but
will leave it in another room if I want to read or focus on something other
than tech.

------
cwyers
Something about the headline nags at me. I don't really like the idea that
being "productive" all the time is a positive thing. My brain is for more than
achieving things. It is in point of fact okay to use it for watching silly
YouTube videos for half an hour, an hour, whatever.

~~~
mbrock
During the time periods when I haven't had internet at home nor on my phone
(three months times two in different cities) it hasn't made me more
"productive", it's primarily made me more relaxed, grounded, and happy.

Coming home to a house without internet is a very special feeling to me, aside
from concerns about time management or getting stuff done. It's just peaceful.
I come home and can immediately focus on, for example, cooking, reading a
book, meditating, exercising, etc.

------
jim-jim-jim
This almost makes sense for me, but I don't know if I can pirate music on
coffee shop wifi.

~~~
therealdrag0
I was about to say "what, streaming services aren't good enough for you?" Then
realized you can't stream without home internet >_<. Ah well, I bet you can
buy cheap CDs and rip them :)

~~~
mbrock
Spotify Premium lets you download something like three thousand songs for
offline play.

------
emodendroket
More to life than productivity.

~~~
osdiab
The title is not the greatest, but the article mostly talks about how the guy
is living his life more fulfillingly, not a micro-optimization of
productivity.

~~~
emodendroket
Yeah, I guess, but it seems like there's a conflation of the idea of getting
stuff done and being fulfilled. Playing games online (or just sitting around
and chatting with my wife, for that matter) doesn't really serve to help me
get anything done but I derive enjoyment from it.

------
cjdell
I forced my phone to use 2G (GPRS/EDGE) which means it still functions as an
internet connected communications device, but I'm far less likely to go
browsing Twitter on it because of the slowness. I save money too.

------
linker3000
All that illustrates is the author needed a bit of help with time management
and found it difficult to tear themselves away from their on-tap Internet
comfort zone without taking firm action to remove the temptation.

------
sharun
For devs who want to go offline for a bit I recommend Zeal (offline docs) +
kiwix (Offline Wikipedia app that also parses stackexchange/stackoverflow
dumps) Check their github page.

The entire stackoverflow dump is about 10 Gig.

~~~
djaychela
Is that (kiwix) really going offline? I don't think it's the 'active internet
connection' that's the crux of the problem, it's the trawling through pages
and pages of stuff, which Wikipedia is very good at allowing.

Obligatory XKCD:

[https://xkcd.com/214/](https://xkcd.com/214/)

~~~
sharun
I mostly use it for offline stackoverflow. Open ended offline wiki journeys
have happened but I personally think much less. When online there are many
more triggers to send one off on these random walks.

------
sealub
I am still trying to find the perfect balance. Not too long ago I did not own
a cell phone - only a landline. Now I have a Nexus 5, but no cell service. I
can already feel the addiction setting in.

------
JofArnold
On my iPhone I use the content blocker to block every site I frequent (as I do
on my Mac with /etc/hosts). I then allocate 2 hours on a Sunday going through
the best articles of the week.

------
ArtDev
I have disabled certain sites in my windows hosts file. It helps as it is a
hassle to find it and edit it again.

When I actually do visit Facebook, I use a private window. That way I won't
forget to log out.

------
digitalshankar
I use Pomodoro Technique (search for Tomato Timer for online version).

------
tokumei_74
-posted on the internet.

------
ungzd
Why dedicate all your life to making money? All these "productivity" things,
working 20 hours each day. To show others that you are not "loser"?

~~~
jackmott
If I may play devil's advocate:

1\. to retire early

2\. if you are in america, to ensure you can afford to live someplace where
the schools are good for your kids. A sad state of affairs but it is what it
is.

3\. assuming you enjoy your work, to make some positive difference in the
world before you inevitably die.

4\. if you do not enjoy your work, then so you can get your hateful work done
sooner, and then have time to do what you actually want to do.

~~~
ungzd
But why even give birth to kids? To doom them into the same miserable life of
working 20 hours a day?

~~~
magic_beans
It's not for everyone, that's true. Some of us want to experience the joy of
nourishing a new life, even if it's ungodly expensive.

------
myrandomcomment
Okay I am reading this and some of the comments and well.....

Have some damn discipline. Grown up and be an adult. Problem solved.

~~~
mbrock
I'm curious, do you think you would you have the same reproachful attitude if
the author had limited his text to describing his own experience rather than
talking about what others should do?

~~~
myrandomcomment
Interesting question. Thank you. The answer is maybe. Personally I have a very
hard time with people in general that are unable to sort the fundamental
things needed to control their life without resorting to this type of drastic
behavior (unless there is a proven medical reason). I think a large number of
people in the last 2 generations have a hard time with being discipline. I was
born in the early 70s.

Also you are right the story was a bit on the "do this now side" of things..

So sure my reaction is a bit of how it was written along with own personal
view point.

But you know it could just be me screaming "get off my lawn!"

------
gremlinsinc
Hard to do when you're a web developer, and you work from home.. but good luck
with that..

------
jaddood
What about self-taught programmers that get all the materials from the
Internet?

------
omarforgotpwd
Great idea, but probably won't work for most of us unfortunately...

------
jonbarker
Did they mean "thing" in the title?

~~~
osdiab
Yep, my bad

------
pgalic
this article is complete new age shit. something works for one person,
something works for someone else.

------
ensiferum
Moving to Germany did this for me. Thank you Vodafone! No more internet yay!

------
pgalic
this article is complete shit

------
rootkea
s/Think/Thing/

------
Zelmor
Or you could use plain old self discipline and not touch electronic devices
past x PM.

------
hota_mazi
Sure you can do that.

Or you can just use the Internet responsibly, like an adult.

How old is the author of this article, 16?

~~~
osdiab
I think you give the average person a bit more credit in their self control
than they perhaps deserve—lots of people have issues with addiction to the
internet, based on typical Netflix binge habits or the infamous Reddit
timesink.

~~~
teach
Agreed. I'm 42 and I spend more time on the Internet than I probably should.

