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Using the Web with Purpose

Being middle aged, I’m old enough to remember the world before the internet quite well. I don’t know if I’d say it was a fundamentally simpler time, but certainly quieter, and a bit slower. There wasn’t the constant distractions of the Web gnawing away at people. While it has its benefits, like giving us information from around the world at a high rate of speed, a lot of people just stay glued to their devices even after getting that data. Sure someone can become incredibly well-informed about the goings on of the world just by hopping on the web. However, after fifteen or twenty minutes of perusing the headlines and maybe drilling deeper on a few stories, the average person will likely have had their fill of the news. Do they put away their phone, close their laptop, or shutdown their desktop at that point? Probably not. In all likelihood, they migrate over to social media, or mindlessly watch some YouTube, or just set themselves adrift somewhere else on the web. Their behavior shifts from trying to be informed to simply partaking in an endorphin feeding frenzy as they waste time just fiddling about. Outside of some often rather base, ephemeral experiences that illicit little more than a snicker, what they’re doing is hardly time well spent. It’s just something to do.

I’m just as guilty of this as the next person, but it’s really been bothering me the last while. I’ll catch myself just hopping around YouTube videos, Twitter threads, or something else without thinking. It’s kind of like the web surfing equivalent of eating a whole bag of chips. The experience is mildly pleasant in the moment, but when I’m done I regret it and feel like crap.

This isn’t to say that I think I should throw all my devices in the trash, and dedicate my life to studying the works of Chaucer. I do think that I need to be much more thoughtful of what I’m doing, and what my goals are when I get in front of a screen. It’s become a terrible habit in the morning to fire up my laptop, read the news, then wander around aimlessly until it’s time to head to work. I’ll waste my time for at least an hour on mindless nonsense that is of basically no value whatsoever. Yes, this could potentially open a whole can of worms as to what exactly is value and how should one spend their free-time. Suffice to say, for me, trundling around the web in a stupor feels extremely low value, and I feel that I’ve made a mistake allowing myself to get comfortable with that behavior over the years.

With that, I’ve begun to make a concerted effort to be more thoughtful with how I use devices. They still serve a purpose, but I only want to use them with a specific goal in mind, then put them away. Sure, I’ll still look over the news when I wake up or information on a specific thing I need to know more about, but after that, off goes the computer so I can do something else. Much of that time that has been freed up has been allocated toward reading books, ideally physical ones rather than digital. On top of that, I’ve been getting back into an exercise routine. That won’t get back to normal until COVID is over and I can go to the gym to lift weights properly, but doing stuff around the house is a good start.

Of courses, I’m doing plenty of other stuff that many would probably consider a total waste of time in their own rights. I’m watching a lot of anime and playing video games. I love both these things and feel like they’re far better time investments than mindlessly looking at stuff on the web simply to pass the time. About the only thing I don’t like about them is that they both involve being in front of a screen and that tends to tire out my eyes after a while. In order to mitigate this, I’ll watch and play stuff on a TV where I can sit further from the screen than I would be situated when using my laptop or desktop. Also, I’ll try to use a handheld system whenever possible, as I find that to be the most relaxing for my eyes.

I would say the bigger problem is the web rather than being in front of a screen, though. WWW-land has been engineered to waste people’s time, and keep them on various platforms for as long as possible. It’s a system that doesn’t respect people’s time because, unfortunately, a lot of people don’t respect their own time. I fell into that trap for a long time, and am trying to dig myself out now. It’s hard to put into words, but it feels different / better prying myself away from the web and web-connected devices. I kind of have to deal with it when watching anime, but I can create a degree of separation plowing that stuff through my TV. I have no temptation to mess around on nonsense through a second monitor there since I’ve removed that option. I just enjoy my shows, and go merrily on my way after. In terms of games, I’m either on my 3DS or Switch for a lot of them, or firing up something from my retro game collection, so, again, I’m in a position where I’m away from the web. When I’m done with all that, I just put on my jacket, and go outside for a while.

Of course, there’s still the temptation of going right back on the web via a phone. However, I’ve never been a fan of smartphones. I only got my first one about a year ago. Before that I didn’t use anything. At this point, it’s a glorified MP3 player. I don’t surf the web with it or even read books on it all that often. I just fire up some music and go about my day.

The whole process has definitely felt a lot more meaningful. As mentioned before, it’s up for debate how good a use of my time watching anime and playing video games is, but I’ll certainly rank it higher than wasting time on hollow nonsense on the web. I’m a lot happier backing away from that environment. It’s like I shook off some cobwebs and am waking up from being asleep for a very long time. The last thing I want is to return to the borderline comatose state that the web had left me in.

(Twelve / Three / Twenty-One)