What happens when we disconnect?

Like many people, I spend too much time being “connected.” I’m reachable by email, text, BBM, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I know this will sound strange, but sometimes I even talk to people on the telephone. I carry two smartphones with me almost always (work and personal) and I just can’t deny that being this connected gets in the way of my 500 words.

I’m working on it, and this week I’ve received some unexpected help. As of today, I’ve been without high speed internet and a home phone for three days. My next blog post will be about the frustrations with my service provider, but for now I’m treating this like an experiment in being “unplugged.”

I noticed very quickly that I hardly miss my home phone at all. Aside from my parents and in-laws, the only calls that come into my house are from telemarketers (oh, how you have failed me Do-Not-Call-List) and I’m quite enjoying the break from phone numbers that begin 1-800.

Living without my high speed internet has been a far greater struggle, but I’ve found the break to be very revealing. Many of the times I’ve longed to log on have simply been to read the same online newspaper that I would have checked five minutes earlier. I wonder about the last 10 status updates from my friends, but doubt that my life is any worse off, with only a few people who might now be left wondering why I haven’t wished them a happy birthday (I promise I’ll catch up). I’ve realized how much the force of habit is driving my time online and it’s time I replaced this habit with playing more with my kids.

An added benefit has been the failure of my phone to work at the arena where my son plays hockey on Saturday and Sunday mornings (the heat doesn’t work either, but I suspect this is unrelated) and I’m so glad I’m not distracted as I watch him have such fun on the ice.

I do feel inconvenienced in some ways – I’m behind on emails to my family and some close friends and I’m unable to post these blogs until service is restored. I try to work from home every Tuesday so I can take the kids to school and avoid the draining commute for one day, but will have to scrap that plan tomorrow because my work requires me to be connected.

I expected the period without my home phone and high speed internet to make me feel so much like a primitive caveman that I’d want to run outside and kill a sabre-toothed tiger with my homemade spear, but it’s actually been a very welcome relief from the daily pressures I’ve likely put on myself to stay connected.

Now that I think of it, I’m not sure my caveman analogy is historically accurate, but with no way to do a Google search, I’ll just let it slide.