I'm off the grid: Days 6 and 7

There’s a party going on. All your friends are going. They’re excited about it. You’re well aware it’s happening. You’re not invited. It feels awful, right?

That’s how I’ve felt this week. I’ve been wondering about the musings I’ve been missing on Twitter, the “news” I haven’t been reading in the blogosphere, the ever-entertaining arguments of commenters I haven’t been able to laugh at on various forums. It’s sad and it’s pathetic, but it’s the truth. And I only blog the truth.

The sheer torment of not being able to read your friends’ thoughts and share your own accordingly is bad enough. But then there are the, “Did you see her Facebook?” comments and the e-mails telling me people are asking to be my friend, some one new is following me, I’m in a photo, someone has updated their blog never stop. Hell, I looked up a definition on m-w.com and there was an option for me to share that with people on Facebook, MySpace, Reddit, Digg, Stumble, Furl…

I’ve realized how insane it all it is and like to think I am better for having realized this.

That said, I logged back on last night at 12:28 a.m. I was awake, working on a final paper, and as soon as I noticed the time, I was back in action. I had missed event invitations, a million blog posts to read and who knows how many tweets to scroll through. I half expected to catch myself clicking through all the updates of the past week, fervently trying to piece together what had gone on in my absence, but I didn’t. My triumphant return to social networking only lasted about 15 minutes. After that, I went to sleep. Why? Because I don’t care that much anymore.

Even though I found myself logging on as soon as humanly possible, it wasn’t really because I wanted to be distracted. I had been blazing through a 10-page paper for the past four hours and was making a lot of progress without the distraction of Facebook or Twitter. I wasn’t thinking about logging on until the clock struck 12:28 a.m. I was totally focused and I think the only real reason I logged on so soon was because I could finally stop depriving myself. It’s like when you go on a new diet and give up chocolate or something — you want it more simply because you know you can’t have it.

I’m in a better state of mind after logging off for a week straight. I spent a little bit of time catching up this afternoon but haven’t been obsessing. In fact, I’m planning to keep this up, for the most part, until finals are over.
I had hoped this Week in the Life of going off the grid would be something of a case study in obsession, but instead it has opened my eyes to my incredible inability to effectively manage my time and priorities. Yes, there might be a role obsession plays in all this, but I think it has more to do with procrastination and general life avoidance when it really comes down to it.

I don’t want to write 10-page papers about Immanuel Kant. I can avoid doing them by clicking through photo albums and tweeting about how much I hate Kant. It takes me away from the task at hand for a few minutes but too long off track and I find my concentration will be shot for the next hour. It’s better to do without than to struggle by dividing your attention between work and social networking.

It’s the last week of class and finals are creeping up behind you. If you get off the grid now, I promise you’ll be more productive and less distracted. You’ll get done what you need to do in a shorter amount of time, leaving you more time to relax and decreasing your stress. I extend the challenge to you, dear reader. Log off now. Your life will thank you later.