Log off, get out, bugger off

Today is the second International Internet-Free Day. (BBC News Online report here.)

I'm fully aware that I'm more than a little addicted to the Internet, that I have been for some time, and that I need to do something about it. I spend a lot of time surfing random websites. Post-Sept-11th I can't stop reading news websites. I was hours late finding out something had happened on that day, and now I'm frightened of missing some other important news, so I'm overcompensating by reading too many news sites too frequently.

The weird thing about this time I spend reading the same sites is that after a while I don't even enjoy it, but it's difficult to stop nevertheless. I think I can safely call that an addiction.

Lately I've been making an effort to do other stuff with my evenings, stuff that gets me unglued from this chair of mine. So I watch TV, or go out for food, or read books, or cook nice meals. And I'd go out for walks if it wasn't the middle of winter.

And I've started to feel a lot happier.

I'm not going to suggest that everyone should observe International Internet-Free Day - I know I won't. Many people have no need to do so. But a lot of people would find themselves a lot happier if they made a little conscious effort to moderate their particular addiction, whether it's SMS or ICQ or MUDs or chatrooms or slashdot or metafilter.

So if you recognise these traits in yourself, pick a day in the near future. Make it the day you're going to break the cycle, and on that day do something completely different. Don't go near the Internet or the object of your technological addiction, just spend the day far away from it. You may find the results surprising.