not be so addicted to the internet

14 hours all up a day on my computer (minimum) and 10 of those hours are on the Internet. What do I do on the Internet all day?

- Forums (Six individual forums I frequent, plus a whole lot more I might participate in randomly from time to time)

- IRC (I'm on IRC right now in about 4 different channels, some times I'll be actively participating in more then 10 channels at once.)

- Social Networking Sites (The nerdy ones) - Digg, Lxer, and Slashdot are the main ones I visit. Reddit occasionally.

- Blogs/Websites (More than I care to list)

So yeah, this goal is more because I have no life and I figure cutting back on Internet will help. For now my goal is to cut it down to 3 hours a day.

Whenever I have an absurd question, Google is my go-to for answers. After discovering this site, how can I NOT be addicted to the internet?!?

Let say I start this week-end (it’s too late for today, it’s Friday, and I’ve already spent at least 3 hours on the computer this afternoon—but not one second this morning !): no more than 2 hours/day for a start.

I believe reprogramming requires knowing what to replace an addiction with. When I don’t know of any alternatives to the I-way of spending my spare time, I’m not likely to quit. Also, the replacement must be as pleasant as an addiction (or rather more pleasant). So far I can only think of two:
- Reading
- Meditation

Yet, I feel like these two replacements are my deadlock at this point. And so, here it goes: “My name is Zhenya and I’m an Internet-holic”. I am looking for the Positive Addiction!

Here are some interesting search results :o)
Replace Addictions – Google Search

• Switching Addictions | Wise Bread

• Self-Recovery from Addiction

Enough of Thing’ing. Time to start acting on Things!

This will be my first, difficult, but worthy goals. Knowing myself, I’ll define a step-by-step formula.

My initial intention is to have 1 day a week when I don’t turn my computer on (or visa versa).

What would I do when I have email or Google cravings? I will write it down to check it out later!

How about no more computer after 9pm. Yes, that sounds good. That will be my own computer diet! And think of things to do instead: read, meditate, keep a diary, go out!

Start with one computerless day a week …see how that goes

Evening – Computer/Internet
Morning – Computer/Internet

I’ve ot to give myself some credit though. I unsubscribed from all the newsletters so at least I’m not getting 30 emails a day. I closed my online dating accounts and left FaceBook. Now, it’s 43 Things, but once I define my goals I’ll leave ;o)