How to Survive Life Without Internet: A Guide
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Is it hard for you to imagine a world without internet access? No wonder when 87% of people have internet access in the United States. The situation is different around the world with about half the population living without internet access.
Do you have to survive without internet access for a few days? Will you be able to cope? Read on to learn how to survive life without internet access.
Life Without Internet
There are lots of reasons why you might have to face up to life with a little less internet in it. Perhaps your Wi-Fi is down or you’re waiting for your internet service to be installed. If you are a heavy internet user, you can feel isolated, frustrated, or even bored.
Just think about what you might be missing out on.
The latest YouTuber vlogs will go unwatched. TikTok and Twitter will be absent from your life. The echo chamber that is Facebook will echo away but you’ll hear nothing.
Stop worrying about how to download TikTok videos without an internet connection. Don’t grieve at the loss of those internet memes. Life outside the internet for a short time can be rich, surprisingly good fun, and better for you.
Save Money
Internet access feels free at the point at which you use it. It’s not. You are paying your internet service provider, paying for devices, and it’s costing you money.
Browsing online retail websites is an easy way to shop. It’s so simple to click and make a purchase, perhaps a short while without internet access will save you more money than you think.
When buying something involves a drive to the store, a browse of the shelves, and a journey home, the buying decision has to be more considered. This delay in the buying process allows you to reflect on whether you really need or want to make the purchase. If you have stuff that you’ve bought on the internet and it’s never been used, you might find that you are better off financially without the internet.
More Time
How much time do you spend in front of a computer or smartphone screen? If you spend about 12 hours a day at home on a screen, then you’re typical. Social media, internet shopping, and checking your mail takes a lot of time.
What could you do with an extra 12 hours a day for non-internet activities? Far from thinking that you’re missing out on the internet, you may be able to have a fuller more rounded life without it. It’s time to make a list of all the things you’ve been meaning to do but haven’t ever had time for.
Get Physically and Mentally Fit
A sedentary life isn’t good for you. Many health issues arise out of or are contributed to by lack of physical activity. Obesity, cardiovascular illnesses, and muscular-skeletal ailments are all associated with a lack of exercise.
Use your internet downtime to get active. Take a walk.
The benefits of more exercise include more energy, improved sleep, longer life, and better mental health.
A little less time on the internet might have other benefits for your mental health too. There is evidence that less screen time could be beneficial for mental and cognitive health.
Reported depression and loneliness levels are increasing as the internet increases. This is despite the internet’s benefits as a way of connecting people. Perhaps you need a different type of human connection that one enabled by social media.
Do More
With your additional time, what could you do? Start by taking up a creative activity. It doesn’t have to be a conventional artistic pastime such as drawing, painting, or sculpting.
You can be creative by cooking, gardening, or doing home improvement.
Learn a new recipe and have friends come to share the food you’ve made. Tidy the garden or create a water feature and then host a garden party. Build an outside pizza oven and then share food and fun with your neighbors.
Be Present
It’s hard to be present in the here and now when using the internet. Your thoughts and actions exist in a virtual world. Without access to the internet, you can practice some mindfulness by being more present.
Mindful meditation helps reduce anxiety, be calm, and peaceful.
Having the internet available can be a distraction if you are trying to meditate, especially if you enable notifications on your smartphone. Try meditating while your email notifications are pinging away. You’ll find it impossible.
Chill Out
Do you get enough rest? If you are working and playing hard, you may find that relaxing is difficult. Rather than relaxing, you fall asleep because you’re tired.
Use some of your new-found time to do nothing. Just chill. Watch the world go by, people watch or daydream.
Discover Maps
Your smartphone maps are a great boon if you need to find your way in a strange place. The map shows you where you are and where you need to go but before smartphones, there was another way of doing this.
Try using a map. The skill of map reading can be a very satisfying one to master. There’s also something wonderful about the tactile experience of holding a large folding map.
Meet People
Social media is a fantastic tool for meeting people but it’s not actually meeting people. Nothing beats actually being with a person. Sending a smiley-face emoticon on social media will never be as wonderful as seeing a friend’s beaming smile.
Try It
Whether you are forced into life without internet distractions or choose to do it as an experiment, you may be pleasantly surprised. It may open your life up to different experiences. It might even do you good.
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